That is an interesting concept beesneeds, about putting the shelves in to take up the space on the right side of the medicine cabinet. I’m going to look at it to see how that might work.

And thanks freedomplace1 for the support of having a nice place for students. What you said about them treating a nice house better, I have found true.

Most welcome for my ideas, Bill. You're very kind to reply to everyone. You're getting a lot of great advice and it's obvious you're putting a lot of thought and consideration in this bathroom. I'm sure you'll create a great looking functional space for your tenants and I look forward to seeing the result of your hard work. Hope you'll share when done.

ETA: About the lighting. In your pics, as others have mentioned, the lighting is skewing yellow. Could be your bulbs as much as it could be your camera. In any case, if changing the bulbs in your space, aim for "daylights" that aren't too cold and harsh. The marketplace seems to offer only LEDs now and a lot of LED "daylights" offer a harsh light.

I’ll second what @tartanmeup just said. Getting warm LED bulbs will be more pleasant and you won’t have to worry about changing them for decades.

I did look up your website. Kudos to you for being a good landlord? Your places look very nice

I also wanted to compliment you on the housing available to students. I sent the info to my granddaughter who attends (well, remotely for now) Rutgers. She had no objection to the bathroom under discussion, as long as it's clean and in working order. She did mention the yellow paint should go.

Thanks tartanmeup, you words mean a lot. Sometimes it’s lonely being a landlord, but people like you lift me up.

Thanks Lyndee for the compliment:-)

Thanks bluebird for sharing with your granddaughter. I hear Rutgers will have classes on campus in September. If she is interested, I hope you can join her on the tour😊 You can see the new bathroom😊

So far I've ordered a 24" vanity from Costo, a 31.5" wide medicine cabinet, and a 28" wide light with 3000k color temperature, 1800 lumens (dimmable). The items shown below are drawn to scale, so yes the medicine cabinet is way wider than the vanity. The 24" vanity will center on the current medicine cabinet location. and the 31.5" medicine cabinet should fit in the existing space, that has the tile cut away. I think the existing medicine cabinet is surface mount, and I will surface mount the new one. I'll need to move the light fixture up. I also ordered a curved shower bar and stick-on samples of SW North Star and Rock Candy paint. They look gray below, but they do have some blue. Just wanted to give you an update, FWIW. And please feel free to let me know if you think what I ordered doesn't work. Everything is returnable:-)

I like what you chose, Bill. With all the colors in the space, I think I'd go with a slightly warm white on the walls to anchor it, as well as complement the vanity, etc. Also makes it easy to bring in white towels, if you'd like. And perhaps bring in some black accent to make the room even more gender neutral. Plus, you already have some black accent in your tile work.

These spaces have a lot more pink than yours, but you see how the black accent makes it more gender neutral.

Sort of your scheme below, blue + pink + red. A touch of black in chandelier, etc.

If you go with the grey/blue paint, it will be along the lines of this look.

This will basically be along the lines of the color scheme with your wall tile plus paint - and then add in the pink tub, red tile work + white vanity, etc.

That is an interesting idea! Neat photos! I wonder how that would look, with maybe a black faucet, black door/drawer pulls, and a piece of black accent furniture/wall art? As much as I'd like to, the ceiling is too low for the chandelier :-) I'm going to look at that. Thanks.

Excellent idea. :). Vanity hardware/pulls in black plus black faucet and a piece of furniture or art with black - that would be great. Although, I am really still liking the idea of bringing in some pink in art... and I'm particularly attached to flamingo idea... I did find this one, though... another take on the theme.

This is nice, too.

And I'm sure you have a lot of great ideas, also! :)

My amateur opinion, Bill: the lighting and vanity aren't synching in style 100%. The lighting is giving me 50's diner vibes while the vanity has more classic detailing. If keeping the vanity, I'd look for more 'transitional' lighting.

Perhaps something like this:

If keeping the lighting, I'd go with a vanity with slab doors or more of an MCM vibe. See FreedomPlace's first series of inspo pics 4 days ago with the wood vanities.

The pictures are simply style ideas. I have no clue as to quality of my lighting example. From my quick search though, affordable MCM-vibe vanities aren't plentiful. I know Ikea has the affordable Godmorgon vanity which can look good in a modern or transitional bathroom but it's a wall-mount option.

The mirrored medicine cabinet you found will work in either direction. Looks very spacious too which is always a plus.

If considering a black faucet, make sure its finish is water-spot resistant. I've read that some aren't easy upkeep. Well, every finish has its quirks, I suppose. I have chrome faucets everywhere but went with an inexpensive option in our powder room and it always looks spotty and dull.

