The lovely pink and gray bathroom in EarthaKitsch’s 1956 house has a gaping hole in the vintage mosaic ceramic floor tile, courtesy of a previous owner’s need to get to pipes underneath. Eartha K is a longtime reader… remember when I wrote about her delicious knotty pine kitchen? Now, she and DH putting finishing touches ont he bathroom but Drats! They need to fins some tile to match. I volunteered to marshall the Retro Renovation readership forces (and the retro decorating gods) on their behalf. Read on for Eartha K’s story…
Hey Pam,
Thanks SO much for offering to show our tile to see if anyone can help. We’ve scoured your blog and looked into all of the tile manufacturers listed and have also paid a fee for a service to search their warehouses for dead-stock portions of our tile. No luck. We’ve also been watching Craigslist and eBay like hawks to no avail. We just KNOW that somewhere out there, someone has some of our tile sitting in a dusty shed or is about to rip it out of a bathroom. We had a tile person come out to the house, and he said that there is a slight chance that he can harvest some tile out of our bathroom linen closet but that since our tile is laid straight onto concrete, there might be more loss than gain. We found some fragments of our tile in a trash pile in the brambles at the edge or our property but there is no maker or other info on the back of them. We recently saw our tile in an estate sale house so we know that it wasn’t something rare.
So, that’s the scoop on the great (or not so great) tile hunt. The colors are a peppy (and kind of Pepto) pink and a sort of blueish gray. The sizes are 1 x 1, 1 x 2 and 2 x 2. I’m attaching photos and will also attach a photo of the patch job that was done sometime in the past. Our house is on a concrete foundation and we’re guessing that someone had to get to the plumbing through that hole in the floor. Then they slapped some random tiles in haphazardly and called it a day. I never will forget the day that we first walked through this house. We went into that pink bathroom and angels started singing because everything was original…pink…pink…pink.
…glorious. Then the realtor said, “There is something under the rug that you need to see…” When we lifted up that rug, we gasped. Then we bought the house. We’ve worked hard getting the bathroom spiffed up and rejuvenated with repair work and by bringing back some period details … but that hole in the floor keeps us from being able to say that our job is done. It haunts us.On a comical note, when we finally found the perfect color of bath rug to match our bathroom, we drove all over the county from one JC Penney’s to the other, snatching up all of their stock because they were being discontinued. I have this fear of being in this house for 50 years and all of my bath mats getting too ratty to cover the hole in the floor anymore. Thus, I have become a bath rug hoarder. : )Thanks again!
What do you think, readers? Can you be on the lookout at Re-Stores and craigslist and the like and if you see any New-Old-Stock, post an alert here? Meanwhile, I have a few more sources for new tile today that might do the trick. I will post them tomorrow and Saturday.
Where to find bathroom replacement tile for vintage bathroom 
Colvin’s masterpiece pink and gray bathroom 
7 colors of mosaic bathroom floor tile – “Text” 
Become a fan
Look at the ad for the Gracelynn sink/toilet in “Bathroom Stuff” on the forum. The tiles look similar, although they are all square. I don’t know if they have already ripped out the floor.
Beautiful pink and gray bathroom!!! The curtains look charming, too. At least the damage is right where a bath rug should go! =)
Sorry that I can’t help with sources – but can offer an alternative idea.
This looks like a perfect opportunity to intentionally highlight that spot with a specially designed mosaic of some sort. There are tile artists who could take your colors and create a retro pattern to insert in that spot. Or they could take a design cue from another pattern in the room and copy or accent that.
Just a thought.
I like that idea. I think it is especially in a great spot for it.
Yes! An artist can create a “tile rug” in that spot! (I’ll check my local Re-Store to see if they have the tile, though.) Good luck! LOVE your bathroom!
I was thinking along the lines of Nancy … IF you aren’t able to match the tile, you could possibly cut out a larger section (possibly a rectangular shape), and fill with tile to complement the rest … just a thought, if you get desperate.
