This soft grey & white mid century bathroom from 1955 checked all the boxes: function, grace and beauty.
Flattering immaculate white and gray were the main colors, but so the tiling woudln’t seem too cool and remote, it was stabbed with a red counter and washcloths as brilliant as lipstick.
SEE MORE: 36 vintage 1950s bathroom tile design ideas
Designs with tender doves flew above the tub, and pools of sun warmed the floor. There was even a terry-covered contour chair for beauty treatments here.
In addition to the wood-paneled ceiling and large skylight window, the homeowner was also presented with a confident mix of heirloom crystal and stainless steel, modern marble and signed ceramics.
Towels repeat the tile motif
Ceramic tiles, designed by Millard Sheets, had tracery of red berries and leaves and white and gray doves fluttering across the gray wall.
Doves reappeared on the opposite wall as a decoration on the gray and white towels that hang on horizontal bars, hand-wrought by Charles Piper.
Machine-made embroidery had the delicacy of intricate handwork, yet laundered perfectly.
A square shower is a thing of beauty
For times when nothing replaces a shower, here is one, glass-encased and sparkling, that delighted both eye and body.
Its transparency revealed — and took advantage of — the pattern of bands of gray and white ceramic tile that traveled down the wall and across the floor.
To needle circulation into a tingling response, there were four adjustable shower heads, two to each wall. An opening above the doors prevented unpleasant humidity and steam.
Note the happy counterpoint of textures — the redwood ceilings and cabinets played against the slickness of glass and tile.