I'd keep it too. Live with it for a while and play with color combinations that bring out the best in the lavender.

Here is a link that might be useful: does it look like either of these?

"Palimpsest - never heard of lavender bath fixtures before; sounds beautiful. If you get a chance, post pictures."

DITTO! And yes, I'd keep it, too! :)

If the lavender color was strong enough to hold its own, I'd leave it and do an all white bathroom with chrome (not nickel) fixtures and maybe add some sparkle with crystal lighting.

Just dreaming out loud.

my grandmother had an upstairs apartment in ny (brooklyn i think...) when i was very young. i remember her bathroom was super glamorous (to my eyes at least!)and was unlike any bathroom i had ever seen! it's color scheme was black and lavendar as best as i can remember with a very cool sunken lavendar tub...
i would probably try to work with it if i liked the shape of it and the shape it's in...i'm pretty open to color and wouldn't worry about the appropriateness of it to the house though...if i liked it, 'appropriate' to the house or not it would stay- if i didn't, it would go. (i'm not a rule follower tho! abit eclectic perhaps?!)

My head would be swimming w/ all of the possibilities of a lavendar bathtub that sellers were trying to cover-up.

Oh yes, I'd definitely keep it. We inherited one of those 70's brown tub/shower fiberglass combo ugly things. At the time of our bathroom reno, replacing it was not an option, so we worked with it. I found some carrera marble tiles with the same tone in them and used them on the floor and on the wall above the surround. Now that whale fits in the room much better. Of course, a full shower curtain helps a lot too. :)

I agree, I would keep it. I remember a toiletries store they were remodeling in a mall. It had a definite English theme and the shelving was all dark woods and had a very English library style to it. They decided to remodel the place and it was your typical white trim and light paint color with glass shelving. They updated to the current style and it lost all its character. I commented to the salesperson that I actually preferred it before the remodel and she said a lot of people were saying that. It was a shame - just because of the current trends. I would keep it because I like lavender and I would embrace it decoratively speaking.

I would absolutely keep it, and I'd embrace it fully, assuming I could find a toilet and sink that would fit with the lavender. If I couldn't, I'd still keep it, but I might be forced to do that all-white or all-grey bath you mentioned, with the tub a rather bright accent.

OTOH, there's always the option of getting rid of it and replacing it with a modern white tub and matching white sink & toilet. Add on some modern tiles (or laminate floor, as lindac's neighbors did), a standard fixture and the usual hardware...and you can have a bathroom just. like. every. other. bathroom. in. the. country. Think about your sense of ease (aka boredom) every time you enter the room!

Oh I like it a lot. But I was ready to keep this:

Or this:

If I had decided on those houses.

I'd gut it in a heartbeat.

Oh, the gold and green bathroom was probably in a dumpster a couple weeks after someone else closed on the house.

The peach and yellow bathroom house is still on the market. That one is more iffy because of some condition issues.

I am sure most people would gut the two I pictured, but that's why a lot of people end up with cheap big box store looking bathrooms, too. They don't replace it with the caliber of what was removed, because its too expensive.

But both those bathrooms were everyday ordinary at the time the house was built. Age hasn't improved the looks.

Everyday ordinary in 2011 terms would look as bad in these houses. It would have to be 2011 high end to compete. Most builder everyday ordinary bathrooms don't even have to age or "date" to look pretty abysmal.

I love the peachy green one. The first one is probably salvageable but doesn't have the cutesieness.

This is a picture of a picture of my roommate pretending to be using the toilet. This tile is over 70 years old in the photo. It had probably been rented out to students for at least the previous 50. Students are hard on things. A little tired, but still functional, and always stylish! Was this style ever popular in other parts of the country? I like it and would install it in a new bathroom. (But not with the black TP holder.)

Now I want to go look at old houses. Those bathrooms are very interesting and I could see myself keeping some of those elements and working with them to create something really unique. I really like the tile floor in the first shot, and the 2nd, I really like the tile work. When I moved from my last rented house it had vintage materials in the bathroom and the owner renovated after I moved out to sell it and made it all big box store - he took the life right out of it in my opinion.

If the purple tub was in good condition I'd keep it. Well if I were inclined to buy an older home. I much prefer a new home because of energy efficiency.
An Aunt and Uncle of mine built their own home starting in the fifties. They lived in the basement while finishing the main level so I'm thinking it was in the early sixties when they installed an all purple fixture bathroom. The tiles were lavender and green. One of my favorite color combos. Wish I had pictures to share, but alas I have not.

Here are links to my lavender tub and sink. These pictures were taken when we bought this house 2 yrs ago. Wallpaper has been gone a long time. This house was built in 1968, by the way, so assume that the tub and sink are also from 1968.

