Wow, I've seen plenty of mint fixtures, but I've never seen that shade of green.
The toilet and the tub could be worked with - in that "it is so ugly, it is cool" sort of theory, but the vanity needs to be replaced. It is not cool, just ugly (sorry).
If the toilet and tub are still in good condition, could you possible find some glass accent tiles that coordinate?
It could be a really dramatic look. I'd replace the surround with really plain, light tiles, accented with maybe glass mosaics.
I've left a link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Iridescent glass mosaics

Those are hilarious! You could work around the green fixtures and come up with something cool. Maybe multi-color slate, or glass tiles. I could see craftsman working around green, but the sink would be the tough part. What would you do if you keep the green? A wood vanity would be great, but what about the sink color?

The sink is definately going! I was thinking of a craftsmen/mission style vanity. Kinda like this one...

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=61656-444-C16630A&lpage=none

I wasn't sure about the sink color, either. I'm guessing I won't be able to find a similar green one, so I'll probably have to do white.

I wonder about something like this? Lots of wood and minimal white? Maybe a clear glass sink bowl? Or metalic?

http://www.nhwoodworking.com/Mission_Vanity.html

I love the glass mosaics! I saw some multi-green colored ones on the first page that just might have the right shade of green.

Thanks everyone!!

P.S. In case anyone was wondering, according to the manufacturer the actual color of the fixtures is "Sunny Green". The weirdos that built the home maticulously saved every scrap of paperwork for every purchase they made building the house. I've got the origional glossy booklet advertising those green fixtures. There were other fabulous colors available, too.

could you do green laminate or Corian for the countertop, and a white sink? Esp.if you went with a solid-surface counter and an undermount sink.

Then, if your tile work was mostly white, w/ green accents, it would look deliberate.

And you could do only white, if you went w/ white tile and green accents; you could rim the vanity in the same tile, perhaps?

I thought I had the ugliest bathroom in regards to color, but yours has mine beat. Mine has the original, early 60's, darkish mint green countertop and surround. It's the next thing to be redone (we've already done huge kitchen, dining room, and master bathroom remodels). I even hated the lighting fixtures, which were (they're now painted garden ornaments) two hanging lights on chains that went up the wall to hooks on the ceiling, and hung down over the sinks. When we had the house carpeted we had leftover carpet put over the most butt ugly flooring to hide it until we redid that bathroom. We've already put the new lighting fixtures in and from there I've pretty much worked with the green tile color. Instead of hiding it I've kinda hidden it in plain sight. I've taken away from THAT green by adding more green, mainly a dark, dark green, if that makes sense.

I have three large pictures in there (two over the toilet and one on the end wall. The towel holders are a dark green. I have two large hanging plants over the sink area in dark green hangers and another large standing plant on the counter between the sinks. The towels I use in that bathroom are all a very dark green. The funny thing is that I actually am starting to like it now, altho we're thinking about resurfacing the counter top as well as the surround a different, more neutral color.

I don't know, I can't help but think that if you either change or get rid of the wallpaper and change the flooring that it might be easier to work with that green color. Altho I'm really not good at coming up with different ideas I really like those irridescent glass tiles that gardenspice has on her post. I can almost picture one or two of those greens being used as a surround and the counter top.

Jenna

Oh my.

I thought you were indulging in a bit of hyperbole, but you weren't.

I have this wierd feeling that those fixtures might actually be worth something to the right person...

Introduce some dark wood into the room. It will look go-ood! with the green and it will warm it up.

Ya know...you could probably submit this job to one of the makeover design shows on HGTV or TLC. It is so unusual but in a pleasant way.

"Oh, my style is kinda craftsman/old world/potterybarn."

If your style was "funky retro", "tropical jungle" then yes, absolutely. But Pottery Barn? uh...

Now that said, you COULD go William Morris on the wallpaper and mission on a vanity, and pinwheel tile on the floor and maybe pull something off that's fabulous. Or maybe an antique oak washstand with some arts & crafts tiles? Here are two swatches of William Morris wallpapers -- just Google for many, many more that could work

LOL. We passed on buying a house with that-color-green fixtures in the one-and-only bathroom. OK, there were other reasons we took the pass (no garage; kinda dated elsewhere, too). But that bathroom was an immediate "deduct for remodeling" ...

So now I own a mid-70s rambler with white fixtures (TG!), olive green ceramic tile, a slightly different shade of green mosaic ceramic on the floor, and that dark wood the 70s were famous for. The old vanity top -- yet a third variation on green-marbled ivory -- has been recycled (can't believe someone else thought it was an improvement, but there you are) in favor of a solid off-white. The walls were white, but they're now a greige with some green in it. And, surprisingly, the color works pretty well. In fact, if I were to replace the fixtures and vanity top here, I'd be strongly tempted to go darker and I'm not usually a fan of going darker. Might be worth playing with if replacing the fixtures is not a given.

