Oh yes, obviously the heating unit is going to be changed out! And someone I know wants that wacky vintage faucet! Still works like a charm, I might add!

Leave it alone until you are all finished with the other bathroom. Then save up to get the new bathroom of your dreams. It's clear you don't like this one at all. I would return the new vanity because your vision may change as you save up for all new and improved.

I had a similar problem and actually had the tiles reglazed. Put in a new marble floor and called it a day. But I had a white tub. For those who will tell you it won’t last, it was the master bath tile, it was done in the early 1990’s and yes its still going strong. But you would still need to address the vanity.

Second the leave it alone school of thought. Finish the gut and redo on the master, take a breather and look at your costs there. Then plan out what you really want on this bathroom and develop your costs from the data from the master redo. Add in a 20% contingency to the budget and decide when you can afford to do this one.

I think you know that the wall color is hurting the feel in the room. If you are redoing within a year or two, maybe leave it. Otherwise, perhaps a repaint in a better fitting color. Something like Sherwin Williams Ibis White (SW 7000) would make the upper half of the walls fit much better with the undertones of the tiles and the counter top and heater.

Add a little art, a truly over the top shower curtain (like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/BPBOP-Tentacles-Of-Octopus-Isolated-On-White-Background-Shower-Curtain-Polyester-Bathroom-Curtain-60x72-inches/699968263?sourceid=csebr0311640dfd8e864c88bb6230f68473f5ce&wmlspartner=bizratecom&affcmpid=3783655459&tmode=0000&veh=cse&szredirectid=15568942763208109269410080301008005 ) on a tension rod and maybe stencil the sliding doors on the vanity...

I'm with Jan. This is not a piecemeal job. To paraphrase Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no partial solution." (Well, there are partial solutions, but none that will look good if you're not into 50's pink tile.) If you can't afford to do the whole thing now, then wait until you have the funds. As you say, it's still functional so live with it for now. The vanity you purchased isn't going anywhere. Save it for later.

North Texan has a great idea with a splashy shower curtain to distract from the plain beige. Another option is splashy wallpaper if you have an exhaust fan to remove moisture from showers.

In agreement with the others, if you can return the vanity (it's pretty, much your design and budget may change). I love that paint color suggested by North Texan, SW Ibis, it will help a lot if the look in this bathroom is really bothering you. Paint the wall, get a nice big white bathroom rug, a shower curtain that has white and maybe some of the colors in the current floor and wall tile - path of least resistance.

Here's a link for decorating retro bathrooms, maybe it will provide some ideas. Good luck.

https://retrorenovation.com/2015/07/01/decorate-pink-gray-bathroom-ideas/

following

I'm not clear on the colours here. On my screen, the wall tile is pale pink and the tub almond. Is that correct? Are the toilet and sink the same pink? The wall is green? The floor is the least palatable element here, imo. My advice is also to wait until the master bath is done, take a breather and reassess your budget and finances for a gut and remodel. Your second bathroom planning will benefit from your first bathroom remodel experience.

In the meantime, to make it more pleasing for you, here's what I would do, on a budget:

-Paint the walls white

-Ceiling to floor shower curtain (can be a tablecloth, tapestry from Society 6...anything with colours and motifs that appeal to you that will cover that whole expanse and hide the tub) on a tension rod with rings (clips) - This will fully hide the tub and draw the eye up, making the room appear larger.

-Paint the floor white and do a fun, distracting stencil in the same pink as the tile (coordinate stencil and shower curtain)

-Paint the vanity doors white and repeat floor stencil on them (or not)

-If you optimize your lighting choose a simple light fixture that you can reuse in the remodeled bathroom or concentrate on finding the right bulbs if switching from incandescents to LEDs, for example. Don't spend a lot money on lighting changes if gutting the bathroom. Spray paint can transform ugly fixtures.

-White towels and acrylic or pink soap dispenser - Keep the countertop simple and clutter-free

-Inexpensive "art" that appeals to you on the walls. Could be black and white photography, colourful travel pics from a book or a calendar, etsy downloads, your own phone pics "elevated with a pic app"...anything that fits your aesthetic and busies the eye when in the room. Ikea has tons of inexpensive frames. Do a huge piece on one wall and a gallery display on the other, or two huge pieces....don't worry about rules here, just play around with shapes and sizes until you have something that makes you smile.

