avocado Shower room: hot or not

7 years ago

Hello houzzers. We have moved into a 1970,s bungalow, one careful lady owner previously. We do have plans ( share those another time). However this is one of the bathrooms with the original avocado suite. It is quite pale in colour. Question is, rip out, or keep and do something clever (which is where you come in!) . Any clever ideas on this? The tiles are a pale green, the floor is knackered laminate. Thinking caps on please?????

Featured Answer

bevandtigger

7 years ago

Keep it! Especially if you are going with a retro look through the rest of the house. I have seen some fantastic bathrooms using these well made pieces of sanitaryware - and we should all be mindful of not trying to put stuff into landfill!

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Comments (20)

temple274
7 years ago
Hi, looks a bit pale for Avocado. It is probably Pampas which was altogether a much nicer colour and much easier to live with. If it's in good condition, and it certainly looks like I would certainly keep it. A sheet vinyl floor wood be in keeping!
moiraford thanked temple274
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
KEEP! I would replace the tiling and the flooring and put in a new shower. It would be good if you could keep the lower pan part of the toilet and hide the cistern in a false wall (you would have to ask a plumber if that would be possible). Porcelanosa do some beautiful patterned tiles (such as Barcelona B) that would look great with this suite.
moiraford thanked Juliet Docherty
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I really like the colour of the units and I would embrace them if you can lol. As ED and Maison Frais say, it’s the shower cubicle (it’s the glass panels) and the vanity unit that spoil it. I would get rid of the vanity unit and replace with a dramatic gold mirror above the basin and move the drawer unit to the side of the shower. Replace your soap holder, toilet roll holder etc with gold coloured ones (or spray/paint them with something like this: https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-gold-metallic-wood-metal-paint-250ml/p/0341906 ) Erismann Paradiso Wallpaper Jungle Green Leaves Paradise Tropical Feature Vinyl https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07C6XPMB8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_EPUVEbTASP1ZF. It’s cheap and vinyl. This wallpaper would tie the units in and I would use it on the all white walls above the tiles. I would paint the toilet seat, the trim round the bath, the bath side, radiator and skirtings in an exact matching vinyl paint as the suite. I think stencilling the floor as suggested is also a brilliant idea. I would put some leafy plants like Boston Fern Green Lady in the 2 windows and on the drawer unit and maybe buy a few cheap gold/ white soap dishes, plant pots mugs etc from somewhere like H&M as accents. Hopefully then it will be so busy and distracting that the bathroom suite will look like you chose it as a design statement.
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PRO
Feioi
7 years ago
I kind of love it! I think you should keep it.

Off the top of my head, you could either keep it classic and pair it with white (industrial style tiles or perhaps some wood panelling) then accessorise with a gorgeous brass mirror and wall lights. Or...just run with it and mix it up with peachy pink, a patterned floor and some quirky art on the walls!

Love to see what you do with it.
moiraford thanked Feioi
Jonathan
7 years ago
I think if you are going to replace tiles and floor and shower it will only be about £300 to replace the loo and basin.
moiraford
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks Chaps, I knew you'd come up with some gems. Gonna keep it! Think it is pampas. Gonna go with my inner margot leadbetter!
Ludo Gallagher
7 years ago
I also like it. I know it's not right to. But it's very retro and you could embrace this element in a small bathroom.
moiraford thanked Ludo Gallagher
sianember
7 years ago
I know the 70's look is a "thing" at the moment but personally I hate it. I'd rip that bathroom right out & start again following style not fashion - coloured suites are not classy in my book, go for white every time, the same goes for laminate floors - why would you bother with them when you can get fantastic lino these days?
maggieandrichard
7 years ago
For me this is "kill me now".
Sue Skelton
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
If you want to keep the loo and basin (and I agree it doesn't look like Avocado), lose the pine accessories and replace the mirror and cabinets with something more up to date. Maybe a light wood loo seat. See Roper Rhodes mirrors and cabinet, very classy. At first glance I quite like the tiles, but the close-up shows they need re-grouting at least. It may be easier to replace them, maybe with bigger neutral tiles with mosaic accents/border. It would be good if the cistern could be hidden making it look like a "back-to-wall" toilet. These suggestions are pretty much what we have done to our old bathroom with an Armitage Shanks champagne suite ;) I prefer white but hate throwing away good quality stuff.
moiraford thanked Sue Skelton
PRO
Pat Oliver Interior Design
7 years ago
The Pampas colour is not objectionable, but bathroom fitments have moved on technically in the past 30 years.