This is off topic and reveals what total geek I am, but Janet thank you for using “complement” correctly. I’m kinda attached to “complement” with an “e” but sadly it is being subsumed by “compliment” with an ‘i” because few are aware that there is a difference. Thank you.
English teachers everywhere are happy that someone other than a fellow teacher knows this:)
Wow, can I relate or what (see my blog as we just are having our house re-plumbed as it had the original pipes from 1959) and in the process found our original vintage tiles under some commercial grade ugly 6 x 6 tiles. I was thrilled; that is until our repairman got to the last corner of the bathroom and discovered a huge hole like this where previous owners had apparently had to patch plumbing, I was heartbroken.
Thanks to RetroRenovation I’ve just purchased some tile from SJ Masters in Connecticut that will help us recreate the original look. I’ve done HOURS of research trying to patch ours and had no luck, ours was a 3/4″ by 3/4″ tile mosaic.
The closest thing that I saw that might help you out is the American Olean company who lets you design your own mosaic and that’s what I was about to do before I found the SJ Masters info on RR. Here’s a link to where you can design your own mosaic. http://americanolean.com/mosaic_design.cfm. It’s not cheap, about $14.95 per sq ft (or a little higher depending on your design) but since you don’t need much it might be worth it. Our damage was a lot worse and I even had to find tiles to match the walls where they had to cut out large portions of our original soft gray wall tile.
Good luck and I hope this might help you. We’re still trying to put ours all back together and I hope to never see a plumber, or a jackhammer, again for a long, long, time……
Milster
Probably your best solution would be to put in a vanity cabinet, (which would be easier to find than the tile) and then use tile from underneath. It would be a perfect match.
Yeah, it’s too bad about the damage, but if it were me I would keep it covered with a rug (plain white almost always looks good) until you find the original tile. Right now there is a box of it out there somewhere sitting forlornly on some shelf, gathering dust, and crying to be saved. You will eventually find it if you stay patient. If all else fails and you can’t stand it anymore, you could put in a new floor with tile that closely matches what you’ve already got. Good luck, it’s a really fine bathroom.
Nice to know I’m not the only decorating hoarder! I do the same thing when I find something perfect for my little house…I have a window over the bath tub and have to use those old fashioned looking matching shower curtain/window curtain sets. I also have to shorten the window curtain set when it’s time to install. I have an extra couple of sets sitting in the linen closet for periodic replacement in the bath. Crazy things we do for these old houses!
The only things I can think of, and I’m sure you’ve checked is they might have tiles under the tub, which I doubt but you never know.
Other than that you might find a custom tile maker that can match your colors and make some tiles that you could cut to your sizes.
If you have a college near you that has an art dept check with them, they might be able to make them for you at a lower rate.
Good luck!
I can’t be of ANY help at all as I’m in the UK and we don’t have amazing bathrooms like this
( However just wanted to say what a cool bathroom!
have you checked DalTile? they might have the matching tile available. If you can get a hold of the right person somewhere they might want a small sample mailed to them so they can do a limited run, that might be the way to go so you have spares too.
Can you order a sample from Daltile? http://www.daltile.com/mosaic_design.cfm how about salvage yards in your area? I work for a construction company and sometimes you can even ask some tile companies to make a custom order tile for you. We get plenty of those!
Good luck!
and BTW I’m IN LOVE with your bathroom, tile missing and all, It’s lovely!
I found this
http://www.historichouseparts.com/antiqueporcelainbathitems.htm
Has she tried Dal Tile for samples? You know, they have those shapes so they may have a matchy matchy…
I had a similar issue in my 1952 bathroom – when I removed a hideous gold late 60s giant medicine cabinet, there were tiles messed up or missing around the opening. I went to a local Seattle tile store, Art Tile (http://www.arttileco.net/), and there is a guy there who can take standard plain tile and color them to match! They came out perfect – so close a match that you can’t tell which ones are the originals and which ones are new. So I would recommend finding a local tile place that offers the same service, or calling up Art Tile in Seattle to see if they have any suggestions. Who knows – maybe they can do the work for you.
Hi there!
