I feel your pain. I have something very similar, except in yellow. Even the tub, toilet and sink.

I replaced the vanity with something contemporary (and white) which hangs from the wall, and really opens up the space. Many vintage baths like this use pedestal sinks, which depending on your storage needs, might or might not work for you, but would fit the retro bath look. If it's not an option to replace it right away, you might consider some Bakelite handles to replace what's there.

If you could lose the wall cabinet near the toilet, that would help too.

A simple shower curtain can replace the shower doors. Black and white accessories would be a safe bet.

If it were me, I think I would go with dark grey on the cabinets, some interesting pulls (maybe mostly simple in black, but with a few interesting ones like these:http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=19919612&catId=HOME-HARDWARE&navCount=18&navAction=top&isProduct=true&pushId=HOME-HARDWARE&popId=HOME-HARDWARE&fromCategoryPage=true&color=072&subCategoryId=HOME-HARDWARE or maybe these:http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=77112&parentid=BAYNOTE), and a pale-ish grey on the walls. Fluffy white towels & bathmats (e.g., http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3899967) would be nice, and then some warm wood accents.

I don't have any ideas for your vanity, but I'd remove the upper cabinets to open the space up and paint the upper walls white since you've already got enough colour happening.

dark grey cabinets, and new pulls will go a long way to brighten up your white countertop. I had a similarly ugly shower door and removed it. It wasn't hard to do and made the bathroom so much nicer. There is a good post in the AT archives about removing them.
This looks like a really neat bathroom with tons of potential. Would love to see the before+after pics!

I think you have gotten some good suggestions here. I like removing the upper cabinets, and I like the dark Grey lower cabinets you might consider a dark grey with a slight brown hue to help it work best with the green. In terms of paint to get the best bang for your buck you should use Aura paint from Ben Moore. It is the best paint out there but especially formulated for wet environments. Not cheap by any means however you will not have to repaint for many years and you will not get mold growing anywhere.
I do this for a living and have been offering free advice for apartment therapy readers. Feel to write or call any time. Aura paint is great but a bit difficult to get used to because it is a tad runny out of the can. You will need to do good prep to save time when cleaning up. Cheers Kellam

Kellam R. Clark
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Bright, bright white on the walls (and body of the upper cabinets - I think you should lose the doors, at least), and echo the dark grey/black combo for the lower cabinets. And maybe try those epoxy based refinsher kits on the Corian? (I think Rustoleum has a grey with black that would be nice.)

I like the suggestions so far about grey cabinetry and removing the upper cabinets. If you need storage you can replace with shelving. It should open the space up.

Also, if you feel like spending $250 you can look into the Rustoleum Countertop Transformations to redo the counters. I would go with black to match the tile.

I think a combination of grey and bright white would be nice. Maybe you could paint the walls grey and trim, cabinets and the countertop white? If that isn't possible I would paint the lower cabinet a darker grey, the upper cabinets & trim white and the wall a lighter grey. Then accessorize with white.

I agree with the others that the upper cabinet should go which will open up the space and feel less heavy. I'd paint the walls and lower cabinets white, and change the counter top if that's possible. Change the pulls to stainless steel. I'd keep the accessories white too, hang an extra long white shower curtain from a bar that's installed right up to the ceiling, change the window blind to white. With everything else white, the tile will be the focus, in a good way.

I don't have suggestions for everything but I would like to second (fourth?:) the white walls and upper cabinets idea. I think that the seafoam could look really nice with a true bright white.

I'm with white everything, too. I have a pink/maroon tile bathroom, and made everything else bright white. It really cleaned it up. And you can just bleach the bathmats and shower curtain, non prob.

still looks pretty 60s to be. I dig the retro vibe and could live with it if it were clean. now the early 90s bath remodel in my home with tan/beige fake marble everywhere... there is no saving it.

It might look nice to remove the mirror and use something large and in charge - and ornate frame, perhaps?

It'd give you the ability to customize a bit to your taste, without having the giant price tag of a gut rehab.

If you are a homeowner now, then you should seriously just start a savings fund for your bathroom, then re-do it for real. Sorry, not exciting advice, but you should be happy you are not a renter.

The tile is actually pretty cool looking, but the rest of the bathroom is so dated and all over the place that it doesn't show!

