You know what I’m talking about. If you’ve purchased a home, or have been house-hunting, you’ve seen the pink bathroom – pink tile, pink tub, pink toilet, and if you’re lucky a pink fuzzy toilet seat cover for good measure. Usually it’s in a home that was built or had renovations in the 50s or 60s, and may also contain a mustard yellow fridge and olive green rotary telephone (it happens).
Arlington has no shortage of mid-century homes, and chances are you’ve encountered a pink bathroom on a house tour. This kind of sighting can elicit groans, eye rolls, and exasperation at the thought of spending money on a bathroom reno. Rather than get frustrated, there are a few ways to approach the pink bathroom. One that you might not have considered is to embrace it. That’s right – don’t be so quick to sink the pink.
There are an increasing number buyers and homeowners on a Mad Men-fueled décor kick, opting for Ranch-style homes over colonials, and wallpaper over paint chips. This is a hard pill to swallow for many who have spent countless hours and dollars trying TO UNDO ALL OF THIS.
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But before you throw in the pink towel, you should know that there is a Website dedicated to Saving the Pink Bathroom, with 10 facts about pink bathrooms that you never thought you wanted to know, (but do now).
Some of these include:
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- 5 million pink bathrooms went into the 20 million+ homes built in the United States from 1946-1966.
- First Lady Mamie Eisenhower was pivotal in popularizing the color, which is often referred to as “Mamie Pink” or “First Lady Pink.”
- Retro Botox – Pink is actually a great color for bathrooms because the reflected glow makes you look younger…and healthier.
Another way to approach the pink bathroom is to consider what will be the next pink bathroom. Twenty or thirty years from now, can you imagine people going to open houses and saying, “Ugh, more stainless steel? Who wants granite?? Look at all of this hardwood; I guess we’ll have to redo the floors with carpet!”
Whether you embrace the pink bathroom or want a fresh start, don’t curse previous generations so quickly – our kids and grandkids will be facing the same dilemma that we create for them. Their ‘pink bathroom’ might be in the form of tiled floors, white kitchen cabinets, double sinks, or (wait for it) the open floor plan.
If you could predict the next ‘pink bathroom’ what would it be?