apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would do a black and white really graphic pattern on the curtain and white accessories (towels, jars, bowls, etc). Hope that helps.

Oh my!

i would a TON of big bold black and white everything. get a shower curtain with big black and white vertical stripes, add solid towels and accessories and rug, and *try* to hang some black/white art over the pink tile. maybe with suction cups? or suspended from the ceiling, which i imagine isn't covered in tile and can be screwed into...

good luck! it's hideous, but if you put in things you like looking at, it can work :)

^ correction: "i would GET a ton of..."

That is one hell of a bathroom. I agree with kdkaboom: big, bold B&W, and lots of it, and soon! Maybe you can paint the window to get rid of that one little orange bit (or is there more I don't see)?

Good luck - what an interesting bathroom treatment you've 'inherited' in this rental!

It is hard to imagine what people were thinking (I know, not your fault!!)

I vote for something that marries all those colors. If such a stripe or pattern exists!

Can you or the landlord at least paint the orange window sill (since the window itself looks like it needs painting, badly!)?

Paint that crazy orange window sill! Otherwise, I agree - maybe a towel-like white shower curtain, big white bath rug, wooden tray with a couple of jars maybe. I would keep things to a minimum since there is already a lot going on in there.

Side note: put your toilet lid down, bad feng shui and weird in pictures.

it's NOT hideous... its just a challenge! and i think it looks kinda fun!
I agree that bold stripes is it. before i saw the black accents i thought "NAVY BLUE and white" and i guess that would still work. I think navy would play off the pink and baby blue well.
But like someone else said: black and white bold stripes is probably the best bet for the curtain, and all accessories can then also be black and white.
And, the other thing that is bothering me... paint the trim on that window. little things like that always help!

the black and white art/theme sounds like the best idea... you can "hang" art on the tile too by using these:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/910630/3M-Removable-Interlocking-Fasteners-With-Command/

just stick them on the tile where you want the art and then on the back of the frame... they come off really easily too, so it's a great option.

What about Marimekko Hetkiä Moments Shower Curtain?
http://www.alwaysmod.com/marimekko-hetkia-showercurtain.html
I think it's really cool for your coloful bath. Good luck!

that. is. just. awesome. if you aren't awake in the morning before you walk in there, you certainly will be as soon as you do!

i would say go all white with accessories. you already have so much color going on that to add more graphic elements might make it too busy, and i think the white might calm it down some. just my two cents, but i tend to like calmer bathrooms, especially since it's the first place i have to go to in the morning.

i agree with patrick to try and paint the window sill...at least get rid of that orange and you can easily, and inexpensively, replace the black towel bars, etc., with silver ones (and you can take them with you when you leave). that'll help as well to minimize the whirlwind of color.

Man oh man! If there was only pink I would suggest a chocolate brown, and if it was only blue I would say gray.
Maybe a glitter shower curtain with a black mat?
(Please update us on the decision)

As a person who LOVES 50s stuff, I think this has potential. I'd be so tempted to go with that big eyed fish plaster stuff from that time period. Those fish often came in blue, too! Or, I'd really femme it up with flowers and lots of girly things! I'd definitely paint that window sill, too. And I'd probably paint the cabinets, maybe paper them with something that has pink 'n blue in it.

I'd like to have the challenge you have. I'd find the answer to this decor dilemma in 1950s kitsch. (I mean, right now, I have a wide pink and white striped shower curtain with pink pom poms, so I know I could make this work.)

I think the worst part for me is the toilet seat. It's glaringly white. It's really too bad that the tub and toilet aren't black, though.

Wait, one last thing, there are blogs and flickr groups dedicated to saving pink bathrooms--maybe you can get ideas from these preservationists:
http://savethepinkbathrooms.com/

ok, on a second look, i see that those black towel bars and soap holders are stuck on the wall, so disregard my replacement comment. man, i've been there and i really feel for you!

