The upstairs bathroom in my 1914 foursquare was redone int he fifties; pink & aqua tiles halfway up the walls, very shallow rectangle tub (not even deep enough for my 12 year old to enjoy) and fake marble tiles over the original(?) 1" medium blue hexigaon tiles. There is a built in cupboard near the entry door. I want this bathroom to recall a more appropriate time; can anyone suggest what my bathroon should include? It doesn't have to be preservatonist perfect, but I want it to pay homage to the appropriate time....I definitely want a better bathtb.....can I restore the hex tiles with mastik over them? How about colors? I'd rather not gut, but I think that might be inevitable. [color="green"] [/color]

It is my understanding that most homes radically updated their bathrooms in the 1920s and 1930s with the introduction of better plumbing/heating systems and the invention of colored ceramic tile. That's why so many Craftsman homes, even the really well preserved ones, have completely Art Deco bathrooms. Ours is completely black and white, small hex tiles and all the original Kohl ceramic, probably done when the water heater was installed in 1928. Most people seem to be quite content in maintaining the Deco feel and detail of their bathrooms as a truly period bathroom of circa 1910 would actually be quite difficult to recreate and for many would be unpractical.

If your bathroom is truly from the 1950s you have the choice of restoring it to its full 1950s glory, paying homage to the home's history and evolution, or ripping it all out to try and recreate something from an earlier period. Personally, I would go with the former, but if you do choose to strip, try and keep as much of those 1950's details intact and undamaged as there are many people who'd love to get there hands on it.

Thanks for the reply; I guess the worst part is the tub, which the only tub in the house and almost completely unusable....we want something deeper. I don't mind the tiles, but some of them are broken.....and I'm leary of being able to find a match.

"That's why so many Craftsman homes, even the really well preserved ones, have completely Art Deco bathrooms."

I guess this sheds a little light for me as I just finished Jane Powell's 'Bungalow Bathrooms' and was left scratching my head why a good portion of the book's photographs were of Art Deco bathrooms. I thought it must had been a regional thing or something.

I feel your pain. My master bathroom is one of those "caught between the decades." I've got a beautiful original built in cabinet tucked behind the door with really neat butterfly hinges and bin pulls, and of course the window, and two doors and trim are all original to our 1919 house, but from that point on, its all 50's or my own attempt at salvation. The 50's gave me pink and black tile 4 feet up the wall along with a tub that was put in with the tile. Too short for an adult, but fine for my little kids. The vanity is a 50's creation with sliding panel door, and pull chain light fixture, and the three mirror medicine chest. When I bought the house the bathroom floor was covered in brown carpet, and the tub offered no shower. I ripped out the carpet, which has no place in a bathroom, and had some vinyl flooring put in (no money for tile at that point) and built a half wall to create a tub enclosure/shower. Definitely not "first class," but a shower curtain hides it all well. Our tub needs refinishing or replacing, and the grout job on the tile inside the tub is looking tough (it should after 60 years).

I feel no loyalty to the 50's job, with the original built in still there, and frankly, deterioration due to time and water will force replacement anyway, so we'll be returning to a more original look when the funds are there.

When I say somebody might be better off keeping an original 50s bathroom, I don't mean that you should live with something ugly and broken. There's good 50s and there's baaaaad 50s.