19 Victorian Bathroom Design Ideas: Elegance Meets Everyday Life (Or How I Blew $3,427 Learning What Actually Works)
Look, I’ll be honest – my obsession with Victorian bathrooms started after binge-watching way too much Bridgerton last winter (judge me all you want, lol). After convincing my very patient husband that transforming our builder-grade bathroom into something Lady Whistledown would approve of was totally necessary, I spent six months making every mistake possible. And yeah, I’m talking about that time I bought a “genuine antique” clawfoot tub from Facebook Marketplace that turned out to be a spray-painted disaster from 1985.
Quick warning: this is gonna be a long one because apparently I have a lot of feelings about Victorian bathroom design (and some trauma to work through from that tub incident). Grab a cup of tea and settle in…
1. The Clawfoot Tub Saga (aka Learn From My Pain)
After the Facebook Marketplace disaster, I finally found my dream tub at a local salvage yard called Architectural Artifacts. Cost me $892.47 (plus $200 for two very confused movers who kept asking if I was sure about this). Pro tip: check the feet carefully – I learned the hard way that Victorian tubs often had different styles of feet even on the same tub, and matching replacements are a nightmare to find.
The thing nobody tells you about clawfoot tubs? They’re cold as hell in winter. We solved this by adding one of those plug-in towel warmers from Wayfair ($147.82 on Black Friday). Not exactly period-accurate but neither is hypothermia.
2. Wallpaper Woes (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Removable Paper)
Y’all, do NOT make my mistake of ordering $400 worth of authentic William Morris reproduction wallpaper before testing it in our humid bathroom. That stuff peeled faster than my sunburn last July. After much cursing and a minor meltdown, I discovered removable wallpaper from Spoonflower with Victorian patterns. Currently using their “Brighton Manor Damask” ($5.75/sq ft) and it’s holding up great, even with my teenager’s hour-long steamy showers.
3. Victorian Light Fixtures That Won’t Bankrupt You
The vintage brass sconces I found at an estate sale ($45 each) looked amazing until we discovered they weren’t actually wired for electricity (facepalm). Had them rewired at Johnson’s Electric for $85 per fixture. Worth every penny because they don’t burn down the house, which is pretty important tbh.
4. Storage Solutions That Queen Victoria Never Had to Deal With
Let’s talk about the elephant in the bathroom – where to put all our modern stuff in a Victorian-style space. Those gorgeous antique cabinets I drooled over at Restoration Hardware? Yeah, turns out they’re about as practical for storing toilet paper as a chocolate teapot. After watching my husband try to cram his electric razor into a “charming” vintage soap dish, I broke down and got a custom cabinet from Tom at Local Woodworks ($675). He managed to make it look period-appropriate while actually being useful. Though tbh, it did take three tries to get the stain right because apparently “Victorian mahogany” means something different to everyone 🙄
5. The Great Mirror Debacle of 2024
Pro tip: Don’t try to mount a 75-pound gilded Victorian mirror by yourself while your spouse is at work. Especially not when Mercury is in retrograde (or whatever – my sister says that’s why it fell). $246 in drywall repairs later, I can recommend Anderson’s Antique Hardware’s mirror mounting brackets. They’re basically heavy-duty magic and worth every penny of the $89.93 I spent.
6. Floor Tile Adventures
Remember when I said this project had a budget? laughs in Victorian The original plan was to use those gorgeous hexagon tiles from Historic Tile Co. ($24.99/sq ft). Then I saw the total for the bathroom and nearly fainted. Found an amazing lookalike at Floor & Decor for $3.89/sq ft instead. Yes, it’s porcelain and not authentic marble. No, Lady Whistledown will never know the difference.
7. The Radiator Saga
That gorgeous towel radiator I found at the architectural salvage yard turned out to be more trouble than my first marriage. After spending $350 getting it restored (shoutout to Pete’s Plating who did an amazing job), we discovered it had more leaks than my son’s fish tank. Now it’s a weirdly expensive towel rack while we use a modern heated towel rail hidden behind the door. Sometimes you gotta know when to give up on authenticity.
8. Victorian-Style Faucets (That Actually Work)
PSA: Just because something’s old doesn’t mean it’s good. Found that out when the “authentic” Victorian faucets I bought from that sketchy antique shop started spraying water everywhere like a demented garden sprinkler. Finally bit the bullet and got reproduction faucets from House of Antique Hardware ($237.50 during their spring sale). They have the look without the 100 years of mineral buildup.
9. Lighting That Won’t Make You Look Like a Ghost
Those authentic Victorian sconces we mentioned earlier? Turns out they cast the kind of shadows that make everyone look like they’re auditioning for a horror movie. Added some discrete LED strips behind the mirror ($34.99 from Amazon) because I refuse to do my makeup looking like I’m about to star in “The Turn of the Screw.”
10. The Great Shower Curtain Crisis
Real talk: there’s nothing authentically Victorian about a shower curtain, but unless you want water absolutely everywhere (ask me how I know), you’re gonna need one. After trying three different “vintage-inspired” options that looked about as elegant as my college dorm room, I finally found this amazing local seamstress on Etsy (VintageStitchery) who made me a custom curtain using William Morris-inspired fabric. $167 seemed steep for a shower curtain until I remembered the $400 worth of water damage from my “historically accurate” attempt at going curtain-free.