I would remove the upper cabinets and the shower door and do everything else bright, true white- white paint, white linens, white shower curtain, white accessories. Maybe some modern stainless pulls on the vanity drawers and doors. Then the tile will be the star!

A few ideas:

1. We had great success with repainting an 80s vanity with high-gloss dark walnut paint. We replaced the knobs and pulls with more contemporary styles and you'd never know that it wasn't brand new. Your older countertop should be fine as-is.

2. Install a new sink fixture to match the vanity hardware. Install new lighting fixtures to match.

3. Add some black & white to your color scheme. Get rid of the shower doors and replace them with a traditional rod that will hide the 80s patterned tile. A bold black & white floral curtain (marimekko style - check out Overstock's options) and coordinating window valance/roman blind would be great. The contrast will minimize the "shock" of the seafoam color. Bright white walls and trim.

4. Taking down the wall cabinet would be great, but you don't want to deal with tilework. If there's no tile behind it, install a plain glossy white board and use it to mount some small glass shelves for storage.

I love it that you are going to go with the period of the tile. Great idea.

I think you need to simplify -there's too much going on there. Yes, take down the upper cabinet.

I really think that painting walls and vanity bright white would not work because the corian appears to be a pinkish beige. Bright white will make it look peachier, which would be a problem against the green.

Why not look for wallpaper in a nicely retro pattern? Something that incorporates the dark and light green and also has something that works with the corian counter? And some other color as an accent. Maybe a rust or orangey or....whatever. Some color picked up from the wallpaper.

Here is one resource from Apt Therapy with links to wallpapers:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/best-wallpaper-sources-2010-128191

Oh, and I forgot to say that the corian doesn't go well with the color of the vanity. Whatever color you go with for the vanity, do not forget to check it against the corian before proceeding. Ideally you want a color that will make it look whiter, not pinker.

Painting the walls and cabinets stark white, or probably even light gray, isn't really going to "embrace" the color scheme of your tile so much as it is going to create stark contrast with the dark green tile and make it really stand out.

I have a bathroom like this (pink tile, crimson red trim). Believe, me, this is a situation where more is more. Add more color to that room. Find a textile that you love - a shower curtain, a fabric swatch to make a roman shade, whatever - it should have the same color as your light green tile, as well as other colors, in it. Then bring those other colors in with paint, towels, accessories, etc. Green, gray and pale yellow might be your best bet (that corian looks like it might be a little ivory, not stark white?), or maybe green, ivory and something punchy like coral - but find something you like to be your inspiration piece.

I agree with the advice to take down that upper cabinet entirely - unless in doing so you're going to have a gap in that trim tile. Replace it with something more open, or at least more period-appropriate (cottage-y). You know you're ditching those pulls. I'd replace the mirror too, with a nice framed one. Finally, you don't have to ditch the dated shower door unless it's not functional. Throw up a shower curtain in front of it, problem solved.

Check the Retro Renovation site for suggestions on older bathrooms.

That's not an 80's bathroom at all - It's an original 1960's bathroom.

I'd repaint the cabinetry and walls a neutral color, update the hardware - and leave the rest alone. That quality of tilework & construction just isnt' found in new work nowadays.

Hmmm...I actually like this bathroom! I would only change the countertop and mirror, and remove the upper cabinets as others have said.

I actually don't mind the tiles. I'd change the hardware to something crystally and paint the cabinets dark green.

I think the only thing here that is from the 80's is the counter. And as a huge fan of those '60's tiles, wouldn't dream of getting rid of them. I'd go for a laminate counter in white and a new white sink, a paint job (white as well on the walls and cabinets) and leave it at that.

Wow,I would trade my bathroom for this one anyday.We recently got rid of our purple toilet & purple sink and are awaiting the day we can switch out our ugly purple tub!yuck!Looks like the only thing you really need to do in this bathroom is freshen up the paint on the cabinets....your tile doesn't look so bad,your counter even looks nice,but I might change the floor.I think you should be lucky you have a bathroom in an older house that is this nice.....I've seen some pretty horrible ones lately!

