A retro bathroom is mostly one era’s colors and a few shapes from that time. For the 50s that means mint, pink and black-and-white check with shiny chrome. For the 70s it means avocado, mustard, peach and brown with brass. Add a round mirror, a pattern on the floor and a fern in the window, and the room reads retro even though nothing got torn out. Nearly all of it is stuff a renter can put up and take along when she moves.

What does a retro bathroom look like?

Picture the bathroom at your grandmother’s house, then clean it up. Retro style leans on a color scheme that was popular in one decade and repeats it a few times around the room: the tile, the towels, the curtain and something on the wall. The shapes are soft and round. Mirrors are circles or have rounded corners, lights are globes, and the metal is one finish all the way through.

The trick is to stop early. Pick the era your bathroom already leans toward, repeat two or three of its colors, and stop. A room with checkerboard, florals, chrome, brass and five colors looks like a yard sale. A room with mustard tile, a floral curtain that has mustard in it and two towels that match the flowers looks planned.

50s or 70s: pick your era first

If your bathroom still has its original tile, it has already picked for you. Pink, mint, powder blue or pale yellow square tile is 50s. Avocado, mustard, brown or burnt orange is 70s. If the room is plain white, you get to choose.

1950s1970s
Main colorsMint green, pink, powder blue, butter yellowAvocado, mustard, peach, burnt orange, brown
PatternBlack-and-white checkerboard, small square tileBig florals, bold geometric wallpaper
MetalChromeBrass
MirrorRound or rounded corners, thin frameRound, brass or wood frame
WoodVery littleSmooth walnut and teak tones
PlantA small pot on the sillA fern hanging in a macrame hanger
Chart comparing a 1950s and a 1970s retro bathroom: colors, pattern, metal, mirror, wood and plant
Pick one era and let it set the colors, metal and mirror.

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12 retro bathroom ideas that don’t need a renovation

1. Keep the original tile and pull your colors from it

Old colored tile is the most retro thing a bathroom can have, and it is the hardest to fake. So start there. Look at the tile and name its main color and its undertone. Then pick one or two colors that sit next to it and use them for towels, a curtain and a print on the wall.

Scrub the grout with a stiff brush before you buy anything. Grimy grout is what makes old tile look tired, and clean lines make it look cared for. A grout pen can freshen stained lines, and new caulk around the tub finishes the job. Skip painting the tile around the tub or shower, because paint does not hold up where it gets wet.

2. Put down a checkered bathroom rug

A checkerboard bath mat is the quickest way to get pattern on the floor without touching it. Mustard and cream says 70s, black and white says 50s, and a soft green reads as mint. Pick the one that repeats a color already in your tile.

If you own the place and the floor is the problem, peel-and-stick checkerboard floor tile goes over a flat, clean floor and gives the whole room the pattern.

3. Add peel-and-stick wallpaper above the tile

Many old bathrooms have tile halfway up the wall and plain paint above it. That top half is the perfect spot for a retro floral or a bold geometric. Peel-and-stick paper comes off when you move out, which is why it is the go-to for renters. Keep it on walls that do not get hit by shower spray, and run the fan after every shower.

The HAOKHOME retro floral peel-and-stick wallpaper (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. ($) has pink and coral flowers on a bright orange background, with a textured vinyl surface. It is brighter than the softer peach in our picture below, so it suits a room with white or cream tile best.

4. Hang a round mirror

A round mirror changes a bathroom more than almost anything else for the money. In a 70s room, brass is the right frame. In a 50s room, a thin chrome or white frame fits better.

5. Switch to brass towel bars and hooks

If the old towel bar is chrome that has gone cloudy, a brass one ties into a 70s palette right away. Both of these screw into the wall, so check with your landlord if you rent.

6. Bring in avocado, mustard or peach towels

Towels are the cheapest place to put a 70s color, and they wash and fold like any others. Hang a mustard one beside a green one and the whole wall looks done.

For a 50s room with bold pink or mint tile, plain white towels let the tile be the color.

7. Hang a retro floral shower curtain

The shower curtain is the biggest piece of fabric in the room, so it carries the most pattern. A floral with your tile color in it ties everything together.

8. Add a globe or plug-in wall light

A glass globe or a mushroom shade is one of the quickest retro signals in a bathroom. If you own the house, a globe fixture over the mirror is a small job for an electrician. If you rent, a pair of plug-in sconces gives you the warm light by the mirror without any wiring. The TRLIFE brushed brass plug-in sconces (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. ($$) come as a set of two with a dimmer knob and warm white bulbs.

9. Use smooth wood on the vanity and shelf

A walnut or teak tone warms up all that tile. If the vanity is already dark wood, you are halfway there: add round brass knobs. If not, a smooth wood tray on the counter and a plain wood shelf for rolled towels do the same job. Keep the wood smooth and finished, not rough or chippy.

10. Frame a few retro prints

Two small framed prints over the toilet or on the shelf finish the wall. Botanicals, a simple flower drawing or a print that repeats your tile colors all work. Hang them on the dry side of the room, away from the shower.

11. Hang a fern in the window

A Boston fern in a cream macrame hanger is the most 70s thing you can put in a bathroom, and it likes the steam. The care is below, in the Boston fern section.

