Our Modern Vintage Bathroom: The Reveal

This modern vintage bathroom remodel was probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to translating a moodboard into reality, which may be because I rarely take the time to actually make moodboards before diving into demo, but a win’s a win.

This room is neutral without being boring, it feels calming, and can transition from a kids bathroom to a guest bathroom pretty seamlessly which was the goal.

The modern vintage bathroom timeline

We started this room close to two months ago when Alex took a day to demo the whole thing except the tub: the shower surround, the light fixture, the flooring (including multiple layers of tile), the old vanity, and the toilet.

We kept the toilet which we had actually installed only about a year ago but it had to be removed for the flooring, and we kept the tub in place because it was totally fine and buying a new tub isn’t really in the budget.

Being that the bathroom is the only one in our house with a tub and being that we have two little kids, we hustled to get the shower surround and floor tile done first – within a week or so – then took our sweet time on the rest for another month or so.

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The tile

The modern vintage bathroom floor tile of my dreams – the Calacatta Vecchio marble penny tile from Floor & Decor – just so happened to be the “ugliest tile” Alex has ever seen, but I’m so glad I stuck it out and wore him down because I love how it looks.

I’ll reserve my judgment on the style and the white grout for a while until I’ve had to clean it a few times, but we did multiple layers of sealer on the grout and have a soft bath mat in front of the vanity to offset the idea that penny tile is too bumpy underfoot.

In the shower, we used a subway style tile (also from Floor & Decor), and laid it in a pattern I’d seen somewhere on the internet so long ago I’ve forgotten the source. It’s basically a row of vertical tiles followed by a row of horizontals and then repeated and I love how it’s still a classic style tile but it feels modern.

We got so lucky and the pattern just so happened to line up perfectly with the niches we added, the corners, and the outside edges of the shower with minimal cuts.

The vanity

I had always envisioned an antique dresser-turned-vanity which feels very ‘modern vintage bathroom’ to me.

It turned out exactly like I’d hoped and it’s so unique.

The details

I kept the mirror we’d originally used in the room which was a similar wood tone to the vanity (it’s a Target buy I can’t find a link for now), but all the other finishes are new buys.

• The shower curtain is the Schoolhouse Blooming Field which is probably the fanciest shower curtain I’ll ever own (disclaimer: the company gifted us this piece to use after I included it in my original moodboard of the space), and I hung it from a ceiling-mounted curtain rod which makes a huge difference. Being a small bathroom, having the shower curtain go the full way to the ceiling makes the room feel taller and I 10/10 recommend everyone do it!
• The bathroom faucet is one of the smaller buys that I love so much I’m probably going to buy the same one for our other bathroom. It has that old style feel but is such great quality, really easy to install, and super affordable so you can’t go wrong.
• The artwork is an antique store find from months ago that I’ve been waiting to use in this room, and the fisherman is a postcard I found on a New England road trip last fall that seemed like it needed a home with its nautical artwork friend. The gold frame is thrifted, but the wood tone one is a Target find I’ve bought a few times now.
• The bamboo shades are the ones I’m slowly installing all throughout our home and this bathroom makes about the fifth time I’ve bought the same style. They’re basically foolproof to install, cordless which makes it safer for kids, and I love that the color isn’t too orange.

Here’s a roundup of all the smaller finds: vase, faux stems, towels, etc.

Paint colors

The only place I strayed from my initial moodboard was in the wall paint color. I initially wanted a sage-olive kind of green on the walls for the moody spa vibe, but when Schoolhouse sent the shower curtain I had been eyeing forever, I knew I had to change to white walls so they didn’t clash.

Ultimately, we painted the walls Shoelace by Behr (the same color as we’re doing in the rest of the house slowly), and the contrast trim is Garden Wall by Behr: a grey-taupe-green that I’m currently obsessed with.

We’re so happy with how this room turned out after a whirlwind six weeks of making it a reality. The bathroom is so calming and pretty, a huge improvement from the plastic peel and stick tile and cracked grout we started with, and I may have even mostly swayed Alex on the penny tile.

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