The First Floor Bathroom
the before might have been the scariest room of them all!
Of course, the first thing we did when we closed on Chapline House was start a Pinterest Board. Today, it has over 1,500 pins and multiple sections filled with images of rooms that inspire us to get to the decorating phase in each room. As we scroll through now, we can see how our ideas and choices have evolved over the years, becoming bolder and more adventurous as we pick out colors, styles and elements that will help us tell the story of this house.
One of the first rooms to make it to this phase and be completed is the first-floor bathroom. Dad’s Bathroom. Just past the staircase down the entry hallway, you’ll now find a room that feels as if it has always been there, even though we think it was likely not originally a bathroom at all.
Before: filthy floors and walls with vintage elements worth saving.
After: a reimagined space, updated with modern comforts with a nod to the history for an old home, featuring original & salvaged fixtures.
Technically, one of the only “original” items in the room is the sink that we cleaned and polished. An American Standard “Companion” with “Pat. 1931” stamped on the bottom, we saw this as the anchor for the room which pointed us in the direction we wanted to take the decor in. Knowing the room was likely part of the hallway, if not perhaps a butler’s pantry, that lead straight into the kitchen, we wanted this room to feel as if it had gradually changed, updated through the decades as if the Victorian’s never left, continuing to live their lives here and make changes to their home as new styles and trends became popular. Not exactly a ‘restoration’ but not a modern renovation either. Just lived in and loved.
Pictured right: original, Victorian window latch. We stripped the white paint from it by placing it in a crock pot with water and vinegar on high for 4+ hours
So here’s what we came up with:
Dad picked the color green for this room early on, deciding that a green subway tile shower would be a focal point as well as a necessary change. Yes, we did remove the cast iron tub to make this happen, but with only two bathrooms in the house, at least one needed a shower for functionality, and we opted that the claw foot tub on the second floor would be the one to stay. We did however, carefully remove the one here, saving it for a future use, perhaps in another home. Once we decided on the floor plan, cosmetic choices were next. All of the trim in this room was painted (one of the few rooms in the house with this fate) so we decided to just paint again with fresh Swiss Coffee rather than trying to strip it all down.
The floors were old laminate and in rough shape, so we removed it (tested for asbestos first) and replaced with new, marble hex tile to keep the traditional feel while complementing the green shower tile and bringing in a more modern, luxury feel. Next, we found the wainscot: antique bead board, in perfect shape and just the right amount needed, to re-shellac and install over the stamped plaster (found at Columbus Architectural Salvage). That was when it was settled, we would source or salvage old things for this room where we could before buying anything new.
The chrome color was decided for us since that was what was there and there was no chance we’d change it. Many comments on Facebook say that gold would elevate this room and make it more elegant but that’s not the story of this house. Agnes and Anne Wilson- the original sisters- weren’t wealthy as far as we can tell. Left this home by their father, they may have lived in one of the more desirable neighborhoods of the time, but Anne worked as a librarian and their brother likely cared for the finances of this home that they shared. Compared to other homes on the block, there appears to be much less detail and flaunting of wealth within these walls. So the chrome makes sense. The room had several chrome fixtures such as the towel rack on the wall, hooks on the back of the door and the sink handles. The hand towel racks on the vintage sink were missing but there was an escutcheon on the wall which meant that they had once been there, so we found vintage replacement parts for either side at Liz’s Antique Hardware and Eric’s Architectural Salvage in Los Angeles.
The wallpaper we ordered was from Rebel Walls. This was one element we went back and forth on for a while. Should we wallpaper at all? If so, do we wallpaper the whole room or just one wall? Do we complement or contrast with the green shower? And most importantly… how were we all going to agree on one pattern? Eventually, we found Drapes of Roses – Midnight which was immediately the obvious choice. It was dark and moody with greens and whites that would complement the wood trim and tile. We decided to put it on the two walls across from the shower and paint the others a pink pulled from the wallpaper. We picked a salmon color, thinking it would make a statement. We painted the walls and hung the wallpaper… and it just didn’t feel right. So, we decided to go in another direction and painted the walls Rockwood Green instead.
Now the room was coming together.
Initially, we assumed we’d keep the mirror and lights. But then we found this incredible art deco lighted medicine cabinet at Columbus Architectural Salvage and could not pass it up! Dad rewired the lights and now it feels as if it has been here all along.
Finally, we knew we wanted to replace the cabinet now above the toilet. We removed the 40s door, leaving the shelving open for a time and kept an eye out at all of our favorite antique shops, hoping something just the right size would appear. Then we found these: a set of two leaded glass doors that came from a home right here in Wheeling labeled 5×2’. They were prefect! Except they weren’t… there’s a reason you should always keep a measuring tape in your pocket…
When we got home, we held the new old door up to the shelving and realized they were labeled incorrectly. While it was the perfect width, the measurements were closer to 4.5×2’ hence the small cubby you now see at the bottom which we had to build out.
But that’s all a part of the story right? We still loved the door and the idea of saving something from another Wheeling residence so we made it work. We used hinges that match the rest of the house that were being used on an old cabinet in the basement and found Eastlake hardware to add at Pasadena Architectural Salvage.
In the end, this room turned out exactly how we hoped it would. Not a textbook restoration yet not a brand-new renovation either. A room that feels like it has lived many lives, evolving slowly over time, and adapting with the people who have called this house home between 1884 and now. Almost every piece has a story, was salvaged, fixed, cleaned, rewired, or slightly reworked to fit, which makes the room feel more honest, adding to the history of this space.