You could also totally play up the kitsch-factor of this all and find a suitable vintage Bark cloth and make your own curtain from it.

But DEFINITELY stick to all-white towels.

Holy crap. I'd do plain white basket weave curtain (or some sort of texture). Would match that seat cover and the cabinets. There's already plenty going on in there.. If there's a spot for it, I bet you could find some nice artwork that has blue and pink in it.

I think you could have fun with it. Play it up 50's style. Find some vintage 50's pink and blue pieces. Make it look like this is exactly how you wanted it to look.

Go with the flow and use hot pink towels. Get towels big enough to cover the nutsy black towel rack. I like the shower curtain Kayla chose. Paint the window sill-----and maybe the medicine chest. (Ask permission--you might get it.)

i like the colorful striped shower curtain. i think bathrooms should be the least serious room in the house, so have fun with it. display goofy little toys, fun art, and i think every bathroom needs books. my favorites: the tao of pooh (funny when people catch on) and uncle john's bathroom readers.

I'd go all with all white accessories - congrats on having a fun and unique bathroom!

First I would probably buy a blue toilet seat. I can't believe I said that, but I think it would probably look better all one color. I might even match the pink(!) to paint the cabinets under the sink (if you are allowed to paint them), but would probably keep the white on the cabinets above. Agree about painting the window sill white. Get a nice neutral outer curtain for the shower (maybe all the way to the ceiling to hide any extra pink in the shower's top?)

And then - don't know how they would hold up, but - perhaps try some decals to tone down the pink and pull the different colors together. I'm thinking the Blik decals - but perhaps a little extra DIY would be needed to keep them adhered to the tiles - like cutting them all down into small squares so they don't have to go over the caulking. I've never used the decals, so don't know how well they would stick. Definitely would only try them in areas that wouldn't get wet. And then, when it's time to move, hopefully a razor would get them off easily (or maybe the landlord would be appreciative!)

http://www.whatisblik.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=B&Product_Code=BL-ID-AN

I had a bathroom like this once. I got a vinyl s/c with HUGE Flamingos, it was fun for like 2 seconds than I swapped it for a classy white one and kept the flamingos as the shower curtain liner. Anyway, my bathroom didn't have a pink glitter counter top though, that sounds amazing. As much as you want to embrace the craziness, it just gets old after a while, just go with white accessories, and paint the orange sill white too. The bathroom is already "fun" enough.

Another vote for all white, and specifically for Nephthys's suggestion of white with texture. I am not a fan of black-and-white in a room as small as a bathroom because it looks too much like "theme" decorating to me -- you know, like a grandma-ish bathroom with seashell rug, seashell shower curtain hooks, seashell towels, etc.

I would go with the colors. Adding more white "to tone it down" will make it more conspicuous, not less. It's crazy but true. I think the stripes you picked might be too wild. I agree, try to find a blue toilet seat. I don't think your landlord will notice if you paint the windowsill without asking. My idea here would be to use some white, just not all white. I am trying to think of a third color, maybe even a fourth. A primarily white shower curtain and window curtains with a floral pattern, or a plaid (not a very loud one), that makes it ok to have a few different colors occurring together without making it gross and loud. I think pretending it's not hideous by ignoring the color mismatch will be a mistake. Accessorize with care, but it will look better with some things that make it seem like a fun and pretty room. There's nothing much you can do to make it "elegant" at this point.

Good luck and show some pictures!

Holy Moses.

I don't think there is anything other than a bomb that can help you decorate that bathroom. Don't try to disguise it, as you can't, and go with white.

white, white, white.
For me a bathroom has to feel clean and crisp and black does not. Also I think all white will balance the punches of colors you all ready have the best.

How about a shade of orange? A solid color

The black and white would look cool (and especially the Marimekko shower curtain recommended above), but all that contrast would do nothing to tone down the pink and blue. You might do better to find a color (a less obnoxious pink?) for the shower curtain, towels, etc. that complements the tile and calms it down. And someone above had a good idea for hanging artwork, which would be another opportunity for camouflage of a related color.

