BATHROOM DECORATING 

The revival bathroom got its start as the answer to owners restoring their period homes. Thirty years later, the phenomenon has spread to general taste; even new houses have old-fashioned baths.

Restorers can outfit a bathroom to be nearly indistinguishable from one that might have survived since the 1880s or 1920s--a bathroom that looks like it’s been there since the early days of American indoor plumbing.(And, really, why would you want to go back any further?)

You may want to go directly to the bathroom decorating subcategory of interest:

Vanities & Cabinets: stock and semi-custom cabinets for sinks, medicine cabinets, and bath “furniture”

Fixtures: old-style toilets, clawfoot and pedestal tubs, copper tubs, Victorian shower baths, and every manner of bathroom sink

Faucets/Fittings: the “jewelry of plumbing” for bathroom sink, shower, and tub

Bath Accessories: TP and toothbrush holders; towel warmers; robe hooks; mirrors

The old-fashioned bathroom is easier to design and fit than a period kitchen. From the beginning of the twentieth century until its close, bathrooms didn’t change much. Whether the room dated to 1910 or 1995, you could pretty much count on this: three plumbed ceramic fixtures, a tile floor, a medicine cabinet, and a washable wainscot of varnished wood or tile. A revival of old-fashioned bath fixtures and fittings has only added to the timeless similarities: by the late 1980s, you could once again purchase little hexagonal floor tiles, wooden medicine cabinets, pedestal sinks, and even pull-chain toilets.

Bathrooms inspired by those of the early 20th century are a good choice for most old houses, lending an indeterminate timelessness to even colonial-era houses. These common bathrooms are of course perfectly appropriate for bungalows, Arts and Crafts houses, and Tudor, Colonial, or Romantic Revivals. Owners of Victorian houses will find it easy to incorporate Victorian-period bathroom details: wainscot or tile, electrified gaslight-era fixtures, freestanding furniture.

Then there’s the mid-century bathroom. Don’t succumb to the urge to “early up” your bathrooms if your house dates to the 1930s, ’40s, or ’50s. Rose and teal toilets and sinks are starting to be hot items at salvage yards. Colored field tile for walls, and Deco-inspired mirrors, are readily available. You can have a lot of fun with the decorative bathroom conventions of the era—and your bathroom can be done with good taste, despite what you might remember about the house you grew up in.

The most successful period bathrooms and kitchens are not slavish. The fun factor is always in evidence; owners can be interpretive, even whimsical, in creating rooms that are both functional and beautiful. Rooms that have a personal vision—and of course good craftsmanship and materials—are the rooms that will age gracefully.