”Antique” Bathrooms of the 30’s, 40’s & 50’s

Retro is in – check this out:

Kohlers’ has bathroom retro advice in an article called Reinventing Retro:  http://www.us.kohler.com/planning/detail.jsp?aid=1115489476370 I’m thinking that retro means different eras to different people, depending on the age of the individual.  I still remember my son telling me that he loved “old” cars that were from the 1970’s.  It took awhile for me to wrap my head around that.  To me, an old car is from the 40’s, or maybe the 50’s.

As we all know, the retro look may be our thing, but no one really wants high water flow fixtures with the higher water and hot water heating bills. You may want to go with modern versions of the old style fixtures.  Color is a big part of a design era as well.  You can have fun playing with the colors that bring back the eras that they were so much a part of.

In researching this article, I saw some “retro” bathrooms that had to have the 60’s as their inspiration.  Now there were some good things about the 60’s, but the color schemes weren’t one of them.  The psychedelic thing may look good on a movie poster or a record album cover (I know, how retro is that?), but not the first thing you see in the morning when you are just waking up.

You can find vintage bathroom sinks, tubs & toilets at this website:   http://retrorenovation.com/2009/09/25/wher-to-find-vintage-bathroom-fixtures/

Inspiration can be found at this website if you don’t remember the “old days”, because you are not old enough but still like the look:  http://retrorenovation.com/galleries/

Replica of the classic clawfoot bathtub.

This picture shows the always classic claw foot tub.  This image can be found at http://www.bathroomdesign.us/retro-bathroom-600.jpg There are modern versions of this tub in much easier to install synthetic materials instead of the original cast iron. Your plumber will love you if you go for the lighter weight version.  It’s a good thing to keep the plumber happy.