Torn Between Approaches. PART IV. A DECISION!
Wow. Y’all like shopping!
It has been great fun looking at your pink tile discoveries! Thank you!
Some of the discoveries have the right tile, but the tiles are in, say, California and the shipping would be…disturbing. Some discoveries are too pale a pink. Some discoveries do not have enough tile.
Sigh. Sigh. So, at long last, I began to ponder the previously unthinkable: what might a wholly new bathroom look like? This pondering has also been fueled by your many supportive comments. You guys!
And such pondering? It quickly turned into love.
Rather than 4×4 ceramic tiles, how about 4×12 glass tiles? I LOVE THESE!!!!!!!!
How about a 48-wide green vanity with marble top?
The colors are, of course, based on the 1950 bathroom which was pink, green, gray, and black. This is what made me look for a green vanity, something I would not normally do. I had no idea they made green vanities.
I would tile the long north wall, where the vanity and toilet go against. And I would tile the west wall, where the tub now is. So, there would be an L of tile. (The other walls would get painted.)
The tile would be floor to ceiling. But with a black glass ‘base molding’. Dramatic! Luscious!
Over the vanity I would omit a rectangle of tile, and then insert a mirror, so it would be flush with the tile. Elegant, right?
For the ceiling? Oh, this is brilliant.
I would paint black the existing joists and everything. Then I would install long LED lights between each joist, and then…drum roll, please…a few inches below the joists I would install sheets of corrugated plastic, set slightly away from the pink tiles which would rise higher.
OMG! I am dying!
I would install Hollywood-Regency towel bars, and order black towels. But…drum roll, please…monogramed! Yes: MPM.
Mouse Palace Motel. So, a homage!
For the flooring? I have no idea yet.
What I like about all this is that while the 1950 bathroom will vanish, the new bathroom will be wholly influenced by the old bathroom.
Kinda sweet.
Well, I am captivated at the idea of having a wildly lavish powder room in so unexpected a setting.
I will always pee with a smile on my face.
As, I suspect, will others.
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This so so exciting!!!
All the ideas sound marvelous, especially the exquisite 1950’s green vanity! And the black trim and other details!
Truly a homage to Mouse Palace Hotel!
This is so so so so exciting!!
Even though I think of myself as a purist, I like the homage idea.
Perhaps that is because I don’t consider buildings or remodeling constructed during my own lifetime as historic, just as my grandfather, born in 1893, never saw Victorian antique furniture as anything but manufactured used furniture.
There is no question in my mind that the information posted over the years on this blog, will preserve more about the Mouse Palace era than would have been conceivable by any other method.
On a lighter note, I am waiting until the day when The Cross House becomes a category on the TV game show, Jeopardy.
Brought a smile to my face!
👍👍👍. Finally, I knew the Ross we know and love would show up. Great choices!
It’s your place…. But i’m not a fan of plastic decor, and plastic in general. Blech! Ein schade.
Whatever you do with the flooring…
It needs racing stripes.
But of course, dahlink!
You talk about design the way I talk about food. Actually , my whole family talks about food and cooking this way. We get positively giddy. BTW, love the pink glass tile!
I *LOVE* the glass tiles. Pink and black is so stylish. I have green and black in my bathroom and had black towels and green towels.
I would not lay the mirror flush into the tiles. You may have problems down the road with the silvering deteriorating, then removing it might be a problem. There could also be some slippage and cracking. I mention this because my parents did this in one of their bathrooms and the mirror slumped a bit over time and eventually cracked and as time passed there was a little silvering problem. It was professionally installed too. It is still there as removing it and doing anything to fix it was too much of a bother for a guest bath.
Love those 4 x 12 pink glass tiles. That bathroom is going to be fabulous. Instead of laying the mirror flush, I’d find a round one in a gilt regency- style frame to hang over the vanity. I see the floor in black lino with a narrow pink border about nine inches from the edge . . . Great decision.