Today's toilets will save water, especially important if you're on a meter. Also, with a pedestal sink, there is no storage. If you replaced the sink with a vanity unit, all the bottles on the window sill would disappear. The toilet appears to be squeezed in by the shower and you might be able to find a more suitable shape with a frameless screen, visually and physically enlarging your bathing space and open floor area.

For what a toilet and a sink cost, you could create more up to date and more comfortable space.
moiraford thanked Pat Oliver Interior Design
Yve J
7 years ago
Hello...we too bought a 'one careful couple/lady owner' 1955 property and our suite is mustard! It's Armitage Shanks and all the porcelain co-ordinated fittings are so robust and well-made. It's been a 2-year love-hate relationship and it's so kitsch that it's almost tempting to preserve the rest, but as I had to replace the wc with white, the rest will sadly eventually go... those cisterns need a brick or two inside to reduce flushing consumption as residential water meters were unheard of in the 50s and 60s! I think it's a noble gesture to try and salvage these items but I feel it's a kind of 'all or nothing' situation (especially regarding tiles)...half-way house is difficult to pull off. Any which way, it's fun to experiment and if you can't live with it...you can totally refurb!
moiraford thanked Yve J
Patricia Suarez
7 years ago
I would replace it. In fact,I bought my house with an avocado kitchen and a blue bathroom and I have replaced it all
margaretgrn7
7 years ago
I would keep it lovely style, change the fittings, something in keeping with the style and walls , floor white with a strong colour for dressing it. You could try mosaic tiles like a border, or mirror, another idea is tongue and groove half way and box the cistern behind it, please get rid of the wooden seat
moiraford thanked margaretgrn7
PRO
East Kent Eco
7 years ago
Hi if you personally love the margot look go for it, its your bathroom but definitely tidy up the plumbing itself the loo installation looks ugly but don't feel you have to hide the cistern it's all part of the style! But please remove that awful mastic round the bottom of the pedestal and cistern it's a plumbers nightmare when we have to repair leaks etc!
Cool new tiles and maybe ultimate suburban margot gold plated taps and fittings but agree with the lose the pine loo seat campaign it's not really rustic!
Have fun!
moiraford thanked East Kent Eco
uksub922
7 years ago
It's got to go !
Fred Wonder
7 years ago
Keep it! White suites are just BORING.
moiraford thanked Fred Wonder
Allison Oz
7 years ago
I'm glad you are going to keep it, I think the sage green of this suite is spot on with today's trends....pair it with some warm grey slightly lighter on the walls and it will sing! Lots of modern chrome in taps and mirrors and it will look cutting edge. I'd go with a slightly darker tone of grey on the floor, maybe that textured industrial vinyl with the circular pattern, or something softer and plain if you are not that game. Add a tiny bit of wood - a wicker style plant pot or something, to soften the look. I've got mirrored cabinets on my walls for hiding bottles etc. They have sexy LED lighting and also demisting built in so no desperate wiping of mirrors when you are out of the shower. Many, many years ago (in Oz) I did a bathroom with a 1930s primrose suite...pale lemon. Tied it with terracotta on the floor, white tiled walls and a Portugese hand painted rustic border tile with a bit of strong yellow in the pattern. Looked fantastic but not exactly cutting edge these days, unless you have a rural holiday home on the continent.
moiraford thanked Allison Oz
PRO
Helen Sykes Art
7 years ago
If you want to keep the suite I think it might look best if you either go for a pale, washed out theme everywhere else (think California beach house), or go the other way, use sage in other areas and use a much darker wood for toilet seat and floor. If you do decide to rip it out, if you take it out carefully there may be a small market for people wanting to buy such a retro suite. Whatever you choose, the wall tiles could be a problem, as they are dated.Good luck.
moiraford thanked Helen Sykes Art
Fiona Tamplin
7 years ago
I had similar a few ago and didn't have the option to change it straight away so I removed the top tiles and skimmed the walls and painted it creamy/neutral. For the bottom I added vertical pine cladding about 1.5m high with a smooth edging and painted that the same as the wall it really toned the avocado down and did actually look amazing and kind of Victorian style although that wasn't intended, it was just a quick cover up and cost very little until I could rip the lot out and put a new suite in later on.
moiraford thanked Fiona Tamplin

avocado Shower room: hot or not

bevandtigger

Comments (20)

temple274

Juliet Docherty

Related Discussions

Feioi

Jonathan

moiraford
Original Author

Ludo Gallagher

sianember

maggieandrichard

Sue Skelton

Pat Oliver Interior Design

Yve J

Patricia Suarez

margaretgrn7

East Kent Eco

uksub922

Fred Wonder

Allison Oz

Helen Sykes Art

Fiona Tamplin

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avocado Shower room: hot or not

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