DEAR TIM: Many years ago when I built my home I used pink fixtures in my bathroom. They are in excellent condition and I like the color. But a falling hammer unfortunately shattered the toilet bowl. I can't locate a pink toilet that matches. I have no intention of replacing all of the plumbing fixtures. What are my options? Wayne B., Fairborn, OH

DEAR WAYNE: Perhaps you can buy a used toilet. I guarantee you that there are thousands of those pink thrones still in use in many homes built in the 1950's Pink and gray were the rage back then and I know of several homes that have these fixtures. I hope you saved several pieces of the broken pottery or at the very least the toilet tank lid so that you can get a perfect color match.

There are small businesses that advertise a re-glazing service. This is a horrible abuse of a word as the process involves spraying on an epoxy paint. If you want a toilet or other plumbing fixture re-glazed, you need to send it back to the factory for another trip through the high temperature kiln. The epoxy paints I have seen applied to fixtures often lack the hardness of the thin glass surface that is achieved when a piece of china is actually fired in a kiln. The epoxy coatings are also susceptible to peeling.

Perhaps you can do what a relative did for my wife and I twenty years ago. My wife purchased some white china kitchen canisters for flour, sugar, tea and salt storage. The surface has a hard fired clear glaze commonly found on china plumbing fixtures. Using high gloss oil paints this talented individual painted green fern leaves and the different words in jet black on each canister. The paint looks as good today as it did the day they were finished. We clean the canisters on a regular basis and the paint has never worn off nor chipped.

Think of the possibilities with respect to a toilet. A local artist or an art student could paint virtually any design in a matching pink color on the toilet. It could be simple pink pinstripes, or outlines along the toilet tank lid. The front vertical face of a toilet tank is an excellent place to paint anything that comes to your mind. The key is to paint the toilet surfaces that don't get wet. If you paint the tank lid, front and sides of the tank and even accents on the side of the bowl, you will be surprised at how well it will stand up to cleaning with a damp cloth. Never paint the inside of the bowl nor the top edge of the bowl.

If you are fortunate and have access to an affordable artist in your area, I suggest you do what my daughter is about to do for myself and my wife. We recently wallpapered a basement bathroom that has a wonderful white toilet. The bathroom has a splendid tropical theme wallpaper border running around the room. My daughter is going to take several elements from this border and paint them on the front of the tank and the tank lid. I can assure you the look will be stunning once complete.

If you decide to go with this custom look, I highly recommend that you have the artist do a quick scale sample on a piece of brilliant white poster board. Tape the sample to the toilet tank or lid and stand back to see if you like the look. Even if a mistake is made during the painting process or you decide at a later date you want a change, you can easily strip off the paint with common paint strippers.