I have spare small pink mosaic tiles I can mail to you for free. They came out of a 1960s bathroom. They look like will match the other pink ones perfectly. What about finding gray tile whose color matches yours as close as poissible and then cut them up to size to reproduce the pattern??? It would have to be a matte finish tile.
Let me know if you want the Pink 1x1s I have. I think I have about 10 pieces and it would be perfect for someone needing replacements!
Cheers!
Check out American Restoration Tile — they have various shapes, sizes and colors – the color section is sorted by era http://www.restorationtile.com Sadly, even new oldstock might have a different appearance after the existing tiles have had wear and tear.
Ditto what Shen said – another possibility would be to perfectly match the color and cut down contemporary tile to size.
I concur on American Restoration tile. He has the sizes you’re needing and though it doesn’t show on his site, he’ll do color matching as well. The color matching is pricey, as is the tile, but if you’re wanting to do it right, cost may not be as much of a concern. http://www.restorationtile.com
I like the mosaic idea, or an inset of some sort.
I like the idea of a “marker” tile – maybe something that is just a clean pour of concrete with Eartha Kitcsch 2010 stamped in it.
We have had great luck with tile here in Richmond from Caravati’s – they salvage materials from demolitions. You may be able to call them and have them search their tile supplies – http://www.caravatis.com – the last time I was there they had boxes and boxes of small floor tiles (we were in need of small black and white to do a similar repair and they had it!)
It’s so funny that these pictures just came up. My husband and I were on savethepinkbathrooms.com last night, looking for alternatives for our pink and brown bathroom. We can’t find a replacement for our gorgeous chocolate/cinnamon tile and the shower pan is leaking. I was hesitant about gray and pink (our toilet and sink are pink) until I saw EarthaKitsch’s bathroom pictures on savethepinkbathrooms. Any suggestions on where to find the 4.25″ square wall tiles she has?
Have you looked into to having some custom made? An art tile maker might be willing to do them for you. Or you might be able to have non matching tiles tinted to match. Good luck, your bathroom is beautiful!
You have be able to salvage tile from under the toilet. I’m sure the tile goes up to the drain so you should get enough for your needs!
The kitsch piece could be Trompe-l’œil with these options:
poodle paw prints
water puddle with DIAL soap
rubber ducky toy on side
Perhaps the install can be “lite” so that when you find the right tile, you can replace OR NOT.
Have an identical tile made so that it travels with the house, if you move.
Along the lines of what Mark says, you’ve also checked under the toilet? Seems like there might be enough tile under there to steal.
If you can’t find a match, what about removing tiles around the outside edge to patch the middle and putting a border around the outside?
Good luck, and let us see pictures when you’ve found your solution!
That is one beautiful bathroom. I love the details–down to the vintage trash can. I hope someone can help you find the tiles. At least the patch is pretty much where you’d put a rug anyway.
What do your rugs from Penneys look like?
“Eartha Kitsch?” How much do I love that name!
Had another thought…Before you fix the floor again, better be sure the plumbing repair that was done before was done right.
Try B&W Tile in Gardenia, CA. They don’t show their color catalog online but they could probably send you a sample of their pink and gray to see if it is the same color. They make a lot of colors from the 40′s and 50′s. Good luck!
That patch is really crazy — but the bathroom is lovely!
You mentioned seeing the same tile at an estate sale. Many houses go on the mkt after estate sales … it’s a long shot, but maybe you can get in touch with the realtor (or send a letter directly to the home). Print or send this blog post and let them know how to contact you in the off chance they’re renovating the bathroom.
Also – agreed with Amy, have a plumber check it out.
B & W tile is where I matched my pink bathrrom tile. … Also, they’ll make any size in any of their colors if they don’t have stock. Finally, they offer some colors that are not listed on their color sheets. …
I have lots of pink B&W tile left over from my bathroom renovation. It matched my existing original pink tile PERFECTLY. I live in Los Angeles (close to Gardena) and suspect my original tile is from B&W–they’ve been in biz for over 60 years. Gray tile, like yours, was the only other tile option when my Levitt-like neighborhood was built in 1952. I’m happy to send you one of my new pink tiles to see if it matches yours. If it does, there’s a promising chance B&W’s gray will too.