Kees, I already know they are Kolar. I dont think you can actually have a toilet reglazed though, and have it hold up and this is in our main bathroom. The other bathroom, had been all redone through the years, and all fixtures are white, but they hadnt replaced the sink, and it was avocado green, and it has been replaced now.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v26/Kycat/?action=view&current=Mainbathvanityandnotthesinkisntpurple.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v26/Kycat/?action=view&current=MainbathtubNoitsnotreallypurple.jpg

I don't think there is much question that the combinations I showed are a bit jarring to today's eye. I don't know that anyone would want to create a complete facsimile to either, particularly the green and gold--it is ugly, sorta but nonetheless speaks to a certain period. But keeping it because it's there is different than doing the same combo in the present. I think the Kohler in the house with the lavender is from the first period, which was 20s -40s but I am not sure..the color looks brighter than the later version, at least in the MLS photo.

cat, your links did not work. If you want to post your pictures directly in this thread, copy the HTML code from Photobucket and paste it in your reply.

There is actually a middle ground, between builders grade/whatever can be bought at Lowes and what might be seen in AD.

You have to shop carefully and perhaps on ebay, but the nicer things can be found inexpensively with some ingenuity.

oh there is a *huge middle ground financially and stylistically, and I am at fault for preaching to the choir because GW represents more middle ground than other ends of the spectrum. But the "everyday ordinary " of the baths above has devolved into a fairly low quality thing, much as plaster walls and at least a simple cornice were typical of earlier periods and now a luxury in most areas.

As for Home Depot and ingenuity, I have only done one kitchen (besides my own) and no baths that were Not of the HD / ingenuity kind and I or the homeowners got a LOT of grief regarding the ingenuity aspect from the contractors. I even demo'd a pink bath for a client that I would've saved, and what has replaced it will need Re-replaced much sooner--there was just no budget.

I doubt either of the baths I pictured will survive, and I wouldn't mind if there were a replacement in kind that acknowleged the old bath without duplicating the colors necessarily, but I have yet to see one of these go thats not replaced with a plastic tub shower combo. These are in large houses, so people either leave it or leave most of it intact(the toilets are always a problem) and put the "real" bathroom elsewhere. This bath then becomes a glorified powder room or guest bath/period piece. If they are of the mind to gut, it rarely gets replaced in kind.

There's Home Depot and there's Home Depot. One can make an absolutely wonderful, durable bathroom out of Home Depot items. I'm not willing to boycott Kohler or American Standard or American Olean just because I can get them at the big box stores. Course you might have to special order a few things, and you might not want to DIY it unless you're GOOD, but I don't think it's correct to assume anything from the big box store is going to be unacceptable for a tasteful remodel.

The plastic tub surrounds, though, yeah, garbage. But not everyone can afford the nicer things. (Psst--it you can't afford to replace it nicely, don't rip out half of your mint green bathroom!)

Sorry about the links. I dont have the option for html on my photobucket for some reason. Here is the link for the whole album, and it should be the first 2 pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: lavender tub

Here's your pic:

That's weird that you don't have the HTML code

cat ky....i love your lavender fixtures!!!!
I wish I had a lavender tub. I think I'd also do as someone else said and do all white, leaving the tub as the accent.
My daughters' bathroom is across the hall from their room, and I wanted to tie in their room colors (lavender and red), so I bought lavender and red towels for them and will likely keep the rest of the fixtures neutral when we remodel. But I wish I could do lavender!

Cat, that is gorgeous!

I remember seeing a lilac bathroom on RetroRenovation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Full lilac bathroom

Cat,
I love your lavender fixtures. Beautiful color!! If that is white tile around the bath, then I would think a white toilet would be fine in that bathroom. All of the materials seem classic and keep the bathroom from being dated. If I were you and had the money, I might do an updated white vanity of a classic style (and you've already removed the wallpaper). I just love your bathroom. :-)

The issue is not buying things at Home Depot. The issue is buying everything at Home Depot--including, and especially, the look. HD sells things more cheaply. It doesn't set the standard in design or quality. You can certainly shop there, but do better than they would.

In the Renovations forum someone had the cheek to post a gorgeous intact '40s bathroom with beautiful tile work, then seek praise for ripping it out. He installed an entire kit that looks like it came from Aisle 11, watch the forklift. The old bath had no problems, and it was in black and white, so its color scheme was hardly challenging. The new bath is obviously cheap and generic. He escaped that thread without physical injury only because you can't easily deck someone over the Internet.

I'd totally save the peach and green one and would keep the tile and floor in the yellow one, but lose the fixtures. I'd replace them with other vintage ones in a better color.
I love old tile and the 20s-30s bathrooms.
I am crushed when I see some "improvements" that take away character and add trendy nonsense that will soon be out of date (and don't even look that great now)!

