Whoever thought putting carpet in a bathroom was a good idea, should have their head examined (even if it was my dad!) 🙂 Moisture, lots of moisture and carpet around a toilet just don’t mix. Yuck! Nevertheless, when this old house of ours was built in 1972 or so, carpet was put down in the bathroom and believe it or not at the time, the kitchen too. Did anyone else ever have carpet in the kitchen? That has long since changed in the kitchen (can you imagine the gunk on kitchen carpet?), but the bathroom carpet still remained. A relic that is well past it’s prime.
This carpet has been down since the mid-80’s sometime, as evidenced by the lovely pinky mauveness of it. We all had a complete fascination with this color back then and I’m just not sure I could ever do this one again. I can’t talk much, since I installed mauve carpet in my brand new house back in 1985. I slapped myself several times over that one. 
So back to why it’s not a good idea to put carpet in a bathroom? Umm, yeah, this is why. 
I ripped out that nasty old carpet which was bad enough, but underneath the carpet pad was completely disintegrating, leaving behind a nasty orange powder that was really grody. I said ewwww right out loud to myself a few times during this particular chore.
Now we are down to the plywood subfloor and what do we have here? My dad is known as the shortcut guy (oh boy), so somewhere along the line that plywood must have rotted out next to the tub and this is what he did. At least it is flat and level, so we should still be fine laying down the new vinyl floor planks that I have planned in here. 
After working hard on this floor for about 2 hours, I ripped out all the tack strips, along with the nails and staples from the padding and finally had a somewhat clean surface. Ahhh, now we’re talking. 
I decided that all the trim in here has to be repainted, since it has been so many years since it’s all been touched. I’ll be glad I did in the long run. My dad always painted with oil based paint back in those days, so I had to use an oil based primer over all the trim, to ready it for my new latex creamy white trim paint. I’m well on my way to getting this space finished! Those pulls are getting replaced too. 
We did unload this beautiful vintage 1970’s laundry hamper to the local thriftstore. I couldn’t put it back, it has served its time too. We don’t throw much away around this place. 🙂 In fact, me and mom have to sneak things out of the house or my dad would keep EVERYthing.
Here’s a sneak peek at the new wall color, Sherwin Williams Windsor Greige and the new beadboard wallpaper. I love it! As soon as we finish in here, you will all get to see it too.
I’m excited about reinventing this space, since it was in DIRE need of a makeover into the 21st century! Yeeehawww!
The winners of the Mary Kay Andrews Summer Rental book giveaway are:
#33 Kristy
#58 Kathy (a faithful reader & blog supporter)
Congrats, ladies! I’ve already emailed you for your address, so enjoy the book!
What a great word ‘grody’ is – not one we use here! Sounds like surf-speak.
Absolutely agree on ‘no carpet in bathrooms’ – essential when you have two small boys who can’t aim!
Ew, carpet in the bathroom IS grody! I never understood why that was a “thing” either. 🙂 Looks great so far! Can’t wait to see the finished results. 🙂
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You’re doing a fantastic job at your parents house. Can’t wait to see the reveal. I remember back around 1970 that my neighbors had that same hamper. If you thought mauve was bad, avacado green was worse. Keep up the great work.
Oh SO funny…we were in a rental last year that had carpet in every square inch of the house…including the bathroom AND kitchen!! Oh I felt like the house was NEVER clean!! I’ve never seen anyone else with this…wish we could’ve ripped ours out too 🙂
You made me laugh out loud! In our second house we had a low pile carpet in the kitchen (former owner put it in) and during a party a friend(?) was frying bacon (for an appetizer) and spilled hot grease on the floor. Yep – that was a mess. Patched the carpet and put a throw rug over it. Good luck with the bathroom!
What a nasty job! It’s going to look great, Rhoda. Love the results so far!
Carpet in a bathroom? Oh my! I’m anxious to see how you will transform this space!
