Comments on: Femme1 discovers a bundle of new retro tiles for our decorating arsenal

By: shawna

shawna — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:06:13 +0000

Hi Pam,
I love your site so much it has been so helpful to me. Here is my question. I have a vintage pink bathroom!! Love it!! The counter tops are Pink tile with a burgundy trim. Bath and shower the same. I am in love with the fritz tile cl 265 it is white with rose I was thinking of doing that for the bathroom floor. Would that be crazy?? Last resort I could do linoleum with a simple line design. Would really like to try the fritz tiles but not sure if it would look weird with the tile??

Thanks, Shawna

By: Jeannine

Jeannine — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:50:32 +0000

I ordered the stardust mint and stardust black floor tiles to go with the boomerang laminate that will soon cover the cabinetry. Totally psyched. The tile is extra cool not only because it’ll last a long time (20 year warranty if you use their special, not expensive glue) but also because the glitter in the tile is kind of holographic. I recommend getting a sample sent to you so you can see for yourself. I searched hi and lo for glitter tiles and these are the only ones I’ve found. They will be installed soon! Jeannine

By: Retro Renovation » When in Rome… Palm Springs Stephan details some of the era’s fixation with all things Roman, Greek & Mediterranean

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:58:56 +0000

[...] with all the horse motifs with their greco-roman styling. And, the the mock-marble laminates – and faux-terrazzo flooring. All I have to do is hint, and Palm Springs Stephan has some wonderful [...]

By: karmi_woolfe

karmi_woolfe — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:30:36 +0000

Hey dcgrl…thanks for the reminder about going green with the flooring. I’ve spent a good deal of energy moving toward a petroleum-free existence, so I guess it would be silly to put a petro product on my floor! I’ll be sure to pay more attention from now on (though I’m a long way from floor shopping).

By: 50sPam

50sPam — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:24:27 +0000

Hi dcgirl, these would be like vinyl tiles underfoot – very comfortable. The tiles in this post have a more ‘modern’ look to me, at least, and would be good in 50s or 60s homes that swing that way. Although I think we saw terrazzo going way back – I’d put that in any basement or living area, really. Marmoleum and Armstrong linoleum, on the other hand, deliver more of a 40s or early 50s look. As the 50s moved on, you saw consumers moving away from linoleum with its marbleized look, to other textures especially those iconic streaky tiles (there are several still available today – search Flooring and I may have this in Basics as well. Azrock Cortina, Congoleum come to mind.) Also popular as time continued: Vinyl sheet, like those bricks – some examples of that are still for sale today, also search the site.

Linoleum is indeed green, made from linseed oil and cork, and I think these makers will tell you that there is no (or less) off-gassing. Relative to vinyl or VCT, though, I’ll say that – the oil and gas are comin’ out of the ground, there’s no stoppin’ that – so we might as well put the byproducts to good use.

By: dcgrl

dcgrl — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:23:47 +0000

So what do these tiles feel like under foot? Not sure what “reslient tile” is. Is that like vinyl? I think they look great.

Would you prefer something like this or Marmoleum in a retro-style kitchen? I like Marmoleum because it’s a green product…

By: Femme1

Femme1 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:03:39 +0000

Hi guys! I have an update on the Fritztile. On their website, you can order free samples, and I got mine in four days! The soft gray, earthtones-WM, and winter brown are all winners (in the Classic CL-200 line). I didn’t ask for the pink that Pam likes, unfortunately!

I also got a couple of samples of their Vibrant Pearl line, and they could work too, depending on how glitzy you want to go! By the way, the samples are 3-inch squares.

My husband likes the earthtones and I’m leaning toward the soft gray, and he’ll be the one installing it!

Cheers!
Deb

By: Retro Jen

Retro Jen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:33:11 +0000

Wow … I love that tile! I had never seen it before, and I am also on the hunt for a good kitchen floor tile. Thanks for the links!