Those fixtures are really so ugly a color that they are cool. You would have no problem selling them. They are a hot item for the retro look. I would also frame the ads you have and hang on the wall . The glass tiles idea sounds beautiful and there are so many swirling glass vessel sinks that I bet you can find one to put into a retro chrome stand. I know that isn't the Craftsman thing but the fixtures are pure '50's so if it were me I would look up pics of those bathrooms and do that instead.

Wow, you have my sympathies -- like Jenna1, we had a dark mint green tub/toilet, combined with pale yellow cracked tiles (photos below). Ours was super ugly too, but we decided to paint the tub because it would cost a fortune to demolish the old tile flooring. The stuff is worn and awful, but sunk in 3 solid inches of mortar that three contractors and flooring installers have refused to take on. So we threw a washable carpet flooring over the tiles, and painted the tub a nice neutral almond. I console myself that it could be worse, my MIL had a million dollar 1920's home with the exact same green toilet and tub, but her coordinating tile was PALE PINK. Ugghh! Great if you like retro but otherwise, it was enough to make you puke.
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

But I think your friends are right. Your green tub and toilet (assuming they are in good shape) are just the right shade to look very striking against a background of dark wenge wood and a rich ivory wall paint. Those William Morris prints would be a stunning shower or window curtain if you don't want to do wallpaper; there are many upholstery fabrics in these types of patterns. Green was a favorite color for A&C designers so you will find a wide choice of patterns.

What I think is most critical is the vanity countertop. Classic would be a cream (not white, too stark) porcelain cast iron drop-in, fluted bowl sink, with a dark green marble countertop. I'd do satin nickel or stainless fixtures but that's just me, I'm not a chrome fan (had it, been there, done with constantly wiping it down).

Maybe a flooring of those small ivory hexagon tiles, with the scattered "flower petal" pattern (sorry, don't know the right design term) in dark green with a dark red center? Very classic A&C.

Thanks for everyone's ideas. I think I'll look into the craftsman scheme - dark wood, green glass accent tiles. I like the idea of the William Morris print shower curtin. If it looks like it's not going to work, I'll ebay the fixtures. :-)

Final question...
I located a never used drop-in sink on ebay that went with this set for $199. Should I go for this sink, or would that be too much green?

It's really ugly. But that tub and toilet aren't so bad!

I'd check salvage yards before paying that much for an avocado green sink. There's a great architectural salvage place in Port Angeles, WA which has every color of the rainbow--if a town that size has them, I'm sure something in a bigger city will have even more.

Anyway, I'd go with a brighter theme--white subway tile with colorful bands maybe? It looks like a small room and I'd worry that a dark scheme might make it look like a '70s basement add-on. But I can't really tell with those pictures.

If you're going to go w/ this green, I think I'd get the sink. So it looks more "on purpose".

And then drop it into a stone or solid-surfacing vanity top in your contrasting color (personally I'd go for bright white over ivory, frankly--fresher, and more "Pottery Barn" and sort of modern-yet-classic).

I had fixtures in almost that same exact green, and lived with them for years by painting the walls a dark chocolate brown and going for a "natural" motif (shells, branches, black and white photos), with a white terry cloth shower curtain. Strong wall color seemed to tone down the strong fixture colors. The William Morris wallpaper idea would work, too.

In all those years, though, I never felt comfortable taking a bath in the pea-green tub. It just never seemed clean. And believe me, when we put that toilet out by the curb for trash pick-up nobody salvaged it for resale on Ebay.

My advice: try to decorate around the green for now. And whatever you do, don't buy a pea-green sink. You deserve a white sink. Get the style of vanity you really want, and replace those other fixtures eventually.

I agree - don't get the sink. That's too much green!

I have seen a lot of sinks in my time, and oh, did I laugh when I saw yours! I do think you win the prize. Don't you just wish you knew why the previous owner had a desire to look at a colonial scene while bathing? About the sink, how about a glass vessel sink? The one I bought is clear tempered glass, but has a slight green cast when you look at the edges. 40$ on xbay. This way the sink gives a hint of that oh-so-interesting color and can stay when the others go. I agree with everyone else it could be a cool bath, but I think you would have to make it kind of dark and muted. I know many folks are afraid of putting dark colors in small rooms, but it can actually make the room look cosy/warm. On the bright side.... Those green fixtures don't show the dirt as easily as white. Grin.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bathroom-Glass-Vessel-sink-with-Pop-up-drain_W0QQitemZ330036671664QQihZ014QQcategoryZ116356QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

>>>Don't you just wish you knew why the previous owner had a desire to look at a colonial scene while bathing?I did wonder that when I moved in because I've got 4 little colonial tiles embedded in my kitchen counter, too. And let me add, it's really creepy having a colonial guy in the shower with me. I feel like he's going to look up and take a peek at me while I'm lathering up.