Floor stencil example:

With a bit of elbow grease and imagination, I'm confident you can transform this bathroom into something you can stand for a while for way less than 500 bucks. Good luck and keep us posted. :)

ETA: Forgot to say: yes, return the vanity until you're ready for the gut.

tartanmeup, colors are unclear to me too. 100% on the elbow grease and imagination. Btw I think the tub is beige, but the OP is calling it 'brown'.

Just had a peek at H&M Home - they have inexpensive tablecloths that would probably fit to cover your tub area floor to ceiling.

Plain pink:

Fun palm print - who doesn't love this in a retro bathroom? :) Match your wall paint to the white background.

Subtle gold star with a retro feel:

These are cotton, easily washable.

You can easily find palm leaf and star stencils for the floor. Btw, I wouldn't bother with a rug for this bathroom if you paint the floor.

ETA: I'm suggesting pink for the floor stencil because I like pink and think it makes sense to embrace the pink walls. :P If you hate pink, feel free to imagine my ideas using black, for example.

Good GOD people. Someone clearly already tried the lipstick the pig solution. That is why there is rose pink tile, a hideous beige tub. A bad and dated vanity. STOP.

Don't throw good money at a bad thing. Buy a jug for the kitchen counter. Throw all the ones, the change from your purse in it every day. Say prayers to the Lord for some patience in the whine confessional at church.

Whatever ya do.............don't fix this with ANYTHING but a full gut and a dumpster in the driveway.

We all have our own tolerance levels for bad bathrooms, JAN. I'm just sharing what I would do if I hated this particular bathroom and had to live with it for a year or more before gutting it. What's wrong with spending a bit of money and using one's imagination to recreate our spaces in the interim?

Because it never turns out to be anything more than the the money that takes you further from what you really want. That's why. Use it, clean it, get out : )

I would return the vanity if possible and just save for a total gut when you are ready for it. The bathroom is ugly but appears to be clean and functional.

You could certainly spruce it up for a minimal investment - paint is cheap and a nice shower curtain would hide the tub and spruce it up.

But I am with the others that there is no point in investing anything other than pocket change on the bathroom.

Well, as I said, we all have our tolerance levels. I know I would prefer to find interim decor solutions for my ugly spaces because it soothes my restlessness and nurtures my creativity. I don't believe spaces need to be perfect to please us. Besides, this bathroom is just ugly, not functionally bad. "Gussying it up" per my suggestions could be done for less than $200. If that negates my urge to rip it out with my bare hands for the next year, it's a bargain in my books.

With you tartanmeup....sometimes doing just a little allows for the mind to not go bonkers, and having that patience gives us time, space and money (to save) to do what we really will love in the long run.

I"m with you too tartanmeup. There are many other factors that should be taken into account rather than a blanket statement saying gut it, especially after you said you cannot afford it. How long do you intend to stay in the house? If you plan to be there for a while save for a full remodel and do the short-term stuff tartanmeup suggested. How does this bathroom compare to others in your neighborhood? If you are planning a move in the near future a full gut may not be the smartest financial move unless your market demands it. For example, I did a gut on one of my 3 retro baths. the tile was very similar to yours and on all walls. I've decided to keep the other two because the tile is in great shape and appropriate for my neighborhood. The houses on the market have way worse bathrooms and if I gut mine I'll price my house out of the market. But I do plan to replace flooring, vanities, lighting, and paint - all DIY. They won't be Houzz brand new perfect but will be nice and appropriate for my house and neighborhood. I plan to put the house on the market within the next year so this is the best choice for me.

Here is what I did to spruce up the guest bath in my daughters house in my same neighborhood. It's used for her toddler and an occasional overnight guest. She puts up a white hotel style shower curtain when she has a guest. I cleaned and regrouted and caulked the tile, kept the original tub (I think it's the same as yours), tiled the floor, replaced the toilet, vanity, lighting, mirror and paint. Replacing the tub and wall tile would have involved many more thousands. This bathroom upgrade is a good investment for this house and neighborhood.

Now, in your situation, If I planned to live in the house for at least 5 years and could save up enough for a full gut within the next year or two, then I would do it - for my enjoyment while I'm there. I'm confused about the colors too; you mention pink and brown. Is the tub surround tile and tub tan while the rest of the wall tile and floor pink? You say you've come to the conclusion all the tile has to go. Is that in your budget now? If so, I'd replace the tub too. The beige/brown/tan is too limiting and if you are going that far, go all the way. I would price out the material and labor (labor cost will change depending on the material you choose) to evaluate when you can afford it. BTW, I planned to put wainscot over my pink tile powder room but my contractor hubs nixed it.

