The Bathroom in A New House on a New Landscape

Can you believe a mere century ago, most homes in the country had no indoor plumbing? The bathroom was an outhouse if you were lucky. I’ve seen houses which were modified to include a bathroom, and that often meant building a second story to do that. I can recall some members of the generation before the greatest generation not liking a bathroom in the house. I overhead an elderly relative in the early ’80s saying he still had an outhouse and no indoor bathroom because he was disgusted by the idea of using the bathroom in his house. I’m just grateful I don’t have to go outside at all!

The modern bathroom contains some form of commode, sinks, and full body washing station (shower/bath/combination of both) and various other uses. Most homes today feature more than one bathroom, including spaces with just a toilet and sink.

Since this book on my life is more about reality as opposed to being a dreamhouse, I stick with the basics. In my childhood, when my parents built a second bathroom, they partially remodeled the existing bathroom. It was 1989, and the remodel began with ordering a custom made vanity. The existing vanity was a double sink feature, and growing up I always saw those sinks as “Mom’s and Dad’s” sinks. We kids were free to use either, but we gravitated toward Mom’s. I think it was the left to right mentality, and we just went for the left sink. The replacement vanity kept the double sink concept, modernized the faucets into an updated style, and rather than just feature a cabinet underneath, it went a step further.

There was a left side cabinet, and a right side cabinet. Down the center, there were three drawers. One for each kid. As the oldest, I got the top drawer. The vanity was a lovely cream shade with a hint of pinkishness to it. The hardware was a dark gunmetal color with a high shine finish. The original ’70s wall tile was kept, and it is a medium blue color. The new flooring was a vinyl sheet covering the existing tile, and it matched the blue and the cream/pink color. Mom even found a shower curtain featuring geese with pink ribbons, and she matched a set of pink/cream throw rugs to that. I suspect this contributed to my need for things to match or at least go well together.

The second bathroom for her and Dad was a scaled down earth-tone and wood theme. There were dots of navy blue in most of the decor. The fixtures were matching wood framed style down to the seat of the toilet. I don’t like wood stuff in the bathroom unless it is sealed well against dampness.

My current facility is a pale lavender which goes with most accessories I have matched it to. I’ve had floral themes, ocean themes, and the current theme is a lighthouse one. I’ve never really gotten to decorate a house like my parents have. Life is different for the X generation; but there is always tomorrow.