Thanks. I like it too. Yes the tile is white. The floor is the small white tile squares. I did a quick fix up after we moved in, and tore out the wallpaper, and painted the top half of the walls, a light lavender, and put a fresh coat of white paint on the cabinet and the trim. There are also lavender soap holders, and a towel holder in the tub area, and the toilet paper holder, another soap holder and a cup holder all in ceramic that are right into the white wall tile. The white toilet doesnt really look out of place, but, I really want the lavender one. Since the previous owners saved everything, and took nothing from the places they saved everything, I still have hopes of finding the original, when we finally get the upstairs floor of hubbys shop cleaned out, and a shed that is attached to the back of his garage cleaned out. It is so full of all their treasures (mostly garbage), that it could still be easily hidden in one of those places, unless it was broken and thrown out.

Terriks, I did look for the html the other day for another forum, and all I have is direct link, img, and email and instant message code. Thanks for posting the picture.

"I don't think there is much question that the combinations I showed are a bit jarring to today's eye. I don't know that anyone would want to create a complete facsimile to either, particularly the green and gold--it is ugly, sorta but nonetheless speaks to a certain period."

I'd keep them, if I were the buyer. But then, I don't see the point of "renovating" simply to "update" to have what everyone else has.

Not to mention, when those things are gone, they are gone for good. In my mind's eye, I can still see the genuine Victorian paper that covered the walls AND ceiling in a stairwell to the top floor of a Victorian that had had only three owners, with the third, elderly man the grandson of the man who'd had the house built. This paper was gaudy, very, very gaudy, all pattern and metallic gold. I'm sure the people who bought that house had it removed. What a shame.

My parents "updated" the bathrooms in their home quite a few years ago. This modest house was built in the late '50s, and the bathroom counter had those really cool atomic-looking patterns in the laminate. There was nothing wrong with them, but my parents decided they looked dated. Which, I suppose, they did. So they replaced them with generic box store vanities and tops. Guess what? Those things look dated, too, and I'm sure some people would kill to have those genuine counters today.

A rental I was in once, with bathroom tiles in pink and black. Another rental, clearly from the same era, had turquoise and black tiles. Poke-your-eyes-out bright, but the genuine real deals in perfectly functional spaces.

Too often, people "modernize" and "update" because they watched a TV show, or saw pictures in a magazine, or because a real estate agent told them they needed to. Not to mention, people are afraid to be different, at least I think so. When all your friends and neighbors have one thing, you're going to, too. In my former town, it seemed as if everyone had a yellow house. (Count us in on that one.) What...? Wasn't there any other exterior paint color available?

oh right, almost forgot a house we saw several weeks ago, for the second time. The first time, this 18th C. housewas for sale by someone who'd lived in it for many, many years. The place dearly needed work done, e.g., structural fixes and definitely something done to the exceedlingly hideous and inadequate master bath, among other things. But the floors were old and beautiful, if worn in many places, and the kitchen was full of character. Someone bought it to flip it I think, and everything was done to it. Unfortunately, while doing everything, the new owner stripped the place of everything that gave the house individuality and distinction. Now, to my eyes, it's just an overpriced house that, on the inside, could be from almost any era. And that means that there's no compelling reason to live in that house versus any other house like it.

I haven't been around much the last few weeks, and just stopped in today to find this wonderful thread. You know that *I* would keep it, embrace it, and giggle with glee every time I used it. But I'm a decorating weirdo, so take that for what it's worth.

Cat, LOVE LOVE LOVE the bathroom, and good for you for keeping it! Fabulous porcelain accessories, too!

And regarding the lavender color specifically, isn't that a trendy color nowadays, anyway? I'd think it would be easy to find towels and accessories to go with. You'd be so hip and trendy! *snicker*

I think the cheap fiberglass tub/shower that's in one of our baths replaced some lovely baby blue swirly tile. There's shards of that tile all over the property, and I find bits of it when I work in the yard or dig in the flower beds. I save every piece of it that I find, and will make a mosaic table or something one of these days. And I found a sliver of baby blue paint in the linen closet in that bath, too. Ironically, I've used a pale blue for the towels, rug, and curtain in that room, before I ever knew that it was blue to begin with.

Cat, that's a purple bathroom!!! It's kind of fabulous! And you're only down a toilet. I'm missing half a bathroom. I have this:
{{!gwi}}

And I'd like to say it's a horrible thing (which it is) but you know, they had an old guy getting older in this house and he needed a tub instead of the shower. Am I really supposed to judge him harshly for getting old and not being able to use a 50s shower stall? I kind of wish they'd gone with a HD special, because you can actually take out those fiberglass units without a sledgehammer.

I would totally keep that lilac and work with it. And I'll second the retro-renovations forum...lots of good ideas over there!