This is kind of specific but the tile color reminds me of a 1950s Scandinavian hospital. I'd go with that and paint the rest bright white, use stainless steel wherever you can, glass, and retro '50s streamlined looking accessories, and keep it as spare as possible. You'd need to replace the countertop or color it white.
Otherwise, a deep matte navy with navy towels, etc. could be nice with the dark and light greens and would compliment the countertop as well and any creamy white areas.
The tile is also a plant color so you could do a craftsman style/deco floral wallpaper involving cream and green in a mossier tone, with all cream old-fashioned linens. And porcelain drawer-pulls.

Thank you all for the great suggestions, ideas and links. I'm starting to like this house more and more. The room definitely still has the original 60s feel, though the countertop and light fixtures, were probably a later update. The countertop does, however, have a pink tone to it, presumably to match the former owner's preference for pink trim paint by the window.

Keep it coming. If we get the house, I hope my after pics do your great suggestions justice.

Maybe paint the vanity base dark green to match the darker tile? Definitely check out retrorenovations.com and the spin-off site http://savethepinkbathrooms.com/ Although they focus on pink, it's the same concept of bringing together a cool look with the mid-century tile.

It sounds like you are not a pink fan, but if you can't replace the corian counter right away, maybe a pale pink-beige paint for the wall would bring it together.

The tile by itself is a cool retro look. That tile is dramatic. Don't try to overpower it with contrast, as with white or any other color. It's NOT going away, and any attempt to do so will just make your eyes burn when you walk in there. Go softly into that good loo!

Pull the upper cabinet as suggested. I like the gray idea for the lower cabinet. And even for the wall, providing you make sure it's a very soft gray with green undertones, not blue. Lose the box, add a fern to justify the greens, and some little fufu picture or ornament - anything you like, just to provide proof that there is life after 1966 - so something modern and not antique. Soft gray again for the towels.

The countertop is corian? so cool. If it has any marks or stains, they can be polished right out!
Unpainted corian will last forever.

Updated brushed nicked hardware to reflect the palette and mimic your grays and pick up just the right shades from them, and you're done. No strain on your budget at all, tile accepted with calm grace. Or grays, if you prefer.

I'm in agreeance with babyfishmouth: embrace the green and add more pop to the room. I am a renter with about the same shade green for tiles, bathrub, floor, toilet, and sink. I finally settled on a bold scheme of black and red with the green. Before that, I tried turquoise, aqua & browns and they never seem to do that green any justice like the red and black. You can check out some of it here:

http://creativeblossoming.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/diy-shower-curtain/

Just weighing in on the age of the corian counter - I'd be very surprised if it's the same period as the tile. Corian was really high end when it first came out and I'm pretty sure it wasn't used in ordinary residential bathrooms until the 80s. Those 1930's to 1950s tile bathrooms usually had pedestal sinks. If they had a vanity, it was formica, linoleum or tile.

It's not that expensive to replace a vanity counter and sink - you can find them at big box stores for under $200. Since the countertop is a problem, replacing it might be a good option.

I would venture a guess that the countertops were originally tile also -- green with black trim/accents - and were likely chipped over time and needed to be replaced. To toss out another idea, how about looking around for a black marble or granite countertop (you might even be able to find a piece big enough for your purposes left over from a big job). After that (some of these are repeats of ideas above): paint the cabinets BM Simply White, replacing the pulls (if you can fill in the extra holes) with some sixties-ish with knobs that have black and white circles or checks, update the sink to plain white with nice chrome fixtures, remove the glass/metal shower door and replace with cool graphic black and white shower curtain (have even seen one at Target that would work), remove upper cabinet, get window shade that keeps with black and white/sixties vibe, ditch the flourescent lights for something a little space-age looking, and paint walls Simply White (really like that color), add black and/or white towels, candles (OK - not so sixties!) and any other touches that make it a happy place for you. Even though that list seems long, if you're a savvy shopper and even a bit handy, I don't think it will cost too much and you'll be preserving really unique handiwork that just needs a mini-makeover to bring out its charms again.

Jennifer, your bathroom is nearly identical to our 1957 green tiled beauty: http://www.stagednormalcy.com/?p=264 We plan to eventually paint the walls white, although I don't mind the teal color we have now. Removing the cabinet over the toilet might help open things up.

Just as it is, that's one good-looking bathroom! I even like the shower door because it relates to the window. Yes, the upper cabinet looms a bit much. Would removing it take out too much storage?