Yep. Carpet in the kitchen in the mid-70’s. It was a lovely green design, low pile, indoor/outdoor kind of stuff. What a wise decision that was with a toddler learning to feed herself. As I recall, everything in that house was green – including the bathroom fixtures. When we put the house on the market, I remember a prospective buyer walking around and I overheard him stammer, “Everything is so – so – so GREEN.” Mauve was the next house. 🙂
My MIL has carpet in both of the bathrooms in her house. It is supposed to be removable for washing. Yeah, right. I don’t even like rugs in front o the toilet. My mother had carpet in a kitchen once. Now, that was a lot of fun to rip out! I’m with you on the mauve. Never, again.
Good for you, taking on the bathroom is a big job but you will do a great job with it!
I am from the Midwest and we call that recipe Cream Cheese Kolacky – a fast version that requires no yeast. If Solo filling is available in your area you might want to try it in place of the jam. It comes in many flavors and is located in the baking aisle.
The house I grew up in was built in the mid-70s. It had a low-pile orange and brown patterned carpet in the kitchen, which complemented the orange laminate countertops and harvest gold appliances. Don’t get me started on the orange shag in the dining room, the avocado green shag in the bedrooms, or the brown bathroom fixtures!
Oh, Rhoda!! I feel your pain!
We purchased a circa 1980 split level ranch in the “boonies” a year ago and slowly, room by room, we are sprucing it up… and yep, glue-down commercial carpet in the bathrooms and bedrooms. They had some sense and put down sheet vinyl in the kitchen. Of course, both bathrooms had that permanent musty smell, and underneath the carpet were two layers of old vinyl ?!?! I had to leave the house when hubby ripped that mess out and thankfully he wore a vent mask. NASSSSSTY!
I can’t wait to see you put your awesome touch on that bathroom. I need more inspiration for a very, very tight budget.
Blessings!
Our house had carpet in all 3 bathrooms when we bought it. Ewww. I agree with everything said before. Little boys(big boys, too) with poor aim should never, ever co-exist with carpet around toilets. Can’t wait to see the big reveal.
Hi Rhoda, I know that bathroom is going to look fabulous when you get done. Your parents will appreciate it so much, I’m sure! What a blessing to them you are, and vice versa, I’m sure. Can’t wait to see the rest! Linda
Rhoda,
I can’t wait to see what you do in that bathroom. In just the short time I’ve been reading your blog, I am amazed with your creative genius.
I’m sure the new bathroom is going to be fabulous! I, too, had a lot of mauve once, when it was coupled with that country blue color. Remember? Then there was the pale coral-y color and the seafoam green. Anyone recall that combo? The Southwest era, I believe. Beige, tan, ivory and white have endured all these years as neutrals. I always loved beige and ivory but was often told it was “boring.” Someone would say, “You need some color in here!”, meaning, of course, mauve and country blue.
This brings back memories, Rhoda. . . .When Jack and I bought our first house, we got a great deal because the place needed so much work. The bathroom had horrible gold carpeting. We ripped that right out–only to discover that it was actually WHITE carpeting! It looked gold, but the bits of it that were under the cabinets showed that it had originally been white! You just don’t want to think about how carpet in a bathroom could have gone from white to gold. Anyway, it’s amazing what a difference new vinyl can make. 🙂
This space is going to look great! And I’m sure someone at the thrift store who’s going for a retro 1960’s or 70’s look will be delighted to find your hamper. In retrospect, I think those harvest golds and avocado greens were probably better than mauve, don’t you? But I was right there with you in 1985!
I really enjoyed your post, Rhoda. I can’t wait to see how you transform this space. It’s a great size, which is such a bonus. My only full bath is circa 1952 and pretty much original except for the toilet and pedestal sink … LOTS of pink! At least there’s no carpet. I’ll bet ripping that out was a nasty job. I’m you newest follower. I hope you stop by Cottage and Creek and say ‘hi.’ Thanks for an inspiring read.
~Lynn
Hi Rhoda,
I am laughing here… carpet in the kitchen and bathrooms! That was big in the 70/80’s. And GRODY… a great word from the past too! Love the post and can’t wait to see what you do!
Rhoda!! You are shining in Atlanta too! Happy for you!
I am able to catch up on my Blogs, on summer vacation from teaching! Just loving it!
Ewww! Why oh Why did people insist on carpet all over the house! Can’t wait to see the end results! I know it will be lovely!
Blessings!!