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The houses built after the war gave bathrooms a look that people now restore on purpose.
Colored tile and fixtures
Postwar bathrooms often paired pastel ceramic tile with tubs, sinks and toilets in matching colored enamel; pink is the color most tied to the 1950s.5
Four-inch square tile
Walls were commonly finished in roughly four-inch square glazed tile with bullnose trim, made in several slightly different sizes, so measure an original wall before buying matches.6
Sinks on legs or on the wall
A 1954 Kohler catalog offered bathroom sinks on pedestals, on chrome legs, set into vanities, or hung straight on the wall.7
Wood that shows its grain
Mid-century design favored wood stained to show its grain over painted wood; natural wood cabinets are a hallmark of period kitchens.8
What a turn-of-the-century rowhouse bathroom looked like in Baltimore and Richmond, which originals are worth saving, and how historic tax credits can help.
Upstairs, on the bedroom floor
In Brooklyn's late-1800s row houses, the bathroom went on the bedroom floor, away from the public rooms, and very few gave the toilet its own separate closet.11
White glazed wall tile
Toward 1900, tile became the bathroom wall covering of choice because plain white glazed tile was easy to clean and seen as sanitary; subway tile was especially popular, often with a band of colored or embossed accent tile.11
Small unglazed floor tile
In middle-class houses of the era, bathroom floors were usually unglazed white tile, often hexagons or squares, sometimes with black accent tiles.11
The clawfoot tub
Enameled cast-iron clawfoot tubs became the tub of choice by 1885 and stayed in fashion until the 1920s, when the double-walled enameled tub became the next new thing.11
How a bathroom in a Jersey Shore house is built to take water and salt: tile set in mortar, cement board, rust-resistant metal, and the flood rules shore towns enforce.
Tile set in mortar
FEMA's flood-materials bulletin rates ceramic and porcelain tile acceptable for floors and walls below the flood elevation only when set in mortar; tile set with organic adhesive is not acceptable.15
Stone with waterproof grout
FEMA rates natural stone acceptable for floors and walls below the flood elevation when it is a non-absorbent solid or veneer set with waterproof grout.15
Cement board behind the walls
FEMA rates cement board and fiber-cement board acceptable for walls below the flood elevation, while paper-faced gypsum board is not acceptable for walls or ceilings.15
Vinyl or tile underfoot, not wood
FEMA rates homogeneous vinyl tile or sheet vinyl laid with chemical-set adhesives acceptable for floors below the flood elevation, but not vinyl over plywood, solid or engineered wood flooring, or carpet.15
How Wilmington's brick rowhouses are laid out, what a period bathroom in one looks like, and how Delaware's historic tax credit and city rules shape the work.
Narrow and several rooms deep
The typical brick row house in Wilmington's Quaker Hill district is narrow but several rooms deep: a long side hall, a parlor nearest the street, a dining room behind it and a kitchen beyond.16
A room behind the kitchen
Behind the kitchen, the typical Quaker Hill row house had another room attached to the rear, used as an extra sleeping room, a pantry or a storage shed.16
Brick, two and three stories
Brick construction dominates Wilmington's Quaker Hill Historic District, where two- and three-story row houses were built alongside detached and semi-detached houses.16
Second-floor bays
Rows in Wilmington's Delaware Avenue Historic District include second-floor bays, such as the half-octagonal bays with pilasters on a Shallcross Avenue row and the slate-covered bays on a six-house Hancock Street row where every house has a porch.17
What a 1910s or 1920s bungalow or foursquare kitchen looked like in Columbus and Cleveland, which originals to save, and which rules apply before you start.
Built for the family, not servants
Most bungalows, American Foursquares and Tudor Revival houses had kitchens built for the family's own use by the woman of the house, not just for servants.21
Small, but part of the main floor
Bungalow-era kitchens may have been small, but they were part of the main floor plan and had built-ins and electricity.21
Simple painted cabinets
Original bungalow-era kitchens were often small, plain and utilitarian, with simple painted cabinets.21
Beadboard or white tile below
The lower walls of an original bungalow-era kitchen often had a wainscot of beadboard or white tile.21
Prewar New York City apartment bathrooms, piece by piece
Why New York City's prewar apartment bathrooms have white mosaic floors, tiled walls and exposed plumbing, what the city's housing code still requires, and what to save.