That looks fantastic, bbtrix! I actually like your tile. Good point about "how long will you live there" - hadn't even thought of that. Not to mention that most of us don't have a money tree in the yard. Sometimes, full gut remodels get sidetracked by other pressing issues in a home. Appliances break down, roofs leak...If after a year or two, the ugly bathroom I couldn't stand got put on the back burner because of unforeseen house emergencies, I would regret not having taken the time to make it palatable for myself earlier. Just don't understand the "all or nothing" stance when it comes to decor.

I remember the pinky-beige colored tile from growing up in the 60s. Many houses in our neighborhood had it -- thank goodness ours did not! I never liked it then when it was fashionable, so you have my sympathy, lkihlk hiffmpequt .

Back in the 70s, people who were sick of these 60's tile floors used to cover them with a fluffy synthetic wall-to-wall carpet made just for bathrooms. Another fad that came and went.

I honestly don't think the wall color is bad. I wouldn't bother devoting the time to repainting -- I'd go with the eyecatcher artwork/shower curtain strategies others have mentioned, with lots of white (fluffy towels, etc) to dilute the beige.

And for the floor -- one relatively low cost change with high visual impact (to get you through the live with it phase, however long that lasts) is to cover that floor with sheet vinyl, as a dry lay/loose lay.

Yes, sheet vinyl is still around! In fact, I just ordered some for my laundry room.

The patterns you see on the roll these days at Home Depot or Lowes are pretty uninspired, but I found Mannington and other manufacturers have some interesting ones, sometimes with several different product lines at varying price points for the same pattern.

Dry lay means that the vinyl isn't held in place by adhesive all over the backing. Typically there would be some shoe mold at the perimeter to help anchor a dry lay floor, such as at the sink cabinet or doorway, and sometimes a double faced tape is used under edges with no shoe mold, such as at the bathtub. Some will tell you that you must pull the toilet to put a sheet vinyl floor in a bathroom, and while that's proper, it isn't necessary when it's a short term fix for an infrequently used space.

I hear you when you say that your budget is an issue based on the other washroom being done.

I'm in the "tear it all out" team and I have some ideas for you that can make this job a reasonable price (IMO - of course it depends on your idea of reasonable.)

This is a Maax product - 60 inch tub and surround kit. It is $1600 Canadian (the whole kit, walls and tub together) We have this tile look surround in a shower kit and we LOVE it. It looks and feels great and we have had zero issues with it. Maybe you'd be lucky enough that this tile in the surround might coordinate well with the vanity you've already got.

I'd get some large scale tiles for the floor and probably just make it white, or maybe grey (if white floors in a bathroom isn't your thing).

New toilet can be had for very cheap.

Tear the tile off the walls and just drywall the whole wall and paint. No need for tile up the walls or behind the vanity.

A new faucet and light fixture and towel racks, toilet roll holder etc. Oh yes and a new electric baseboard heater will be much smaller and low profile (they are not expensive at all).

It will be a whole new room, clean, fresh and bright.

I agree the tub is probably beige not brown? And it looks uglier and browner than it really is because it's surrounded by darker brown tile and pink tile. Beige, brown and pink? Blech, that's terrible combination for anything but Neopolitan ice cream.

Beige on its own its an inoffensive color. And beige sometimes looks better than white in a dark windowless room where white can look dingy.

This is a small room with limited possible layouts. And if it's a secondary bathroom it's not necessarily the place to go all out. So for all these reasons I think it might be all right to do a "good enough" renovation and save your funds and efforts for the master bathroom.

I think it might look nice to keep the beige tub and do beige tile on the walls. Maybe beige subway tile for a more modern look than 4x 4 tiles. Beige hex tiles for the floor, or black for a more contemporary look. Then maybe keep a monochromatic color scheme and paint the walls off white. Or paint the walls a soft blue like Benjamin Moore Palladian blue. Light blue and beige is a classic combination. With the new vanity you already have and new faucets and some nice lights and a new shower curtain it could be a pretty room without blowing your budget.

beige subway tile:

beige and pale blue bathroom:

beige hex floor tiles:

I don't think materials or colour schemes are the problematic issue here; it's labour costs. When I wanted to gut our ensuite, I sourced reasonably-priced elements but it's labour costs that made it prohibitive for us. If you can DIY a lot of the work, you're that much closer to getting it done.