I would definitely get a blue toilet seat, if possible.

Believe it or not, a mod print with coordinating colors (and then some) is available at Target: All That Jazz.

If it were me, I'd get this kooky curtain and enjoy it in this bathroom, and leave it behind when I move.

If it was just the pink with no blue, I'd recommend doing the animal prints that are so available lately. I have a friend who did that with a pink/coral tiled bathroom and it looks awesome. Maybe it would work if you found some fuzzy toilet covers (retro look) and hung the shower curtain low to hide the tub?
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p2477/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1|20|||0|||||||leopard&cm_src=SCH

further leopard kitsch: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_19&listing_id=16346076

OMG! I am so lost I can't comment, I would switch (if possible) all the black and orange accents to white, and go with a white curtain.

check out http://retrorenovation.com/
and
http://savethepinkbathrooms.com/

What about just running with the pink/blue theme with the shower curtain?
Pastel Pink/white stripes? Pastel blue/white stripes?

Or go completely crazy with something like this..

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=116841&RN=10&

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=108069&RN=10

In your case, I don't think toning them down will work....

I have an idea that might work.... I suggest getting a Sam Flores Shower Curtain. I have one in my bathroom and it works well to combine a bunch of gross pastel colors. Here is an example http://www.designpublic.com/shop/upper-playground/6355 but you can also just google his name or "upper playground." good luck!

What a hot mess!!!

I would paint the tiles. YES!!! You can prime them and paint over with mildew-resistent paint. It's not going to last forever (and by forever I mean longer than 3 years) but your eyes will thank you!!!

I did this as a quick cure to the fugly pink tilework in our bathroom. Get yourself a bucket of KILZ Primer Sealer, and paint over with a Mildew Mold Resistant paint. If you want to do the minimalist type thing, go with a crisp white. That'll provide a nice canvas to play out the blue fixtures with whatever you want.

Good luck!

People have made a lot of useful comments, so let me just add that personally, I'd get down on my knees and beg my landlord to let me hire a contractor. :')

This isn't just a problem of pink and blue colors, it's that all the different colors sort of compete for attention so your eyes don't rest on any one thing. The brightly striped shower curtain you suggest might just add to that.

So definitely, paint the orange window sill white and find a blue toilet seat, or paint the existing one to match the toilet just to reduce the busy-ness of it all.

If the black towel rail and the soapdishes are the only things that are black, I'd be tempted to paint them out, too, to eliminate one more color. I painted a ceramic towel rack once and it worked very well.

Then you'd only have to deal with the icky sweet pink/blue/white combo. You could go pretty and girly with a blue and white stripe shower curtain with pink ribbons or flowers or buttons, or, for a more contemporary gender-neutral look, add lots and lots of textured white (and grey, navy, black or even beige if you want) in the curtains, shower curtain and decorative doodads.

I wouldn't go with black or white, I would try to marry colors with something like light lilac/violet color. Paint everything you can with it: window sill, cabinets. Replace all towel bars, toilet paper holder, etc with silver ones (or spray paint with silver metallic paint - very easy & fast). The key is to determine your color palette & ruthlessly stick to it, you already have too much going on there. Other easy & cheap places to add color:
- Attach a piece of fabric to your window blind (can use something as simple as double-sided tape, but use something else if you want to be able to wash it)
- You can also "install" bathtub surround & paint it whatever color. Just find/cut a piece of wood to match the height & width of the bathtub's side, paint it, polyurethane the hell out of it, screw in with brackets in front of the bathtub & seal
- A little vase of flowers on the countertop (e.g., lilac if you go with that)

Now that I look at it again, another color that may work is linen beige.

OMG I'm having flashbacks. I lived in a house with the exact same bathroom colors - that fleshy pink with bright blue. ICK.