Otherwise, go for the flamingo tile panel option.
There were several good suggestions…I would check out under the toilet or installing a vanity allowing you to use some tile under it. That’s going to get you the best match. BTW, the floors look spotless…do you hire out (to California???)
Thanks everyone for taking the time to give me your ideas and resources. You don’t know how much we appreciate them! I promise that we will follow each and every lead and see what comes of them. Thanks to Pam as well for letting us put our little bathroom out there to see what happens.
We are definitely going to keep in mind patching that hole with something else, whether it is a brand new tile or harvesting tile from another area – but I think that I agree with some of you in that, since it’s right where a rug goes anyway, we will wait and see if the universe delivers for us before we do anything too drastic. I have to admit that the idea of a cute, kitschy custom design in the middle made me smile. The options are limitless!
We’ll also look further into custom tile matching and into the suggestion about the bathroom in the forum. That’s a good idea too to give the realtor at the other house our info in case the new owners decide to rip out the bathroom (I hope they don’t though…it’s sweet.)
We’ve looked into Daltile but I’d like to maybe speak to someone further and make sure we have the right info. You never know…A dead-stock tile company told us that our tile might be old DaltIle. Maybe we just need to get the right person to talk to. They might say, “I have some right here under my desk!” Stranger things have happened. : )
Oh! And good thoughts on getting the plumbing looked at first. I’d like to ask around and see if anyone knows what the issue was under there. Our plumbing is set into concrete foundation so once something goes wrong- that’s right…jack hammer..uggh.
Thanks to everyone who said nice words about the bathroom. We really appreciate it and your compliments will keep us going until it’s done. : )
Shen: Really? That’d be awesome! I’d love to talk to you about what you have. You don’t have any contact info so if it’s okay with Pam, can you e-mail me through my website? It should be connected to my comment here.
Heidi: I’ll let you know if I find anything like what you are looking for in my searches. Be sure and check Pam’s resources at the top of the page or search “tile” on the site. I found lots of resources to look into that way from older entries.
Millie: Oh my gosh! You poor guys! Sounds like you’ve been put through the ringer. I can’t imagine getting to that last corner only to see that the tile is missing. And my gosh, I agree with you about plumbers and jack hammers! I’d like to trade them in for vacations and spa visits! I’ll check out your link.
Amy Hill: A fellow bathroom supply hoarder! Ha! We do what we have to do..you know? : )
Tina: The bathroom rugs are the basic old shag kind in a color called Seascape. It’s the perfect aqua…not too blue and not too green. And of course, it’s been discontinued. There might be a few floating around out there though. They’ve also discontinued the towels in the same color. I admit that I bought up a slew of those too!
Ann: Thanks so much! I’ve been using that moniker for a long time now and I still like it a lot.
Jen: That sounds awesome! I’d love to see what you’ve got. Thanks!
Yay for original midmod bathrooms!! I have one with blue and white tile. A guy is here reglazing our tub and sink as I type. I don’t really have any brilliant ideas for finding that gorgeous tile. I know a few people have mentioned Daltile. I might just go out to their location on Bransford Ave. with a pic of your tile and see what they say. In person always seems to work better for me than online or over the phone. At any rate, your bathroom is GORGEOUS!! Good luck finding the tile.
I feel your pain! Hope you find something soon. I absolutely love your bathroom. Wasn’t the 50′s mix of pastels and grey just wonderful!! Good luck.
I understand why you want to replace this big mistake,. But I have to smile when I look at it, because it’s exactly the sort of repair my “Papaw” would have made. And my “Mamaw” would have been just fine with it, and wouldn’t even have looked for a rug to cover it up. They had a classic response to anyone who was critical when they came up with such less-than-perfect repairs: “It’s JUST AS GOOD as what was there before.” I’m sorry I don’t know any sources for tiles, but, I am having some good memories of my grandparents, thanks to your floor!
