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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want a Victorian bathroom in my 1970s house?

50 replies

Hedgehoginthefog · 28/01/2019 11:55

Having saved for years we can finally afford a much needed new bathroom. I am a big fan of a traditional claw foot bath and I was imaging something like this. However, although DP likes it, he says it will look ridiculous in our 1970s box. I think it will be fine - it is a timeless classic. Who IBU?

to want a Victorian bathroom in my 1970s house?
OP posts:
Craft1905 · 28/01/2019 13:21

You are. You can put modern stuff in an old house, but you can't put old looking stuff in a new house.

A Victorian bathroom in a 70s house will look ridiculous. A sleek modern bathroom in a Victorian house looks cool.

Don't ask why, it's just the way it is.

5foot5 · 28/01/2019 13:24

No I disagree with PP. I think this style will look good in any age of house.

Do you have enough space?
We had our bathrooms done recently and my initial feeling was for the claw foot bath. However it simply wouldn't fit for us. Our other fittings, i.e. WC and washbasin are a similar style to the picture

MynameisJune · 28/01/2019 13:27

Doesn’t look that Victorian to me 🤷‍♀️

If you like it and have the room go for it. Realistically who is going to come to your house and exclaim ‘oh my god, your bathroom is so not inkeeping with this house’

BarbarianMum · 28/01/2019 13:27

I think its fine if you have the space. Unless you're doing it up for sale who cares what other people think.

If you wanted to be true to the period you'd have to put in a pink or acacado suite and get a 3 piece bathmat/toilet mat/toilet lid cover to contrast and no one wants to go back there. Grin

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 28/01/2019 13:28

doesnt look that Victorian- I have those metro tiles in my bathroom in my 1970s house, love them!

FlyingMonkeys · 28/01/2019 13:28

It's your house get whatever you'll love. If you're planning on selling in the next 18mths then an ultra modern bathroom would add value and be better for the market as it'll cover a higher percentage of buyers tastes and what they expect in the property. If you're not then get something you'll enjoy for years to come because in 5-10yrs anything 'modern' currently will have dated by then.

Strugglingtodomybest · 28/01/2019 13:28

So long as the room is big enough, and it doesn't end up looking cramped, I think it will look fine.

Lycanthropology · 28/01/2019 13:30

Freestanding baths are super popular now, so whilst the style may have originated in Victorian times, they are very much a trendy thing now, so it’s absolutely fine.

A friend of mine is just about to install a ball and claw bath in her 70’s house, and she has great taste, so I’m sure it’ll look good.

Just get on and do it with confidence and it’ll be great.

Auntiepatricia · 28/01/2019 13:31

Honestly that just looks like a bathroom. A proper Victorian bathroom is incredibly different to that. So if that is what you want to do then I think it looks perfectly modern.

AmericanEskimoDoge · 28/01/2019 13:43

I think it looks fine for any house.

Honestly, I don't get why some people (mostly interior designers, maybe) seem to think that everything in a house absolutely must "flow" from one room to the next. If that's what you like, fine. On the other hand, if you want your kitchen to have an Italian vineyard theme and your sitting room to be mid-century modern, who really cares?

It's your home: you should decorate it the way you like. The only exception would be something truly outlandish that will be extremely difficult or costly to change-- and even then, that's mainly for those who plan to move in the future.

Chouetted · 28/01/2019 13:48

Doesn't look anything like a Victorian bathroom to me either!

I live in a Victorian house - bath would have been in front of the fire downstairs, toilet was (and is) outside.

I do however have a hankering for a sink in my bedroom, I suppose that's Edwardian?

Craft1905 · 28/01/2019 13:51

Realistically who is going to come to your house and exclaim ‘oh my god, your bathroom is so not inkeeping with this house’

Anyone with an iota of class. Faux Victorian stuff in a 70s house....just no.

MynameisJune · 28/01/2019 13:56

@craft1905 really, well they wouldn’t be my friends for long if they were that pretentious.

Lycanthropology · 28/01/2019 13:57

Anyone with an iota of class

Oh dear, nearly cringed myself inside out reading that.

Yes, follow Craft1905 ‘s interior style advice, even if it consists of the very helpful, explanatory and illuminating “just no” and “it’s just the way it is” Hmm

Craft1905 · 28/01/2019 14:00

@craft1905 really, well they wouldn’t be my friends for long if they were that pretentious.

The pretentiousness is fitting a wannabe lookalike Victorian bathroom in a 70s house. Ffs..what next, flock wallpaper and a coal fireplace on the International Space Station.

Rhubarbisevil · 28/01/2019 14:02

I have moved from a 1780s house to a 1970s house, I have lots of class and, OP, that bathroom is gorgeous. I am going to screenshot it so that I can replace my current bathroom - which is very much in keeping with the 1970s house and comprises pistachio green sanitary ware and gold taps - with your bathroom.

It’s lovely!

MynameisJune · 28/01/2019 14:02

It isn’t even a Victorian bathroom! And you’re clearly in the minority on the thread. But I guess that’s because none of the rest of us have an ‘iota of class’ 🙄

User758172 · 28/01/2019 14:03

I don’t think I would, sorry OP. It would look at odds with the rest of the house.

My grandparents recently sold their 1970s home and their bathroom was in the same Victorian style, but slightly more ornate. Every single viewer they had commented on how strange the bathroom was when the rest of the house was modern. It just looked odd and put them off buying, as they didn’t want the hassle of replacing it.

Rhubarbisevil · 28/01/2019 14:06

but slightly more ornate

That’s probably why. The OP’s bathroom has clean lines and simplicity.

MayFayner · 28/01/2019 14:13

OP- you can have whatever bathroom you like because it’s your house.

But if you did want to stay more in keeping with the style of your house- from your photo: the wall tiles could work anywhere. You can definitely have the floor. You can get freestanding tubs without the feet, have you seen those? So then it would just be a matter of choosing a different toilet shape and hand basin.

Andromeida59 · 28/01/2019 14:18

Our house was built in 1890 and it did have a bathroom and no outside toilet.
I wouldn't put a "Victorian bathroom" in a 70's house as it would look odd. If you like freestanding baths, why not go for the more modern ones?

Hazeintheclouds · 28/01/2019 14:18

The bathroom you gave in mind has lots of sleek lines so I think it would suit a 1970’s property which are also pretty linear.

Mulberryandthyme · 28/01/2019 14:50

I've got freestanding baths in my bathrooms. They are a bastard to clean under and behind.

Original poster
Hedgehoginthefog · 28/01/2019 15:11

Doesn't look that Victorian

I agree! 'Victorian' was DP's word, I should have put it in inverted commas! I thought I was making a sensible design decision by going for something traditional, rather than something trendy, which will quickly go out of date.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the opinions. Seems to be the consensus is it is okay as long as I'm not going for anything too ornate. Will still have to convince DP so I'll probably end up having to compromise somewhere anyway!

OP posts:
BooksAreMyOnlyFriends · 28/01/2019 15:25

Sorry op I dont like it. We had a similar bathroom when we loved into our 60s house and hated the mismatched dated look. The first thing we did was replace it with a modern bathroom which is old now but as it's so simple in design it could still pass as new.