A few weeks after we moved in, the weirdos who designed and built the house called and asked if they could come see the house. They explained that they were in town and hadn't seen if for years, and they just loved that house.

So, they came for a tour and proudly explained that the house was built in 1976, the sesquintennial, and they installed those colonial features to commemorate the event. Now why they couldn't just put a flag-on-a-stick in their yard or buy a commemorative plate or something else less stupid and permanant, I don't know.

They were really proud of the bathroom, and all their decorating (the rest of the house is just as random and weird). It was so hard to keep a straight face and compliment their work during the tour. They were a very nice couple, just really, really bad at decorating.

O no! it was a bicentennial bathroom? Sheesh, they couldn't have gotten a blue toilet? I'm afraid if you rip out those colonial guys, you'll be very unpatriotic!

Hey, it could have been worse. They could have done a red bathtub, blue toilet, and white sink to be really patriotic!

Although I am willing to concede you the prize for ugliest bathroom, I am firm in the belief we are still a major contender for Ugliest Kitchen award. Your story of the previous owners reminded me that when we bought our house with plans to completely gut it -- there was literally nothing worth keeping except the oak flooring that had been hidden by urine-stinky, filthy brown shag carpeting -- the little old ladies who had owned the house stopped by and kindly offered to give us the remaining cheap vinyl fake-Mediterranean floor tiles that had been used in the kitchen (they had also glued a few on top of some of the counters), to "finish it off nicely" as they put it. The tiles were a yucky orange and brown, which combined with the upper black cabinets and lower brown cabinets, along with an avocado green portable dishwasher and yellow cast iron sink, was something that really had to be seen to be believed.

Needless to say, we mouthed polite words just like you did, and managed to send them on their way without their realizing that we were going to rip out everything they had done, from the fake hunting-lodge dining nook to the randomly placed gold-veined mirrored wall tiles in the bedroom. Nice ladies, but like you said, their taste in decorating was something else.

You have to live with this. If redecorating walls, floor and sink will make that horrid green "work" for you, I hope it does. Would be cheaper than replacement, I guess. For me it would have to go. Having lived thru it, I still think the '70s was the worst style era ever. :\

From the number of posters who really like the green, perhaps you could auction the tub and toilet on Ebay and get back some to all of your replacement costs. ;)

If you really like the house and wish to stay awhile (which does not seem to be the case), then remodel it to the way you like it - don't worry about other's opinions.

If you hate the house and want to sell soon, then I think your best bet would be to go with the brightest, plainest scheme possible. White walls. Leave the tub as is. Get a cheap white vanity and sink. Add some color with your own decorations. The white will add a sense of spacious to this small bathroom. White is often not a buyer's first choice but most all people can live with it.

We had a real nightmare of a house that I just could not stand. We painted every wall white and cleaned or painted every interior surface and refinished the wood floors. The house sold within a week or two of listing.

I absolutely love the toilet and tub!! Everything is defintely needs to go away, but that retro tub and toilet is to die for!! I vote to work around those two fixtures. One of my favorite tile stores in our town has a display of an old dresser converted into a beautiful vanity. They used a piece of pottery for the sink (the manager told me the pottery came from JoAnn's fabrics - a flower pot kind of thing)!!! The "pot" sink is sunk about 1/2 into the dress/vanity, and the inside is tiled with tiny little mosaics, and a fabulous polished bronze faucet - looked like a million bucks! That might be something to think about. I wish I had a picture of it for you - it really is unique and very glamorous. Might be just the ticket for your tub and toto!

By the way, I've posted 2 times today about our remodel problem with the load bearing wall and I promise you - my bathroom is much uglier!! PO built a baby-blue swirly formica corner unit for the sink and the shower is a NASTY fiberglass corner shower. The bathroom so small I tell my husband if he bends over to pick up the soap, his butt is half-way down the hall. After 3 years, we are remodeling and I am thrilled (until the load bearing problem put a damper on it). I'd trade bathrooms with you in a NY minute!!

If you end up keeping the green fixtures...and you go with the Wm. Morris theme, there are lots of slightly used Morris curtains on ebay. We bought some curtains and remade them into our current shower curtain. Search "morris sanderson" - sanderson being the manufacturer. I think there's lots you can go with your bathroom. But,I too, think the bi-centennial wallpaper is the pits!

Would love to see, but can't access link.
salbwil

IMO--that william morris paper will just be more clash w/those colors---you would need to do a white sink w/legs which would not work with that green at all--too modern...
I vote with the glass colored (greens and blues) mosiac tile backsplash or white subway tiles a colored inset border...Go with the frosted glass vessel sink or solid white sink -- change all fictures to matte SS or chrome ---

or price those suckers on Ebay and see what bids you get---
how is that finish holding up on the tub and toilet--no pits or cracks in glazing?