Before and After: 5 Midcentury Modern-Inspired Bathrooms
Nods to midcentury modern design give these renovated bathrooms cool vibes
In these bathroom makeovers, elements such as natural wood vanities, slab cabinet fronts and geometric patterns hark to midcentury modern design. Rather than looking like time capsules from the 1950s, however, the finished spaces capture a thoroughly of-the-moment mood. If you’re planning a renovation in your home, check out how retro references can help your bathroom go from outdated to au courant.
After: Faced with a choice between more storage or two sinks, the homeowners opted for the former. The choice created room for more drawers and counter space, and it also allowed for a tower to replace a built-in linen closet on the other side of the room.
The new vanity has a quartz countertop and bookmatched cabinet fronts made from African mahogany.
Wilson swapped the original casement window’s frosted glass with clear glass, then added a roller shade for privacy.
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The new vanity has a quartz countertop and bookmatched cabinet fronts made from African mahogany.
Wilson swapped the original casement window’s frosted glass with clear glass, then added a roller shade for privacy.
Browse vanities in the Houzz Shop
Before: The clients were keen to create a luxurious shower, which their existing one decidedly was not.
Read more about this bathroom renovation.
Read more about this bathroom renovation.
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After: By removing the linen closet, Wilson made room for a 4-by-5-foot glass-enclosed shower stall on the wall opposite the vanity and tower. Next to the shower, she added a toilet alcove and stacked washer-dryer (not seen here).
Aqua-edged Starphire glass shower doors coordinate with Z-shaped glass tile on the shower walls and backsplash.
The bench and side wall have a wood frame that was waterproofed and clad on all sides with ¾-inch engineered quartz.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
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Aqua-edged Starphire glass shower doors coordinate with Z-shaped glass tile on the shower walls and backsplash.
The bench and side wall have a wood frame that was waterproofed and clad on all sides with ¾-inch engineered quartz.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
- Streamlined vanity with bookmatched slab-front cabinets
- Polished chrome fixtures
- Disc-shaped pendant lights
- Boomerang-shaped hardware
- Geometric aqua-colored tile
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2. Dated to Daring
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A couple
Location: Newport Beach, California
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designer: Heather Bull of Vision Interiors
Before: A young, fun-loving couple who embrace retro style tapped designer Heather Bull to update their dark and dated bathroom, which had a cramped single vanity and toilet separated with a partition wall.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A couple
Location: Newport Beach, California
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designer: Heather Bull of Vision Interiors
Before: A young, fun-loving couple who embrace retro style tapped designer Heather Bull to update their dark and dated bathroom, which had a cramped single vanity and toilet separated with a partition wall.
After: To accommodate the owners’ two must-haves — a soaking tub and a double-sink vanity — Bull borrowed space from a closet, removed the partition wall, moved the toilet to the opposite wall (out of view here) and created a glass-enclosed wet room. On the floors and side walls, geometric tiles and contrasting grout have a retro flair, and the vanity has a clean-lined white quartz countertop and tapered legs characteristic of midcentury furniture.
Before: Despite its glass blocks, the original shower was gloomy due to its dark floor and wall finishes.
After: A new window in the shower lets in abundant natural light and opens for ventilation, and white tile on two walls further brightens the shower. Digitally printed porcelain tile running down the back shower wall and bench is reminiscent of the wood paneling popular in the mid-20th century.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
- Geometric tile patterns
- Wood-paneling-like tile on the shower wall and bench
- Clean-lined light maple vanity with tapered legs
3. Awkward to Airy
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A couple and their two teenage boys
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: 48 square feet (4.5 square meters)
Designers: Casey Keasler of Casework (interior design) and Studio Coop Architecture
Before: After several renovations, this bathroom in a 1950s ranch house had lost its midcentury character and much of its functionality. With the vanity tucked awkwardly next to the toilet and under the window, the owners had to balance their products on the pedestal sink when using the sink and mirror. A shower-tub combo is hiding behind the door on the left.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A couple and their two teenage boys
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: 48 square feet (4.5 square meters)
Designers: Casey Keasler of Casework (interior design) and Studio Coop Architecture
Before: After several renovations, this bathroom in a 1950s ranch house had lost its midcentury character and much of its functionality. With the vanity tucked awkwardly next to the toilet and under the window, the owners had to balance their products on the pedestal sink when using the sink and mirror. A shower-tub combo is hiding behind the door on the left.
After: Keasler bumped out the wall to the left by 1 foot and relocated the bathtub under a new horizontal window, maintaining a bright, open look with a clear glass partition. The new square footage allowed for a streamlined white oak vanity topped with durable quartz in place of the pedestal sink, as well as built-in shelving and laundry hampers where the tub used to be, all custom-crafted by Maple Key. She also replaced the toilet with an easy-to-clean skirted model.
Handmade square tiles on the shower wall and smaller-format floor tiles with inset plus signs resemble styles popular during the midcentury modern era.
Read more about this bathroom renovation.
Handmade square tiles on the shower wall and smaller-format floor tiles with inset plus signs resemble styles popular during the midcentury modern era.
Read more about this bathroom renovation.