Have you primed the walls yet? Just that will transform the space heaps. :)

Love that flamingo Freedomplace1!

Thanks for sharing thoughts, Tartanmeup. Good to know on the synching. Now I look at vanity and light, I see what you mean. I can switch the light. I like what you picked.

My big concern though, is how a 24” vanity is going to look with a 32” medicine cabinet above it. Of course, this is a design no-no, but I wonder if it’s something few notice, or if it will frighten all who lay eyes on it? If I could patch the tile, I could use a smaller medicine cabinet, but I doubt I’ll be able to find matching tile. I think everything will be centered on each other (vanity, med cab, original cup and toothbrush holders)

Well anyway, you made me think chrome might be a good option.

What do you think? Thanks.

Oh, and I haven’t primed the walls yet. I did order some 12 x 12 stick on paint samples:-)

Since you are planning on bringing in another white vanity, have you thought of just keeping the one you have, Bill? It's a nice style and looks to be solid. I know there is the size and off centered thing, but I don't really think it's a big deal. The size may actually be a plus; it looks like it has good storage. I know I personally would make use of the adjacent towel rack for quickly hanging some hand washables etc. Maybe that old adage - "If it's not broke, don't fix it.". Maybe just a new faucet. And I think a larger medicine cabinet may make the whole setup appear more balanced, as well.

This could create some visual interest. Can also be used with LED and a dimmer switch. Fun. Industrial.

https://www.lampsplus.com/products/possini-euro-esme-33-and-one-quarter-inchw-brushed-nickel-4-light-bath-light__66c28.html

I have the grey tile, maroon trim combination in a small hall bath. It looks like the day it was put in 1952. I embraced it. No tub it’s a walk in shower tho. I wallpapered with Florida theme.

"My big concern though, is how a 24” vanity is going to look with a 32” medicine cabinet above it. Of course, this is a design no-no, but I wonder if it’s something few notice, or if it will frighten all who lay eyes on it?"

I don't think it will frighten anyone. :) On the contrary, people will appreciate the storage. The new medicine cabinet has 2 doors divided unequally? That might even help disguise any lack of symmetry.

Agree with freedomplace1 about the vanity. Do you need to replace the current one? If it's in good shape, keep it and replace the faucet with something more streamlined. For fixture finishes, my vote goes to chrome because I find its reflective quality makes fixtures "disappear". It would be in keeping with a 50s bathroom as well. I love the modern punctuation black fixtures offer in a bathroom. In pictures, it looks fabulous but to my eye, black doesn't disappear and I suspect I would tire of it irl. A matter of personal taste. Just read in the latest Canadian House and Home that "chrome is back". I never realized it had left. :P (I know warm metals have been trending for a while and I do appreciate the softness they bring to a space.) All that said, quality of plumbing fixture, ease of cleaning and maintenance are more important than its finish. Sometimes the marketplace just has too much choice for our own sanity. :)

Jan, your bathroom glimpse looks fab!

I love the new cabinet- it's 2/3's door action should work well with centering down the vanity.

Dryset your new vanity to see how it plays. Might be that the towel bar on the right could work better and the spacing between the toilet and cabinet present better. Might be it's not.

The lighting.. I like what's coming up over the sink.. and also, what about the current ceiling light? And do the plans for the future fan include a light unit?

Freedomplace1, I appreciate (and does my wife:-) your suggestion to save the money and stick with the vanity I have. The 24” vanity would center on the medicine cabinet and the cup/toothbrush holders, and as beesneeds pointed out, It will make the towel bar more functional.

Below is a drawing showing it to scale in my bathroom. The colors, tile sizes, etc. are all random.

If I could find matching tile, I could move my new medicine cabinet over, to center on the existing vanity. I’ll search for the tile.

Wow Jan, bathroom is beautiful. Exudes quality workmanship!

Tartanmeup, that’s an astute observation the 2 doors divided unequally helping to disguise lack of symmetry. I think true.

Thanks for the laugh on your chrome comments “I never realized it had left” And “too much choice for our own sanity:)” So true and I'd add to that "too much information at our fingertips for our sanity"

Beesneeds, I think your right about the towel bar usefulness with a smaller vanity. As for the lighting, I thought a fan light combo in the center of the room, a light over the bathtub, and a light over the vanity. I thought I’d put the fan on a timer switch, have a dimmer switch for the fan light and tub light and a dimmer switch for the vanity light.

Why put a hole in the original tile and its mortar bed over the tub? The exhaust fan will work fine outside the tub.

Bill is installing the fan outside the tub.. thinking of installing just a light in the tub ceiling.

Is the tub dark? Might want to wait till you have the other lighting in to see how bright it is before opting to crack open that tile to install a light. Keeping your shower curtain action more light permeable will help as well.

