A Peek inside Chez QT

When we were looking at houses seven years ago I had a list of things I wanted: an older home with a front porch and a fireplace, and tons of vintage charm. A bungalow would have been perfect.

We bought a 1960 split level with a bad septic system and a tainted well.

But at least we got it for a good price! ;) This was at the height of the real estate boom, and we considered ourselves lucky to even find a house after selling our townhouse in 4 days.

So it wasn't my dream home, but over the years I think we've made it our own. We love the area and the countryside is open all around us. The house was being sold by the estate of the original owner, so all the "period" 1960 details were mostly intact. There were two things that closed the deal for us: a knotty pine-paneled family room and an original pink bathroom.

Now I know those of you who are not "retro-inclined" may be wondering what sort of mental delusions we suffer under to consider those things virtues. But I assure you that we are in complete control of our faculties (if little else, these days.)

My husband wanted the paneling because he could hang his deer heads right on the wall and wouldn't have to worry about them falling down. (He's nothing if not practical, and a very good shot- we have enough deer on the wall to name them at Christmastime.)

I wanted the pink bathroom because my grandmother had one, and I inherited all her vintage pink towels. Nothing like matching your bathroom to your towels! Besides, the pink bathroom is an icon of mid-Century America and so many have been ripped out in favor of the trendy "spa-like" look that I thought it was time someone made a stand.

So we embraced our pink bathroom, even retro-vating it a little by installing a white hex tile floor in place of the previous carpet. (Which was pink shag, although until we took out the vanity that sat on top of it, I thought it was brown! Blech!) We installed a pedestal sink, new light and painted the walls white. We also replaced the baby-blue tile border with black, which I think makes it a little more sophisticated.

First here's the "before" picture- the walls and ceiling were freshly painted like the inside of a swimming pool, presumably to match the blue tile, although it glowed like neon!



Here's the "after":



I think it came out quite well, don't you?