Throne for the WC

It was a big day yesterday. A new toilet was installed in our mid mod house - a new throne for the royal ablutions.

Hmm...the joys of an older home...our throne is slightly elevated sitting on a concrete plinth of sorts...

As much as we like to keep the changes to this house 'mid-century authentic', we had to draw the line to the 50 year old toilet with original Bakelite seat. It had seen better days and was ready to be retired. (You'll be pleased to know that we are keeping the simple but highly effective toilet roll holder. Ha!)

A new modern loo was the only way to go - water efficient and hopefully much easier to keep clean.

Old toilet, I'm sure you served well over the years...RIP

We chose a dependable Australian-made Caroma toilet suite with a porcelain cistern. Anything made of plastic would have deteriorated due to the amount of sunlight streaming through the large frosted window in the WC.

I was toying with the idea of getting a new black Bakelite seat... however our experience from the Sow's Ear told us that black Bakelite is difficult to keep in pristine condition. Ours became cloudy over time. :(

After having this initial plumbing work conducted on the house we're now aware that all the old pipes are galvanised steel and are rusting badly. It will be something we will have to attend to before they eventually deteriorate to a rusty mess and seize up for good. We'll be putting that on the list as we plan out our projects.

A smart flush Caroma toilet suite

But firstly we will have to attend to the walls and floors in our sad looking WC. A coat of fresh paint on the walls, repairing the timber architraves and a choice of new flooring is on the to-do list.

1960s bathroom fittings: an update

Remember how we were searching high and low for that elusive towel rail bracket for our bathroom? You can read here if you missed it.

Well, we found it. Actually, we didn't find it...a blog reader did! Thanks so much Alex!

close up of our mid-century towel rail bracket

I received an email from Alex alerting me to an eBay listing selling Art Deco bathroom fittings. Never in a million years did I expect to find the exact same towel rail bracket under that heading. I was mistakenly searching for terms like 1960s, retro, modernist and mid-century!

The tip of the day is look under the term Art Deco when all things fail in your search for mid-century items!

I was able to approach the seller and ask if he would consider selling the towel rail separately...which he very kindly did. The towel rail was from Melbourne of all places. Great that it can have a permanent holiday in sunny Queensland.

The towel rails are extra. extra long - perfect for our family of five. I forgot to hang my towel up!

Jason installed the bracket straight away and we've been enjoying the luxury of matching towel rails. Hahaha!

The 1960s towel rails unadorned

Anyway, it's the small things which make all the difference.

Finding 1960s bathroom fittings

I am trying to find a simple little towel rail bracket for our bathroom. The original bracket has corroded and fallen off - it was only sitting in place with the help of soap scum I suspect!

1960s chrome towel rail in square profile and bracket.

I've already visited a couple of salvage yards in search of a matching bracket but it's proven fruitless. At one salvage yard, the old bloke just stared at me with an arched eyebrow and bemused look suggesting I was completely bonkers when I showed him the corroded bracket. Jeez, customer service is not going to happen in these bloody salvage yards...

Corroded chrome towel rail bracket

People throw out this kind of stuff, as it seems no one wants to retain original mid-century bathroom fittings. My tip for someone entrepreneurial is to start replicating or salvaging this 1960s stuff - in a few years time retro renos/restorations are going to be the next big thing...maybe for Generation Z?

It is a lot easier to track down fixtures and fittings for an old Queenslander than it is for a 1960s house I am finding. Who'd have thought it would be easier to find the 100 year old stuff than the 50 year old stuff?

I probably wouldn't have worried too much about it normally but it's just that we have two matching towel rails that are in great condition and we'd like to keep them rather than just replace. The profile of the towel rail is square and quite thick, so it's not like we'd be able just to buy a modern equivalent either.

Anyway, the search continues...And if one of you happens to find the matching bracket, you know how to reach me...OK?