I was relieved when we eventually went back to a simple black and white with terracotta trim.....

i kind of love it. maybe just embrace it's craziness. pink a black is a great color combo...just paint that sill.

I'd ask to replace the countertop, sink and toliet. If you are at all handy (or know someone who is) this would be a very easy project that I think you could do for around $300 (ask the landlord to split the difference in one month's rent...he might also get a tax decuction by replacing a current inefficient toliet with a newer, water efficient one...I can't remember if that is still in place).

This would bring you to only blue in the tub itself, which would be mostly hidden by the curtain. Reducing the problem to pink and white would make it easier to handle.

I realize you are renting, so spending any money to fix the problem seems counterintuitive. But you could easily spend more money trying to decorate around it.

I'd try wooden pronomen or numerar from Ikea with 2 or 3 coats of marine varinsh to keep it waterproof) and sink (try one of Ikea's many white sinks). The size of the space isn't clear, but there are often bits of pronomen in the 'As Is' area for almost no money. Even if you have to pay retail for the countertop, it would be less than $150 at ikea.

Sink:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60074446

And I'd get a white toliet (cheap ones are under $150) are likely way more water efficient than your big blue boy. Before you buy one, make sure that the drain offset on new toliet is the same as the existing hole in the floor (often 10 or 12 inches).

Toliet:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100416328&N=500597 4294949513 90401 4294965868

Craigslist (or salvage store) fixtures would make replacing the sink and toliet even less expensive:

I don't suppose this would fit (it could be cut down, but might not be big enough). It could address sink and counter, and it also free.

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/zip/889474885.html

To those recommending the bathroom be changed out at landlord's expense...

If this is a new lease, already signed and sealed, and YOU were the landlord, would you consider changing out the bathroom *now*??

The time to negotiate is BEFORE moving in, not after!!

You should check out the article "Can These Bathrooms Be Saved?" in the July 2008 issue of Real Simple:
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1595179-1823650,00.html

Several ways to go. Lose the orange on the sill and find a much subtler stripe curtain of the pink and blue already in the bathroom and yellow on a white background or:

This in blue, grey or pink. And on sale, only 10 bucks. Picking up a deeper shade of either the pink or blue will add an element of intention, a grounding factor. The grey would add a neutral and achieve the same thing.

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p10537/index.cfm?pkey=cshower%2Dcurtains

Or something lke this multi colored this floral from Anthropologe. Make sure the pink and blue of your bathroom are picked up somehere in the print. If you pick up the orange in the print you might be able to keep it in the sill:

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-7870251625542191656&id=890058&parentid=BATH_BATHROOM_CURTAINS&pushId=BATH_BATHROOM_CURTAINS&popId=BATH_BATHROOM&sortProperties=&navCount=21&navAction=poppush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=mul

Or a black and white as so many have suggested:

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-7870251625542191656&id=890035&parentid=BATH_BATHROOM_CURTAINS&pushId=BATH_BATHROOM_CURTAINS&popId=BATH_BATHROOM&sortProperties=&navCount=24&navAction=poppush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=whb

patrick, I replaced a bathroom mirror cabinet at the landlord's expense once, so it can be done. I picked out something within reason that I really liked.

Caveat: the old one was too small and rusty, not very functional with non-adjustable shelves.

Some kind of crazy landlord thing like botching a cool pink bathroom (depends on your perspective) by replacing broken fixtures with whatever came up cheapest (i.e. hard to appeal to ANYONE else) at the salvage yard probably wouldn't be as easy to approach. I'm not sure why landlord's seem keen on sweeping up a matched set when the result is as ugly as this, but I digress. These items still function, which is the obstacle.