I planned to put the fan in the center of the room and a light in the bathtub area. I just thought a light above the tub would give an updated look. I figure with the correct hole saw, it shouldn't be hard to put a light in the tile above the tub.

Have you removed 1950's tile and mortar before this? If there's a light switch or electrical outlet embedded in the tile whose cover you can remove, you can see what's underneath. Removing the original medicine cabinet may give you a good look at how the tile and mortar were done.

Thanks so much apple_pie, makes me think I'm taking off the medicine cabinet sooner than later to see what's going on. Good idea!

I took it off. Seems like a bigger opening for the new medicine cabinet is not too bad. What do you think: recessed or surface mount the medicine cabinet?

Oh exciting, you got the old one out. It looks like you might be able to do a recessed if you wanted to.

I thought further up the thread you had already chosen a new medicine cabinet? The 2/3's with the split on the right. Or are you now thinking twice since it does look like you could do recessed as an option? And centering the vanity again, yes?

I'm a bit of a fan of if you can go recessed, do. Deeper/more storage space behind the mirror is good if you can do it.

And I see the top red tile on the right is gone- were you able to salvage it?

Recessed!! Definitely! Sleeker look.

Thanks beesneeds and KW for the recessed votes. I think I'll go that way if I can widen the existing opening.

And I plan to go with the medicine cabinet I've shown above. It can be recessed or surface mount. The additional width of the medicine cabinet and the narrower vanity (from 30" to 24" wide) will center the medicine cabinet on the vanity.

And yes I was able to salvage the tile. It fell out when I removed the vanity, and I was lucky it didn't break :-)

Recess the medicine cabinet if at all possible. I believe recessed cabinets give a more sleek, higher end look

The wall tile appears to be light blue and you could keep that and paint the wall white.

Have no personal experience with adding glazing to an existing tub but I'd think that would not be as durable a finish as the original glaze.

If you don't want the expense or the effect from having to glaze over the entire tub, it might be that you could just add white glaze or tile to the pink tub on the front outside vertical and, possibly, the narrow flat surface you step over -- the rest would be hidden by a shower curtain or, if you install one, a glass door.

If you don't mind a minor "slope" in the flooring where the bathroom and adjoining floor levels meet, then, with industrial glue, you might be able to add white floor tile atop the current floor tile without moving it -- or just cover it with a rug or gel mat.

Me again. If all the tile is in good condition, I would leave it and just change the paint color to something quieter. Have the plumbing checked and perhaps replaced if needed. Students are notorious for not taking care of things. Your 20’s bathroom has been good for 100 years. They did excellent work back then.

One more upvote from Lyndee on recessed med cabinet. Thanks. Makes me think I should just get rid of the studs altogether behind the med cabinet, so it can recess as much as possible. Of course, I’ll consider structure

Suezbell, I like the idea of glazing the tub white, but the other folks here said the reglaze doesn’t stand up with any abuse.

The floor is in good shape, so I’m thinking just some rugs for my photos and showing the place.

Felizlady, that was my basic plan, to paint the walls to go with the field tile. And what you said is true and amazing, that the bathroom has stood the test of time, as it has.

Glad you can recess the medicine cabinet. It will be better that way.

Here's the finished product. Thanks to all of you to help me get there!!!!

Happy to hear any ways to spruce it up a little.

Thanks again!! Bill

the before

So I kept the much of the original. New color, curved rod, curtain, rug, light bulbs, exhaust fan with timer switch.

Oh my goodness, that is delightful! Great job! Excellent on the exaust fan upgrade :)

So glad you came back to update on this, thank you.

Most persons I spoke with didn't even notice the mirror being off center from the vanity, so I left it alone.

Thanks beesneeds!! And I took your suggestion and got a curtain that allowed light in. I don't think I need a light over the tub now :-)

Really nice! You preserved a lot of the character but made it updated. Good job!

Wow Great job! In this case, less is more. You didn't need to go crazy with changes to get a very nice looking updated space

Very pretty update! You did a wonderful job and I'm sure it didn't break the bank. Enjoy!

Very nice. 👍👍

Love it! clean and simple but preserved the character! great job!

Very nice job. BTW, if you want to touch up a chip in the red-brown tile, a bottle of matching nail polish will do nicely. First match a paint chip to the tile color, then take the paint chip to the drug store to find matching nail polish.

Thanks apple-pie, that sounds like a great idea. I don't use it myself, but I think they have lots of different nail polish colors and one should match up nicely :-)

@apple_pie_order What a great idea! Never thought of that but it sure makes sense!

The nail polish idea came from someone on Houzz. I have forgotten who it was. Perhaps someone else will remember.