This little website grew out of concern that pink bathrooms are being ripped out of 40s 50s and 60s houses way too hastily. The reality is: Pink bathrooms are a wonderful part of our home design heritage. And there is no doubt in our minds whatsoever that they are poised for a comeback -- starting here, starting now.
MAMIE PINK: The iconic decorating color of the 50s, arguably. Ubiquitous in fashion as well as bathrooms and kitchens. The mid-century trend to pink seems to have come directly and irrefutably from Mamie Eisenhower, first lady from 1953 to 1961. Pink was Mamie’s favorite color. She wore a pink gown with 2,000 pink rhinestones to…
If you like pink bathrooms, you’ll love our main site, RetroRenovation.com — a retro-wonderland of mid-century renovation resources… design inspiration… vintage finds… and friends all interested in cherishing their postwar homes. The New York Times called us: The go-to destination for enthusiasts who want to restore houses built during the post-World-War-II boom.” Our focus, first and…
Glamorlux Nancy was one of the first Retro Renovation readers to show off a vintage pink bathroom that she had embraced wholeheartedly. Her theme: Pink poodles, how appropros. “Two years ago,” she says, “when we were house-hunting, the pink bathroom (and other original 50’s features) is what sold us on this particular home!” Her bathroom…
If you think pink is a *limited* color, think pink again. At World of Tile — a time capsule tile store that we discovered in Springfield, N.J. — but which is now closed — I counted 95 colors of vintage pink bathroom replacement tile. See our Bathroom Help / Tile category on RetroRenovation.com for suggestions…
Real men DO have pink bathrooms. You see, a university professor, Jo Paoletti of the University of Maryland, actually has done extensive academic research studying why the color pink today has come to be associated with girls and the color blue, with boys. Seems like the shift did not begin until the beginning of the 20th…
Taylor was among the two dozen or so RetroRenovation.com readers who attended my first-ever talk on Save The Pink Bathrooms, at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 5, 2010. It’s readers like this who make it all worth while. 2021 Update: After nearly 15 years of blogging about…
That’s my sister Jenni. She and I drove to Lexington to visit Judi, who took us to Cindy’s house to see her pink bathroom. Following that? A road trip. To see a pink bathroom. The bathroom was really quite lovely — Cindy had decorated it in a way that I describe as “timeless.” Not kitschy,…
How did America end up with 5 million pink bathrooms? Credit goes to: A super-efficient military wife with sparkling blue eyes. Mamie Doud Eisenhower had a tried-and-true method for setting up new households as she traveled the world with her husband the General. She knew she looked good in pink. Put the two together and…
Pink bathrooms got a lot of viz when this video of “Jessica’s Daily Affirmation” went viral starting in June 2009. Could it be that this weebit’s pink bathroom had something to do with her good mood? Reader Donna thinks so: “I know this isn’t exactly about renovations, but the bathroom is an excellent pink with…
Yes, evolutionary biology pretty much answers all questions about why we like anything. Our partners. Chocolate. Pink bathrooms…. Our preferences are hard-wired into our brains (which reach all the way down to our stomachs) back to caveman and cavewoman days. Why pink? Well…for women, scientists hypothesize that our senses are honed to the color as…
Save the Pink Bathrooms Our goal: A gazillion people pledged to preserve vintage pink bathrooms. Maybe you have a pink bathroom. Or you just love them. All are welcome. Your Comment is your Pledge… and while you’re there, share your pink reveries.