Tearing out a tub, especially the old cast iron beasts, can really add to labor costs though. The question is whether the OP can live with a beige tub.

I actually kind of like beige. Although it's out of fashion it's not a terrible color ( except maybe with pink tiles). If the OP decides to stick with beige I think they should try to get the wall tiles to match the tub as closely as possible. Nothing too tan or brownish.

Definitely agree with the couple of posts above. Especially if budget is tight, if you can do the demo it will be a big savings. I bet the tile will come off the walls easily and around the tub. The tub might be a beast to get out - agreed - bring in some strong young men for some help maybe.

When the floor tile comes up you might need a new subfloor. See if you can find floor tile in a sale/clearance section of a tile store. We found some really beautiful brushed slate in clearance that was a great price and was pretty much exactly what we had in mind.

Check Kijiji or even have a look at Habitat for Humanity stores (if you have one nearby) because sometimes contractors donate leftover tile from jobs. You might find enough to do a bathroom easily. H for H stores often have brand new faucets and towel bars etc. They can really be a treasure trove for budget conscious renovators.

The more you can do yourself the better. I know it is something my husband and I would tackle to save money. Get some safety glasses and work gloves and get going on the demo, once you have a chat with your contractor about the scope of work and pricing if he doesn't have to do demo. Good luck with it.

A mostly white paint for the walls, perhaps $50.

A shower curtain, $20-30.

Stencil and paint for vanity doors, maybe $20-30.

Some Target floor mats, in a white (the bathroom isn't used much, should survive OK), call it $30.

Couple of pieces of black and white art from a garage sale, $10-20.

Total, $130-$160 plus perhaps one day of work, and the bathroom will be tolerable for several years. If it hasn't molded out or collapsed by now, it is likely installed correctly and waterproof, so nothing "has" to be done quickly.

I think the texture on those floor tiles would make refinishing or painting them quite diffcult to get a good result on.

Yep, similar to my breakdown as well, North Texan. You might be right about the floor's texture being difficult to paint but I'd attempt it. If popcorn ceilings can be painted with special rollers (or so I've been told), this floor shouldn't be impossible.

I think a lot depends on what the rest of your home looks like... If you are doing all marble and grey and the rest of your home has been updated accordingly, you might be better off with a full gut on this too.

But you do not need to do it now just because the other one is being done (where will you shower while they are both under construction?). I personally think you cannot match the quality of these retro tile jobs and this one looks to be in good condition. I've heard tub reglazing generally has good results.

For my money, if you are not up for the whole redo, I would:

LEAVE the pink tile (all of it)

reglaze the tub in white

Retile the floor in a pretty pale grey

replace vanity (though I think this Costco one is more suited if you keep the tile than the one you picked out (and is cheaper): https://www.costco.com/Corniche-48%26quot%3B-Pepper-Gray-Vanity-by-Studio-Bathe.product.100319680.html

You can remove the wall tile at a later date.

Any update, @lkihlk hiffmpequt? Just curious what you decided to do.

Yes, what did you end up doing?...or are you still waiting to get started on the guest bath?

...

Gutted a “oatmeal yellow” 1960’s bathroom. After researching and thinking about this for 10+ years, decided a modern remodel in a 1960’s ranch house would, in ten years, itself be dated. Solution? Go back to original style but with colors that I can live with. Daltile Artisan Brown matte 4x4 on the bath surround, and white for the wainscot, counter, sink and toilet. The tub (a true vintage American standard cast iron, purchased for $100 second-hand) will be refinished to either white or color-matched brown. We are going with Corian counter and integrated sink ($60 second hand) and a repurposed MCM plank door walnut credenza for a floating cabinet ($3.50). Yes the plumbing and tile were over $10k each but reuse/repurpose on the tub, counter/sink and cabinet probably saved me 4-5k.

For a quick fix…paint every thing paintable …white…see what effect that has on tile color…if that appeals as a temporary fix…replace the floor..and work on the lighting…try different types of bulbs or add bigger decorative fixtures..generally speaking green walls could be pushing the tan into a pinker tone…