No, unfortunately accomodations trump everything. My parent middle, intact (but white) 1969 bath has random grab bars all over it, but my mom needed them. The intact master isn't in as pristine shape. My 87 year old father fell and broke the soapdish (without ever telling anyone) and it has not been as well maintained by the cleaning lady because my mom no longer saw it, and my dad doesn't notice as much.

Fori, one house we looked at before this one, had 2 bathrooms, different patterns, same color as what you have. They were in pristine condition, and nothing had been replaced. I loved the house, but not the location.

I have a lavendar (actually installer's mark is "lilac") tub/2 sinks which I removed. No chipping at all, I suspect late 50's era. My question is, does anyone know of a place or a person who would be interested in them?

I am surprised to see this old thread on the front page again. :-)

I would donate them to Habitat for Humanity Restore. You will be helping others and getting them out of your way at the same time. The restore has my name and number for a lavendar toilet if they ever receive one. (Yes, I am still looking, lol) From what I have been able to find out, Lavendar bathroom fixtures were popular in 1967 and 68, and on their way by 1970.

What does it look like? The Lavender from the 1927 advertisement looks quite pinkish to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler 1927 introduces six colors

No pink in mine. There is a picture up above that Terriks posted for me that shows the color pretty accurately.

I would LOVE to have that lilac/lavender tub! Of course, that's my favorite color :)

It would be beautiful with white, leaf green, a little pink and maybe just a hit of gold. I'd probably try to find something with lilacs on it and work with that...definitely a fun and pretty bathroom!

The closest I think you could get now to making this impression is to use Kohler Ice Grey fixtures and Lavender or Violet tiles from McIntones through Complete Tile Collection NYC; or Hydrangea or French Lavender Caliper tile from Ann Sacks

Marcolo- i remember that thread! You're right, it was a shame to take out such a nice bathroom to replace it with a generic version...and that discussion did get a little heated....LOL

Thanks to all you responders, i appreciate your thoughts. But, they need to go. I'd love to sell, but... they really just need to go. Looks pale white in sunlight picture, much pinker/purpler hue under flourescent. Incandescent reveals a very light pastel purple, really a true lilac with, i think, a fair amount of depth. Casting marks= Rheem, 232, RH, 5 ft, 12.14.64 (self-expl). It's (they're) in Toledo, OH. I don't check email very often, but after two weeks they'll go to a "vintage" reclaiming place here... assuming they'll pick up.

Having used a lavender tub (same color as terriks) at my parent's house, I would have to say that I find it very unflattering to my skin tone and would prefer to never have a bath in a tub that color again!

try this guy he can find any discontinued item:

thefaucetguru@gmail.com

http://discontinuedkohler.blogspot.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: http://discontinuedkohler.blogspot.com/

So this thread's a few years old -- it's super timely for me. I decided from the start to keep the avocado tub in our Ugly Duckling lake house. We wanted to pay homage to the house and, besides, we knew we couldn't afford to replace it with something of similar quality. The plan was to wait on the bathroom rehab until we had enough money for a solid surface tub surround but ... have YOU tried showering in a 32"x32" plastic box? (The only other bathing option in teh Ugly Duckling.) It's not only uncomfortable but it makes leg shaving impossible! I couldn't take it.

Our contractor suggested putting in one of those acrylic surrounds for now. It would be inexpensive, he promised, and easy to take out when more funds were available. We let him pick one out -- mostly because I was certain that inexpensive would = simple. Sigh. That is not the case. It is the one thing in this 'It'll Do' bathroom that I do not truly love.

In addition to the green tub we chose to keep the cultured stone countertop. They were able to router out the old, cracked shell shaped sink and drop a new porcelain one in its place.

We saved the vanity too and gave it a coat of fresh white paint and new hardware.

Alas, the green toilet with its black cushioned vinyl seat, the faux marble green and gold plastic wall paneling, the gold veined mirror tiles, the shag carpet (yes, carpet in the bathroom, ewww) and the disco-riffic swag lamps -- they all had to go. There ain't no house that deserves that much homage, lol!

I'm hoping the contractor gets the trim finished today. Then there are towel bars, toilet paper holder, robe hooks and the goofy fishing lure shower curtain to hang. And finally the big decision -- what color towels? I've always been partial to big, white and fluffy but I'm battling a lot of orange staining iron in the water right now and I'm still not sure I'm the one who's going to win.

Anyway, I hope to be back in a day or two to post some photos. Maybe they will inspire a few people to leave the 'pitch and replace' camp and join me over in 'save and rethink' land. That is if it doesn't make you do this: (WARNING - The attached video is offensive on many levels, but funny -- really, really funny.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Avocado Bath

If it is in good condition I would absolutely, positively keep, keep keep it!!!!

Pal, you seem like you could rock a lavender tub, and embrace it. Many of the posters here couldn't but you would not try to unlavender it.

Stunning. I'd keep it in a heartbeat. I love it.