Modern Makeover for a Clawfoot Tub
How do you unmuddle a Victorian muddle?
WAY back before we went to K/BIS, we asked housebloggers if they wanted us to research anything for them. And fellow houseblogger, Ranch Redo, posed this challenge:
Okay, here is my problem. In a year, we plan on renovating our main bathroom. We want to restore it with a "flavor" of 1951. However, one glitch, the bathroom has a clawfoot tub. I don't think clawfoots were even remotely popular in '51. That aside, we love clawfoots for their size and are keeping it. However, I wish wish wish, there was some type of "foot" other than a claw that we could put on this tub. The clawfoot looks extremely victorian and not 1951 at all. It would be so wonderful if we could replace them with some type of modern or plain "foot". Does such a thing even exist? I assume others must have this same problem? Please, keep your eye out for feet without claws. :)
My guess is that someone in the 1960's got REALLY into the re-introduction of Victorian style and plunked down an old clawfoot bathtub in a 1950's house. It happens a lot, as we all know.
So, I went to K/BIS looking for ideas. And talked to some folks. And did some research.
First, from my research, I'm imagining that a typical bathtub in the 1950's looked something like this:
Sleek, streamlinked. Most likely pink, blue or yellow...perhaps white. Another fellow blogger, Meanwhile Back at The Ranch, did a little research of their own regarding bathrooms of the fifties.
Ranch Redo was looking for alternative feet...and thus comes the not so good news. Finding alternative feet for a vintage clawfoot tub is difficult. They weren't made to a standard size "foot" back then and thus, just swapping the old ones out for new ones would be hard. Creative Casting makes reproduction feet and could probably work up something, but my guess is that it would be expensive. There are smooth feet for clawfoot tubs out there, but I don't know if they would fit every tub.
Okay, so...what now?
In searching through a book of apartment makeovers, I found plans for enclosing a clawfoot bath in a box, sort of like this:
Modernize the trim on that box a little bit and it could at least "disguise" the tub.
But, perhaps all you would have to do is just cover the feet and make the tub feel a bit sleeker than it is. Pedastal tubs are quite handsome:
And there is a company that makes pedastal bases for tubs. I don't know how they would figure out the fit, though.
You could make your own pedastal base out of a plank of Bendywood, which IS a product that I saw at K/BIS.
Other than that? Well, if you go with a fifties poodle theme in the bathroom, you could knit clawfoot covers that look like poodles. Pink poodles. As if your tub was being borne aloft by a team of pink poodles. Which could be quite a statement. But after that I've got nothin.
Anybody else have ideas?
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Comments
I like the idea of taking it and making it sleek. There had to be folks who were "updating" in the 50's....I'll look through my books and see what I can find.
Posted by: Mary-Frances Main | June 2, 2006 3:25 PM
Wow! You really went to great lengths to help me with my question and I REALLY appreciat it! This seriously provides some great options for our problem. I like both ideas (boxing it in and installing a pedestal base). Either one maintains the huge tub feeling but really simplifies the look, which is what I'm after. We're still a year away from the project, but this is a problem we need to solve sooner, rather than later. :)
Posted by: Laurie | June 2, 2006 5:38 PM
Hi Laurie! Since you asked me to look, I was intrigued by your situation! I'm only sorry that it took me so long to reply. I'm going to try to dig out and scan those woodworking plans for encasing a clawfoot tub, just in case you go in that direction.
If we didn't live in a bungalow, I'm sure we'd go Mid-Century Modern. It's a style that I really like :) In fact, there are a lot of cool, mid-century modern houses a few blocks to the north of us here in Chicago that hardly anyone knows about. AND! They're still very affordable. I'll shoot some photos when Aaron and I take Grace for a walk today. Perhaps it will inspire!
Posted by: jm | June 3, 2006 9:33 AM
Our clawfoot tub was enclosed at some point by the previous owner. It was in an advanced state of disrepair due to neglect and water damage by the time we moved in, but someone obviously spent a lot of time and care on it. We were delighted to find it was indeed a clawfoot tub underneath since the house is a bungalow, but the enclosure worked (or would've worked) quite well.
They built it out of thick plywood sheets that exactly mimicked the curves of the tub. Water damage was always going to be an issue, but with the care the builder took to mitigate moisture intrusion, it probably could've looked nicer and lasted much longer than it did.
Pictures here:
http://www.thehallway.net/hallhouse_bathroom01.htm
Posted by: Brittney | June 3, 2006 12:14 PM
What about these:
http://yesbath.stores.yahoo.net/114185.html
Also, if you figured out the attachment mechanism, you could probably have something made out of teak or redwood, which is certainly more period accurate than a big ol' claw.
Posted by: Mike | June 12, 2006 1:55 PM