Olympia Tile – the colors are the best for retro bathroom renovations!
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Update April 2008: This “Maple Leaf” tile sold by Olympia has been discontinued. However, I am told there is still stock to be sold off. If you want any of this stuff: Get it now. If your nearest retailer tells you that there is none left or you can’t get it — try another location, as my experience is that you get a different story depending on who you reach. – Pam
And important: See all my updated tile resources here.
I wanted to do a more complete posting on Olympia tile colors – and 50s tile colors in general – after reading something over the weekend.
On an eBay listing that I featured – the Manchu Yellow bathroom suite – the lister mentioned that Kohler had recently reissued some vintage colors. I went online to look, and must say I don’t think much of them at all, they are not true 50s hues. I also went and took a look at the American Olean site, to see if they had anything new to suit retro reno bathrooms; nope. I suspect that Waterworks has some great colors — that that is really expensive tile.
That brings me back to Olympia. I was fortunate enough to run into this company because I lived in metro Toronto a few years ago. When I was reno’ing my three bathrooms, I located a distributor nearby in the states. They sent me the board of colors – which I’ve photographed for you, above. Unfortunately, the company does not have any marketing materials — no brochures, no photos on their website, nothing. Seems like they really only market directly through independent tile stores.
It is well worth the hassle to pursue these tiles, in my experience. Our three bathrooms were originally plastic tile, which had rotted out the shower walls altogether. I had true 50s color schemes originally – pink/green, green/beige. Using different colors from the Olympia palette, I replicated the original design combining 4×4 field tile with contrasting white 2×6s, and by tiling up to the original height of 47″. Finally, the Olympia tile was very reasonably priced. This is not high end. But then, neither were these original 50s bathrooms!
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Hi – “Kim” left this comment on my former blog the other day. I am re-posting it here as it doesn’t transfer-Pa,:
Thank you SO much for taking the time to photograph the tile board. I was looking for the salmon colored tile to replace a few broken tiles in my shower, but I love the blue so much, I think I might use it instead! Again, thanks. Kim
Hi, I just came accross this site, I work for Olympia tile and would just like to clarify: Maple leaf series manufactured in Canada as of now is still current, We have also added a new series of 4×4 tile called the color collection manufactured in the US. Olympiatile.com for locations.
For anyone in search of pink tile, look for my listings on evilbay! I have loads of 4.5? pink ceramic tile. My seller name is theamishdisco (isn’t that a hoot?!), so you should be able to find all my auctions. Lots of goodies going up so I can clear out my extras before the snow flies. Mention Mid Mod Pam for a super deal.
I have just found a complete set of pink bath fixtures: toilet, tub and two drop in sinks from a 1956 ‘master bath’. They are in excellent condition–except for a couple of dings on the tub. My question is, where can I get touch up enamel that will actually match? If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate it. (I live in Oregon)