Sue’s Sleek Victorian Vintage Bathroom

It was a pleasure to help Sue create her dreamy Victorian vintage bathroom, and the results are truly a sight to behold. With this bathroom’s amazing history, we were able to help preserve the vintage look while updating Sue’s bathroom to a modern, contemporary feel using vintage Victorian tiles. The black and white contrast with her iconic hot pink bathtub is a match made in heaven, and we love the sleek and chic results.

We caught up with Sue to find out more about her vintage bathroom renovation project.

Our house started life as a grain store but was soon extended and gentrified by Victorians and later generations who put their stamp on the property. A mix and match of styles which lost any sense of coherence. We wanted to resurrect some late Victorian and Edwardian aesthetics and the bathroom was the final piece of our jigsaw.  

Our bathroom looked dated with a tired 1970s feel- insipid vinyl flooring and cream walls – but it had one redeeming feature – our cast-iron bath! Time marches on, and the decor had to change; we sought inspiration from friends, Period Living and the ultimate ‘visual discovery engine’ that is Pinterest. We wanted a Victorian-style vintage bathroom with panelling and dark wood to showcase the bath. It was painted navy, but I wanted something bold and radical – perhaps a nod to the present day? But what colour? Something bright and contrasting – perhaps Russian velvet? Future generations may look aghast at a pink bath but we love it. We hoped the effort would pay off.

Working with the builder, we stripped the whole bathroom of everything – above and below the floor. We had to remove the doorfram,e and he built a trolley to manoeuvre the extremely heavy bath onto the landing. It lived there for several weeks whilst all the new plumbing was put in place. Lots of angle grinding, plastering and sawing.  A warning to everyone about dust – it gets everywhere, upstairs and down. But would it all be worth it?

Choosing Tiles for our Vintage Bathroom

We started looking for tiles to complement both our pink bath and green walls- not an easy match! Black and white Victorian floor tiles would be the perfect finish, embracing simplicity and avoiding excessive embellishments. Although harking back to Victoriana, we felt that the tiles would withstand the test of time and defy fleeting trend,s unlike our vinyl flooring!

Thank goodness for Direct Tile Warehouse who produce Regent Victorian floor tiles which fulfilled our dreams and aspirations. We thought that things could get no better, but they did when we worked out the costings – so much quality for such a reasonable price. The delivery was quick and efficient, and the customer service was superlative.

What a difference the tiles have made both aesthetically and practically. They look stunning and have brought the bathroom back from the brink. Just as important, they are non-slip, so fewer worries about grandchildren and those of us from a certain demographic coming a cropper!

Job. Well. Done.

Our vintage bathroom is one of our favourite rooms in the house!

Fancy creating a vintage bathroom with Victorian-style tiles? Shop our range here.

Do you have a tile tale to tell? We would love to see your tile transformations – send your pictures and comments to info@directtilewarehouse.com or tag us on social media @directilewarehouse.