Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Find the perfect fixtures and furnishings for your old house bathroom. Articles on restoring, decorating and designing period appropriate bathrooms.

A bathroom in a 1928 American Standard catalog is radiant with brightly colored tile.

When it comes to restoring the tile in a period bathroom, which style is appropriate for your home's style and era? A look at the evolution of styles, colors and uses for home bathroom tile in the 20th Century.

By Barbara Rhines

Tiled-in marble top bathtub in sunny restored bathroom,

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

An inside look at the history and evolution of the common bathtub can help you choose the right one for your old house.

Sponsored Story

Keep your bathroom timeless while using fixtures designed for modern living.

The restored bathroom in an 1894 house boasts a complex mosaic floor that resembles a richly detailed rug.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Mosaic floor tile patterns, from simple to elaborate, can be a great fit for old-house bathrooms.

After decades of use, it's common for grout to fall away in patches where it meets adjacent materials.

Restoration Projects

A reader's question about failing grout prompts a spot-on tutorial from a tile expert.

At the end of the 1950s, colors became richer, like this striking teal, and the latest innovation involved toilets bolted to the wall—technology that claimed to make cleaning easier (note the mop beneath the toilet at right).

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Mid-20th-century bathrooms displayed a rainbow of hues, as evidenced by these vintage advertisements.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Clear glass may not do the trick in a bathroom. But you shouldn’t sacrifice light, ventilation, or beauty in the quest for seclusion—not when so many period-friendly options await.

Lights flanking a mirror cut down on harsh shadows and offered optimum illumination for grooming. The shades here-called turtles because of their resemblance to the critter-could also be mounted facing the wall, and often sat on brackets made of porcelain that featured convenient, built-in electrical outlets. Photo Courtesy of Linda Svendsen

Interior Lighting

When it comes to lighting bathrooms of the 1930s and '40s, you can't go wrong with a little Modern design.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

The trials and joys of designing small half baths perfect for quirky old homes.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

A sink stopped that won't stay put may be an easy fix.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

English Arts & Crafts wallpaper and a painted wood wainscot create an informal room with style that bridges eras.

Interiors & Decor

Two important little rooms to outfit for beauty and utility; start with these ideas.

Plumbing, Electrical & HVAC

A DIY vessel sink that's perfect of old houses.

Always avoid inadvertent damage! Never use harsh chemical cleaners to unclog an old bowl—these products can etch and discolor the surface, resulting in permanent damage or even burnout.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Keep your vintage toilet in tiptop shape with these 5 tips.

Early American Bathroom, 1885 J.L. Mott bathroom

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

A timeline of the toilet's evolution can help you make the right selection for your old house.

A pretty bathroom in a new-old house designed and built by Connor Homes.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Here are four examples of new bathrooms that are modest in size, fitted for plenty of storage, and focus on period woodwork and trim.

Plumbing, Electrical & HVAC

Learn how to repair a porcelain shower head.

A hex tile floor patterned with a simple flower-and-dot border is a timely restoration choice for this 1912 Foursquare in Portland, Oregon, as is the separate shower stall of subway tiles with razor-thin grout.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Finding the right replacement tile for a bathroom doesn't have to leave you feeling burned; knowing your options and keeping them open can spark matches that seamlessly fuse the old with the new.

After a century of use, leaking gaskets on sink fittings are a common problem.

Plumbing, Electrical & HVAC

What to do with a leaky sink no plumber will touch? Fix it yourself, per detailed instructions from our plumbing expert.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Let’s face it, shall we?—the small bathroom is a fact of life in old houses.

The hand-stenciled linen panels are finished with a row of chain stitch.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

A remodeled bathroom is influenced by Mackintosh.

This bathroom with its one window is quite small, appropriate for this modest Bungalow.

Period Bathrooms

Tile adds color & convenience in a small Arts & Crafts bathroom.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Opening the photo attachment, I sucked in my breath in anticipation. There it was, staring up at me from the computer screen in all of its jadeite glory: the green Art Deco sink, the one I'd been looking for everywhere.

Pratt & Lambert's 'Classic Cream' subway tile gains dimension from a baseboard treatment and relief decos at top.

Kitchen Furnishings & Appliances

Strategies for using art tile to best effect, with other ways to get artisan or custom looks for less.

Marble, fir, and reproduction ardware make a new cabinet by Kennebec look like an original.

Bathroom Furnishings & Fixtures

Of sink cabinets plain and fancy.

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Adhesives, Fillers, Epoxies & Sealants

Manufacturer of adhesives, wood consolidants, and wood replacement compounds for structural and decorative restoration.

Kitchen Cabinetry

Crown Point Cabinetry offers custom cabinets for period style kitchens, baths, offices, laundry rooms, home bars and more. Styles include Shaker, Arts & Crafts, Early American, Victorian and Transitional.