I'm going to chance asking to have my ugly kitchen counters (a "free-standing" sink and counter with under cabinets only) replaced eventually, though, they are rotting underneath, installed poorly, plus they're ugly and very cheap. I can't imagine they will offer to replace anything of that proportion with anything but the cheapest they can deal somewhere, though, but I can hope it won't be a lot uglier. It's possible they will let me pay the difference on something I picked out from whatever they'd saddle me with, but I can't take it with me and they'll install it by the lowest bidder or a cousin or someone kind of half-assed at it, so what does it matter? I think it would be hard for me even with a lot of research and hunting to come up with something cheaper in decent condition to supply that we will all be happy with, but I have confidence it can be switched at their full expense.

Asking is not necessarily futile in the OP's case, is what I'm saying, and most people would say it doesn't hurt to ask anyway.

I think this bathroom is super fun! I would recommend black and white - try not to overdo it since there are already two colors there.

Well, I was playing a little bit with this bathroom. I also think it's very interesting and you can find some original solutions for this almost unique room.
I would not spend a big money in something that is not mine.
So, if you want to see some of my ideas for this bath, please go to this website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alicesp/Pictures?authkey=kZ0CkjEhYXY#5260450296744930290
I am sure it can be tons better with the brilliant ideas I have read here so far.
Good Luck!

Per previous suggestions, I would paint the orange sill white and replace the white toilet seat with a blue one. But I would go with light blue towels and a light blue shower curtain (no pattern).

I'd go hog wild and put a curtain with every and all those colors in big bold patterns. You really can't fight all that, you might as well run with it!

everything you could possibly do white; do whilte. Paint anywhere paintable, shower curtain, rugs, accessories. Minimize the damage.

I would paint the trim beneath the window, and then go with something like this:

http://www.izolashower.com/foliage-shower-curtain.html

Hi, it's me! This is my bathroom. Thank you SO MUCH for your helpful comments.

I think I am going to go for a big graphic shower curtain (the Sam Flores one is gorgeous and I very much like the Marimekko Hetkiä Moments one as well) with black & white accessories. I will get rid of all the orange and maybe find some way to affix some (light) artwork to the tile (the entire wall is tiled) with those removable hooks.

If I can't find a shower curtain I love, I will just find one with a giant flamingo and say "to hell with it."

I will try to find a blue toilet seat, but at the very least will search for a coordinating toilet seat cover.

I'll keep you updated!

Hi from the UK

Don't know if you get this store in the USA, but we have store here in the UK called Cath Kidston. She does loads of 1950's style fabrics, linens etc.

Take a look at http://www.cathkidston.co.uk

They may deliver internationally.

p.s. I actually quite like the bathroom - makes a change from the clinical looking white version.

Hi from Pam at http://savethepinkbathrooms.com

Congratulations on your pink bathroom - there are legions of people who love them and actually seek them out. You know, I think that the retro decorating gods have sent you this bathroom for a reason!

Did you know that Mamie Eisenhower popularized pink? And that pink is like "retro botox" - makes you look younger!

I have one more suggestion -- how about finding a vintage chenille bedspread, pink with a design and fringe even - and adapting it into a shower curtain. I think that the softness in the bathroom would tone down the hard edges of this particular bathroom.

Oh, and we've found a company that sells toilet seats in 94 vintage colors - including 6 shades of pink!

K T G--

Of course it never hurts to ask! Agreed!

@KTG-- I doublt that's salvage-- more likely, the bathroom was last re-done back in the early 80's when the bright pink and blue color scheme was trendy.

I had an all pink bathroom once and discovered the best way to disguise it, believe it or not, was with bright red towels. The pink fades away against the bright red. Using black or white just accentuates the contrast and makes the pink stand out more. Unless that's what you're after.

HOLY DECORATING HELL BATMAN!

The red towels is a good idea... could you ask if you could paint the tiles and the land lord foot most of the bill? You are happy and he is happy?

WOW! If you are allowed, there is a special paint for tile.

My friend Amy inherited a bathroom like this and no budget, so she went with it and made it an Elvis themed bathroom. It was definitely a conversation piece and was hilarious.