Check Heath Tile as well. they may have or even be able to match it.
Good luck
Tracy: Thanks so much! We’ve been meaning to get up to Bransford during their open hours. I agree with you that in-person is sometimes much better than online or on the phone. Congratulations on your original blue and white bath! : )
Vintigchick: Thank you! I love the color combo too. It’s more than we could dreamed of with so many original baths being ripped out in our area.
jkaye: Ha! I think that your grandparents must have known my grandparents. They kind of rolled the same way. : )
George: Thanks for the tip! We’ll check them out as well.
Tracy: Update – we got up to Bransford and had no luck. : (
Scope the neighborhood, see if any homes are being remodeled and ask if they are trowing out some time. If your house was built in a development odds are there is a house with you same bathroom and floor plan. I live in a huge ranch house built in 1953. A house a few miles down the road from mine (rural area) was built by the same builder. I noticed construction work going on and stopped buy at see what they were throwing out and scored a few boxes of tile that were identical to mine that i needed for repairs. Odds are you might not be that lucky but its always worth a dry. Also got some cool built in shelf units that i retro-fitted to work in my office.
I’ve just re-done the bathrooms in my recently purchased 1960′s home. Coincidentally the bathrooms had pink and grey tile!
While they’re not mosaic, they may be the right color, and with a tile cutter you may be able to cut them to size. Are you still looking?
Hi,
I am not sure if you hav fixed your bathroom floor yet, but I have the same exact tile in my bathroom!!! I had to replace the shower pan and the plumber couldn’t save the tile in my shower stall so I have chunks of the floor with the concrete still on the back of it. I have been thinking that when I get done with the restore of my home I would find something amazing to do with them. Please let me know if you finished your bathroom. Maybe I can send you some chunks and you can work it out.
In the meantime, if someone knows where I could find the cove pieces in that pink, also wall tile in the same color as in the picture, that would be great!
I am trying to figure out what to do with the floor of the shower – right now it sits unfinished until I find something that is a great match!
Hi Ceren,
Oh, exciting! Please click on my name and once you get to my website, contact me through my “Contact Me” link over on the right side. I’d love to talk to you about your tiles!
Sounds like you’ve got quite the project going on too!
-EK
Hi,
I know I’m a little late to the party, but I too have a pink and grey bathroom from 1959. In ours, someone tried to take out some tile and made a mess. But amazingly, I found at least 2 boxes of original Dal tile in grey and pink. The pink was never used in the house, so I figure they were planning to make a border and never got around to it. The grey is not all one shade of grey and I think it may be a different mosaic design, but maybe you could use it to piece in your missing pieces. Let me know if you have found a solution yet! By the way, DO NOT remove that sink for any reason! I have a master bath with that exact same sink in yellow and would not trade it for the world!
Hi Julie,
Sorry that it took me so long to see your note! If you see this and it’s okay with Pam, please drop me a line through my website (just click on my name and then use my “Contact Me” link at the side. If the colors match up, maybe we could work a deal to get a small section of them? We’re still looking for tile for sure. Thanks so much!
p.s. I am with you on the sinks. Love them!
I need to add a “Subscribe to these Comments” form at the bottom of each post — will upload my request to the tech team right now!
Here is the simple fix, a repair that will make it look original again.
Like taking a swatch of carpet from a closet to path the carpet stain in a large room….same scenario: Have a tile pro carefuly remove a 12″x12″ section of tile under the sink, box in the sink with a cabinet to cover the scalped spot (and gain some additional storage space at the same time) then use those tiles to repair the middle of the floor. You’ll never find a match with the tile and and an artisan latex match of the existing tile will look acceptable at best and will wear differently than the other tile, you’ll have an obvious giant patch unless you perform the fix by relocting original tile.
Don’t know if this ever got resolved, but I visited Hamilton Parker here in Columbus, and they said that they could color match any tile, as long as they have a sample. Should be a snap, but IDK if there’s a certain qty. that needs ordered?