Flanking the white oak mirrors (also crafted by Maple Key) are sconces by designer Brendan Ravenhill that feature complex joinery and simple, sail-like polyethylene shades. The design evokes wooden sailboats and the work of Finnish architect and designer Aino Aalto, both of which the clients love.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
- 4-by-4-inch variegated tiles and 1-by-1-inch tiles inset with a geometric pattern
- Minimalist vanity with finger pulls, crafted from medium-toned white oak
- Lighting and hardware with a midcentury modern silhouette
4. Squished to Spacious
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: Overnight guests
Location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Size: 50 square feet (4.7 square meters)
Designer-builders: David Supple, owner of New England Design & Construction, and his team
Before: During the renovation of their split-level house in suburban Boston, this couple expanded an existing half bath off a bedroom into a three-quarter bathroom. The original was missing tiles and had water damage around the window.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: Overnight guests
Location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Size: 50 square feet (4.7 square meters)
Designer-builders: David Supple, owner of New England Design & Construction, and his team
Before: During the renovation of their split-level house in suburban Boston, this couple expanded an existing half bath off a bedroom into a three-quarter bathroom. The original was missing tiles and had water damage around the window.
After: To squeeze in a shower, the team at New England Design & Construction removed the wall past the toilet to take over space from an adjacent bathroom.
A variety of space-saving tricks make the room look larger than its 50 square feet: The toilet, vanity and fixtures are wall-mounted, saving space and giving the room a more open feel; large-format (12-by-24-inch) porcelain floor tile, digitally printed to look like concrete, continues from the floor into the shower; the mirror is in a lighted recess that eliminates the need for sconces; and there’s no shower door (the shower head is high and angled to keep water where it belongs).
The enlarged bathroom’s focal point is a dandelion-patterned encaustic cement tile accent wall, which, along with the floating teak vanity, is a contemporary take on midcentury modern style that complements the home’s architecture.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
A variety of space-saving tricks make the room look larger than its 50 square feet: The toilet, vanity and fixtures are wall-mounted, saving space and giving the room a more open feel; large-format (12-by-24-inch) porcelain floor tile, digitally printed to look like concrete, continues from the floor into the shower; the mirror is in a lighted recess that eliminates the need for sconces; and there’s no shower door (the shower head is high and angled to keep water where it belongs).
The enlarged bathroom’s focal point is a dandelion-patterned encaustic cement tile accent wall, which, along with the floating teak vanity, is a contemporary take on midcentury modern style that complements the home’s architecture.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
- Geometric dandelion-print tiles
- Earth tones
- Clean-lined teak vanity and shelves
- Slab-front cabinets
5. Meh to Mod
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: Architect Ed Hughey and graphic designer Valerie Jayne
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 60 square feet (5.6 square meters)
Before: When renovating their first home, architect Ed Hughey and graphic designer Valerie Jayne took inspiration from a trip to Japan and midcentury modern design and gave it their own minimalist spin. But the only bathroom in the house needed more than a style update: Its door was right off the living room (next to an old HVAC unit), the layout was awkward, the tub was dinky and storage space was minimal.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: Architect Ed Hughey and graphic designer Valerie Jayne
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 60 square feet (5.6 square meters)
Before: When renovating their first home, architect Ed Hughey and graphic designer Valerie Jayne took inspiration from a trip to Japan and midcentury modern design and gave it their own minimalist spin. But the only bathroom in the house needed more than a style update: Its door was right off the living room (next to an old HVAC unit), the layout was awkward, the tub was dinky and storage space was minimal.
After: The couple increased the bathroom’s size by moving the HVAC unit to the attic, and they moved plumbing fixtures to eliminate the awkward layout of the toilet and sink. Renovations elsewhere in the house allowed for the door to move to a new hallway off the primary bedroom.
Those changes were costly, but the couple found savings in a ready-made vanity in light-toned wood (with lines similar to those of their midcentury media console) and simple subway tiles laid out in a modern grid pattern. They decided to keep a tub-shower combo, but they replaced the low tub with a budget-friendly soaking tub. Hexagonal black marble floor tile was another splurge, but it adds just the right amount of texture and contrast to the minimalist space.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
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Those changes were costly, but the couple found savings in a ready-made vanity in light-toned wood (with lines similar to those of their midcentury media console) and simple subway tiles laid out in a modern grid pattern. They decided to keep a tub-shower combo, but they replaced the low tub with a budget-friendly soaking tub. Hexagonal black marble floor tile was another splurge, but it adds just the right amount of texture and contrast to the minimalist space.
Midcentury modern-inspired details:
- Shiny chrome faucets
- Geometric floor tile and straight-stacked subway tile
- Clean-lined wood vanity
More on Houzz
Read more bathroom stories
Browse bathroom photos
Find a bathroom designer
Shop for your bathroom
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A couple
Location: Hastings Ranch neighborhood of Pasadena, California
Size: 120 square feet (11 square meters)
Designer: Wendy Wilson & Associates
Contractor: Alfred Navarro of Navarro Construction
Before: After purchasing a midcentury ranch fixer-upper in Pasadena, California, this couple found architectural designer Wendy Wilson on Houzz and hired her to complete their down-to-the-studs renovation. A top priority was overhauling their en suite bathroom, which had a dilapidated vanity, a clunky soffit and a frosted window that blocked both light and a garden view.
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