A private toilet in every apartment
New York's Tenement House Act of 1901, the "New Law," required individual apartments to have running water, private water closets and outdoor-facing windows for every bedroom.23
A toilet and a bath in every newer apartment
New York City's Housing Maintenance Code requires every apartment in a multiple dwelling erected after April 18, 1929 to contain a water closet and a bath, and every apartment in a new law tenement to contain both as well.24
Small white hexagonal floor tile
Small, white, unglazed tiles in round, square, octagonal or hexagonal shapes were promoted for their sanitary qualities, particularly for bathroom floors.25
White glazed tile on the walls
Alongside those small white mosaic floors, larger rectangular white glazed tiles were used for bathroom walls and wainscoting.25
How a postwar Texas ranch house laid out its kitchen, den and patio, which details still suit it, and what to check in the slab before a kitchen remodel starts.
The kitchen at the living end of the house
In Austin's Travis Heights-Fairview Park district, Ranch houses grouped public and private rooms at opposite ends of the long house: the entry usually opened into the living room, which led to the kitchen and dining areas, while bedrooms and baths lined a narrow hall.30
U, L, corridor or one-wall plans
Kitchens of the 1950s came in four common arrangements: a U with counters on three sides, an L, a corridor with counters on two sides, and a one-wall Pullman kitchen.31
A breakfast nook or dining alcove
Postwar plans often built a place to eat into the kitchen itself; a breakfast nook, dining alcove or snack space appeared in 59 percent of the sample floor plans studied.31
A den, added as the plans grew
Early Ranch houses surveyed in southwest Travis County put two bedrooms at one end and the living room, dining room and kitchen together at the other; later versions added more bedrooms, several bathrooms and bonus rooms such as dens.32
4Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value Report 2024, Salisbury, MD. Released 2024. Salisbury, MD (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
5Preservation Idaho, Idaho Modern Field Guide. No publication date. View source. Industry source.
6Retro Renovation, Tile in retro colors for your mid century bathroom. Released January 22, 2019. View source. Industry source.
7Retro Renovation, Vintage bathroom sinks: the seven distinct design styles. Released March 13, 2013. View source. Industry source.
8a2modern, Characteristics of Mid-century Modern. No publication date. View source. Industry source.
9Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2024, Richmond. Released 2024. Richmond. Industry source.
10Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Virginia Beach. Released 2025. Virginia Beach. Industry source.
11Brownstoner, From Pakistan to Brooklyn: A Quick History of the Bathroom. Released November 28, 2016. View source. Industry source.
12Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2024, Trenton, NJ. Released 2024. Trenton, NJ (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
13Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, New York, NY. Released 2025. New York, NY (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
14Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Released 2025. Philadelphia, PA (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
15FEMA, NFIP Technical Bulletin 2: Flood Damage-Resistant Materials Requirements (January 2025). Released January 2025. View source.
16National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Nomination: Quaker Hill Historic District Amendment, Wilmington, Delaware. Released 1985. View source.
17National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Nomination: Delaware Avenue Historic District Amendment, Wilmington, Delaware. Released 1986. View source.
18Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Cincinnati, OH. Released 2025. Cincinnati, OH. Industry source.
19Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Cleveland, OH. Released 2025. Cleveland, OH. Industry source.
20Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Columbus, OH. Released 2025. Columbus, OH (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
21Arts & Crafts Homes, Revival Kitchens (Patricia Poore). Released August 27, 2013. View source. Industry source.
22Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Buffalo, NY. Released 2025. Buffalo, NY (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
23New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Public Housing in New York City, 1934 to 1973, National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form (prepared by Higgins Quasebarth & Partners). Released June 2026. View source.
24NYC Department of Buildings, New York City Housing Maintenance Code (Admin. Code Title 27, Chapter 2), PDF. No publication date. View source.
25National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, Preservation Brief 40: Preserving Historic Ceramic Tile Floors (Anne E. Grimmer and Kimberly A. Konrad). Released October 1996. View source.
26Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Austin, TX. Released 2025. Austin, TX (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
27Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Dallas, TX. Released 2025. Dallas, TX (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
28Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Houston, TX. Released 2025. Houston, TX (Cost vs. Value market). Industry source.
30Texas Historical Commission, National Register nomination, Travis Heights-Fairview Park Historic District, Austin. Released July 1, 2020. View source.
31National Park Service, NCPTT, Identifying the 1950s Ranch House Interior as a Cultural Resource. Released April 7, 2025. View source.
32Travis County Historical Commission, Cultural Resources Survey and Assessment, Southwest Travis County, Texas (Preservation Central, Inc.). Released October 2015. View source.
33Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, national. Released 2025. United States. Industry source.