Hey Ross, since this is a basement floor, and a bathroom with a bath, I recommend a floor drain and radiant heat in the floor.
Those central Kansas winters can be a bit chilly for those squeaky clean, wet, and Nekkid!
Love the glass tile. Get a pink glass soap dispenser! Love the flush mirror. I have a flush mirror in one of my bathrooms and it is elegant, modern and easy to clean. Hollywood regency towel bar? Yes please! The only thing that gives me pause is the plastic drop ceiling. Maybe it will look great but I haven’t seen it done. Trying to keep an open mind…
LUSH. It would be a privilege to pee.
Why not make the tiles yourself out of concrete and color them pink with pigment? Would not be expensive. Just make molds out of melamin (spelling?) and vibrate to remove air bubbles and you will end up with a shiny surface.
Or buy them? https://www.cementtileshop.com/collection/Pink.html
Oh! And you could do the same with the floor, just pour pink cement directly and work it smooth, or use tiles. AND you could make a pink counter top. Or a green one! Like this one https://muirnekatedineen.com/site-work-25/
Growing up with a 50s pink-tiled bathroom (all 4 walls, floor to ceiling) I never thought that I would ever approve of pink tiles again, but I like yours. And the vanity…déjà vu…we installed the gray version of it a year or so ago in a flip house that we are restoring, and I am very happy with it; very well built, and looks great. We tried to order a 60″ version for another bath last winter but were told that it was out of stock indefinitely, so I hope that they are available by the time you are ready to order yours.
Absolutely fabulous!!! Are you keeping the tub?
Ooh. That bathroom design sounds both glamorous and elegant, and a fitting homage to the Mouse Palace Motel. I love that you’re doing more of a re-imaging of the space than a recreation, because it will be a nod to the past while being so very, very Ross. Those pink tiles are POSH.
One thought: LED lights aren’t the most flattering if someone ducks into the bathroom to touch up their makeup. Maybe put some less harsh, daylight corrected lights around the mirror to flatter your guests? You’re the expert, so I trust your judgment if you’re confident the LED/corrugated plastic combination will work.
In pondering your vanity….have you considered laying those tiles vertically? They would look a bit like beadboard wainscoting. You wouldn’t need to lay them all the way up the wall. You could cap them with a thinner border in black or purple imitating a chair rail, a bit like the original Mouse Palace bathroom. Then paint or put wallpaper on the upper part of the walls.
I’ve thought about it a little, and I like mlaiuppa’s idea about installing the tile vertically; I think it would be interesting to see how it would look. As for the floor, what about doing a checkerboard 12″ tile with light green and a light gray color? Another option, Armstrong Flooring makes a commercial grade 12″ vinyl tile that comes in almost any color, and most patterns are speckled. Some are a light green/gray color, and best of all they are available at most chain building stores for around $1/sq ft.
If the old asbestos floor is sealed in with a leveling agent, reproduction vintage linoleum, (the real stuff minus the asbestos) could also be laid. It comes in a solid sheet. I don’t care for vinyl floor tiles as no matter what you do, dirt eventually gets in the seams and it is difficult to clean. Terrazzo would be fabulous but also very expensive if you could even find someone to do it.
Found an image for vertical pink tiles.
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/subway-tile-bathroom-studio-lifestyle-2-1568233336.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:*
Wait WHAAAT? I mean YES the pink glass tile looks great but I thought this was for a Victorian? Oh wait you are luring people in to wow them with the rest of the house. OK. I guess. I would have preferred as VICTORIAN as possible EVERYWHERE including bathroom tiles.
It’s the basement.
The bathroom being considered is a 50s addition in the basement from the era of the Mouse Palace motel.
I’d be wary of anyone luring me to a basement to see his bathroom. Well, almost anyone.
Ross, You don’t even need a full bathroom in the basement. Reconstructing a motel bathroom in the basement is the very definition of money wasted. Isn’t there another project that you could shift these funds toward.