11. Hardware That Won’t Fall Apart (Unlike My First Attempt)
The vintage brass toilet paper holder I got from that estate sale looked amazing for exactly two weeks until it literally fell off the wall during my mother-in-law’s visit (of course it had to be then 🤦♀️). Ended up finding beautiful reproduction pieces at Hardware Hut – got the toilet paper holder ($49.95), towel rings ($42.95 each), and robe hooks ($28.95) all in aged brass. They actually stay on the wall, which is apparently something I need to specify now.
12. Paint Colors and Other Marriage Tests
Y’all, I spent $347 on Farrow & Ball paint samples alone. SAMPLES. My husband nearly had a coronary when he saw all those tiny pots of paint, each apparently a slightly different shade of “heritage” green. Ended up going with ‘Calke Green’ which the sales guy assured me was “very Victorian” right before charging me $125 for a gallon. Though tbh, after all those samples, I’m pretty sure I can’t actually tell the difference between any of them anymore.
13. The Window Treatment Drama
Remember last August when it was 95 degrees and our bathroom window faced directly west? That vintage lace curtain panel I was so proud of finding at the antique mall ($85) provided about as much sun protection as a piece of tissue paper. Added a hidden roller blind behind it (HomeDepot, $34.99) because sometimes you have to choose between historical accuracy and not sweating to death while taking a bath.
14. Dealing with Modern Necessities
Let’s talk about outlet covers because apparently Victorians didn’t need to charge electric toothbrushes. Found these amazing brass covers from Classic Accents ($18.95 each) that at least make our modern necessities look less… modern. Though I did have to veto my husband’s suggestion to “just paint over all the outlets” because apparently we still need building code compliance or whatever 🙄
15. The Vanity Situation
After watching approximately 47 hours of restoration videos on YouTube, I convinced myself I could refinish an antique dresser into a vanity. Narrator voice: She could not. RIP to that beautiful piece of furniture that I absolutely ruined with my “I can totally do this myself” attitude. Finally found a master carpenter on NextDoor who converted an actually-antique dresser ($425 from Georgetown Antiques) into a vanity for $850. Worth every penny just for not having to pretend I know what “wood conditioning” means.
16. Making Peace with Modern Plumbing
Look, sometimes you have to acknowledge that modern plumbing is just better. We hid the modern toilet behind a Victorian-style high tank conversion kit ($389 from Signature Hardware) because I’m committed to the aesthetic but not enough to actually use a Victorian toilet. I draw the line at historical accuracy when it comes to flush capacity.
17. Victorian-Style Storage That Actually Works
Can we talk about medicine cabinets for a sec? After trying to survive with one of those tiny vintage mirrors that opens up to a cabinet approximately 2 inches deep (spoiler: my husband’s allergy meds collection alone laughed at this), I finally found a genius solution. Got a custom medicine cabinet built by Johnson’s Woodworking ($495) that looks period-appropriate but is actually deep enough to hold modern stuff. They built it into the wall between studs, so it looks totally authentic but fits my entire skincare addiction. Though I did have to explain to my teenager that no, she can’t store ALL her Bath & Body Works collection in there just because it fits now.
18. Shower Head Solutions (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Authenticity)
Remember when I insisted on that reproduction telephone-style handheld shower ($279 from Classic Clawfoot)? Yeah, turns out having amazing water pressure is more important than historical accuracy. After three months of what felt like showering under a gentle mist, I caved and got a modern shower head with a Victorian-style cover ($156.82 from Amazon). It’s like a spa experience but make it vintage. Fight me about authenticity – I’ll be over here enjoying my actually-gets-shampoo-out-of-my-hair water pressure.
19. The Final Touches (That Nearly Broke Me)
Last but not least, let’s talk accessories. You know all those gorgeous Victorian bathroom photos on Pinterest with the matching soap dispensers and perfectly coordinated brass everything? Complete lies. I spent $234.57 at HomeGoods trying to recreate that look before accepting that real Victorian bathrooms probably had random bits and pieces too. Now I’m mixing actual vintage pieces (like that $12 brass cup I found at Goodwill) with modern stuff that just looks good. My favorite find? A modern soap dispenser ($24.99) that I “antiqued” with brass spray paint while slightly wine drunk. It’s not perfect, but neither were the Victorians, probably.
The Final Tally (Or Why I’m Not Showing This Post to My Husband)
Look, I won’t sugarcoat it – this whole Victorian bathroom renovation adventure cost way more than I initially planned. But you know what? Every time I take a bath in that clawfoot tub (with the secretly modern water pressure), surrounded by my “close enough to authentic” Victorian details, I feel like I’m living my best Bridgerton life. Even if I did have to hide some Target clearance finds behind that vintage towel rack.
Some Final Real Talk:
Yes, maintaining a Victorian-style bathroom takes more work than a modern one
No, not everything has to be authentic to look good
Yes, you will become weirdly obsessed with brass cleaner
No, your family won’t understand your excitement about finding the perfect vintage soap dish
Yes, it’s totally worth it (especially after a glass of wine)