12. Leave one glass or ceramic canister on the sink

One amber glass jar of cotton balls or a cream ceramic pump bottle on the wood tray is enough. Leave the rest of the counter clear. If your bathroom is also tiny, our bathroom decor ideas for a small rental cover keeping a narrow sink usable.

70s bathroom decor: one room, before and after

This bathroom kept everything that would cost real money: the mustard square wall tile, the white tub, the white hex floor, the walnut vanity and the round mirror. Only the things you can carry in a bag changed.

Before and after of a 70s bathroom with mustard square tile: plain white walls and curtain before, then peach floral wallpaper, a retro floral shower curtain, mustard and green towels, a checkered mat and a Boston fern in a macrame hanger after
Before and after: the same room, styled with AI. The list below has real pieces in the same look.

Shop the after. These are pieces like the ones in the picture, in the same look. They are not the exact items in the AI image.

  1. Floral wallpaper above the tile: HAOKHOME retro floral peel-and-stick wallpaper (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. (brighter than the peach in the picture)
  2. Round mirror: Sunniry 24 inch round mirror (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.
  3. Floral shower curtain: Visioun retro 70s floral shower curtain (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.
  4. Fern in the window: Costa Farms Boston fern (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. in a Mkono ivory macrame plant hanger (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.
  5. Brass towel bar: Bubxo brushed gold 24 inch towel bar (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.
  6. Mustard and green towels: Utopia Towels in Mustard (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. and Chakir Turkish Linens in Moss (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.
  7. Checkerboard mat: CozeCube mustard and cream checkered bath mat (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

The peach waffle robe on the hook and the cream soap pump are the kind of thing most of us already own. Use what you have.

Mint green bathroom ideas for vintage tile

Mint tile is pure 50s, and it looks best when you don’t fight it. Keep the metal chrome. Use white towels with one mint or black accent, a black and white checkered mat, and a simple round mirror with a thin frame. Above the tile, a soft white or a pale pink wall lets the green stay the main color. A small fern on the sill picks up the green without adding another color. Skip the brass and the 70s florals here. They pull the room toward a different decade.

A 1950s mint green tile bathroom with a black and white checkerboard floor, a white pedestal sink, a round chrome mirror and a Boston fern on the windowsill
Mint tile with chrome, a black and white floor and white towels: the 50s way.

Pink retro bathroom update: the easy version

A pink tile bathroom only looks dated when the rest of the room is tired. The easy update is three things. Clean the grout until the lines are bright again. Add white or charcoal towels and a black and white mat, which make pink look sharp instead of sweet. Then hang one print or a shower curtain that has the same pink in it, so the tile looks chosen. A soft gray or a warm white wall above the tile keeps it calm. If you love pink, lean in with a floral that repeats it.

Retro bathroom decor for an apartment

Most of this page works in a rental because almost none of it is permanent. The bath mat, towels, shower curtain, prints, tray and plant all leave with you. Peel-and-stick wallpaper comes off, and plug-in sconces need no wiring. The mirror and a towel bar take screws, so ask your landlord before drilling.

For the fern, you don’t have to drill into a ceiling either. Our guide to hanging plants without drilling covers a tension rod across the window recess and how to check what a wet pot weighs before you hang it.

The Boston fern: keeping it happy in a bathroom

A Boston fern wants three things: bright, indirect or filtered light, high humidity, and soil that stays barely moist all the time. A bathroom window gives it two of those for free. The shower steam handles the humidity, and frosted glass or a sheer curtain filters the light. If the window gets strong direct sun, hang the fern off to one side of it.

The soil is the part that takes attention. A hanging pot dries faster than one on a shelf, so check it with your finger every few days and water before it goes dry. Don’t let it sit soggy either. If your bathroom has only a tiny window or none at all, our bathroom plant guide lists the Boston fern with the other plants by how much light each one needs.

It is also a good pick if you have pets. The ASPCA lists the Boston fern as non-toxic to cats and dogs. Our list of houseplants safe for cats and dogs has more.

What to buy

Some links in this list are Amazon affiliate links too. Start with one or two and add the rest as you go.

Retro bathroom questions

Are retro bathrooms in style?

Yes. Colored tile, checkerboard and bold wallpaper are all over home magazines right now, and some designers would rather keep old pink, green or yellow tile than rip it out. Deidre Webster of Studio Day Design told Country Living that her studio likes to keep original tile when it can. What has changed is the mix: today’s retro bathroom keeps the old tile and adds a newer mirror, light or towels, so it feels lived in rather than like a museum.

How do I style a retro bathroom?

Pick one era, repeat two or three of its colors, and keep one metal finish. Then add a round mirror, a patterned mat or curtain, and one plant. Stop before every surface has something on it.

How do I decorate around original 1950s or 1970s tile?

Let the tile lead. Pull your towel, curtain and wall colors from the tile, clean the grout, and replace yellowed caulk. A pale wall color above the tile works for 50s pastels. Cream, warm beige or a floral that has the tile color in it works for 70s mustard, brown or avocado. Don’t paint tile in the shower or around the tub. Cracked or loose tiles are a job for a tile pro, not a cover-up.