If you are designing a diner style retro kitchen, laundry room or even basement, you might want to consider this black-and-white floor tile in resilient sheet vinyl from Mannington, Armstrong, or Tarkett. Above: Armstrong.
In my experience, sheet vinyl is low cost and super easy to keep clean. 9″ squares, if you can find them, would have been the size typically used in mid century homes. 12″ squares are more common today. And Armstrong has both solid and marbleized squares to choose from. You also can achieve the black and white checkerboard look using 12″ x 12″ VCT tiles, which are going to require regular polishing and buffing… in linoleum from Forbo/Marmoleum or Armstrong… updated 2021: now there are 9″ tiles too! … or by using ceramic tile, which will be harder under foot.
Click the following links to get the manufacturers who make these patterns:
- Tarkett Fiber Floor Checker Berry design
- Armstrong – several designs — Armstrong seems to have black and white checkerboards in a number of lines. They also have marbleized (vs solid) checkerboard.
Cindy Mindy Pindy says
I put the Congoleum checkerboard linoleum in my kitchen last June. I love it! The white portion tends to get dirty really fast though, probably because there are no speckles like traditional tiles. It’s also really soft feeling, which I like, but sometimes you can see the depression in the linoleum of things like chair feet. They featured my before and after on Design Sponge. Scroll down to the brown kitchen if you want to see!
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/07/before-after-teds-bar-cindys-kitchen.html
Maryanna says
Wow! I love that chartreuse! I’m actually considering that color for my walls, which are painted paneling. I think it’s great with the (diagonal) checkerboard tile. Lovely!!
Amy says
My quick two cents: B&W floors area nightmare to keep clean! Whatever might not show up on a white floor, shows up clearly on the black squares. And vice versa, of course! It never looks clean. It literally was the most work intensive floor I’ve ever had and would NEVER do one again!
LizK says
It’s strange, I think it looks overwhelming in a large space, as seen in your pics… but I did this with commercial-grade vinyl tile in a small kitchen and it turned out great. I might be having to do this in my new (old) kitchen, once I get the carpet and linoleum layers pulled up. I’m hoping for Douglas fir, but I don’t know what condition it’s in.
Maryanna says
I have checkerboard! But mine is 12″ ceramic tile rather than vinyl. Mine is also set on the diagonal. I went round and round about it with the guy we hired to lay the tile (no big surprise there) but I insisted, as it opens the room up more and seems less “off” if the squares don’t line up perfectly along the cabinets or walls. Here’s a photo of the dining nook for reference: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4096498389_eb75baea40_z.jpg
Gavin Hastings says
“Round and Round”?
No surprise there as the installer had to make a zillion angled cuts vs. -measure once- straight cuts at the perimeter! It looks great.
pam kueber says
Your floor tiles on the diagonal look great, Maryanna. I am converted and take back what I said before about preferring checkerboards squared. I can see now how they can look great either way…
Maryanna says
Aw, thanks Pam! Obviously every room is different, but perhaps the fact that they’re 12″ rather than 9″ may help cut down on the busy-ness of the pattern? I simply wanted to avoid having awkward partial-tiles along the perimeter that would look like strips instead of squares. If that makes sense.
Molly says
Hi! Maryanna! Your ceramic looks great. What color is your grout because it doesn’t seem to be very noticeable.
Molly
Robert says
Love this tile, but knowing me, if I install it, I’d have to get the obligatory neon wall clock for the kitchen….and then the stainless steel coffee pot….a 50’s diner style Formica and chrome set and another vintage table radio to complete the look.
The joys of being a mid century design freak.
pam kueber says
Yes, this checkerboard begs to go down that certain cheerful path, doesn’t it!
Gavin Hastings says
On a semi-semi-semi-related topic:
Unfortunately, most women will never see the diagonal black and white tiled Men’s Room of Radio City Music Hall….It stopped me dead in my tracks and I let out an audible “oh my God….”
As big as a football field and with more black than white; I half expected Tuxedo-ed tap dancers to parade out of the stalls ala “A Chorus Line”.
Ladies, should you ever get there…make it a point to get “lost”.
Gavin Hastings says
I’m going out on a big mouth rainy day limb here, but:
Many times I feel the same way about things shown here…but chalk it up to the fact that the title is “Retro-Rebovation” and not “Retro-Restoration”.
Gavin Hastings says
(sorry for the mis-spelling, coffee kicking in…)
Jeanne says
I did my last (1948) house’s kitchen with Congoleum 12″ squares on the diagonal. It was a galley style kitchen and it actually (visually) enlarged the space (or gave “depth” as Gavin mentioned). I think it sort of breaks up all the horizontal lines of the cabinets. I used white and charcoal grey marble-pattern tile.
I’m partial to the diagonal, although the house I had previous to the one mentioned above (a 1952 ranch) I did black and white tiles in the basement set horizontally. It was a much larger space and worked well.
I’m done with the black/white look and looking forward to a more subtle pattern of Marmoleum in my current 1952 bungalow. 🙂 Some day I’ll be done with this house and will be able to sit back and relax, lol.
pam kueber says
Yes, I think that for truly small spaces on-the-diagonal works well… but for larger spaces (like my 15′ x 15′ kitchen), I think it would be too much flooring drawing too much interest… Of course, this all comes down to personal preference…
pam kueber says
Tiles that are set on the diagonal — especially when they are high contrast — always make me dizzy. Relatedly, I think it calls more attention to the floor than you want… Not my favorite thing. In that first photo, I’m thinking that is a small mudroom, which may be able to handle it.
Gavin Hastings says
Take a Dramamine prior to stopping by for coffee…. : )
The floor tiles will be the least factor in any “dizzinees” you feel !!!! Your head will literally SPIN ….
Have a nice rainy day.
Gavin Hastings says
Look at the 2 pictures…
I think that this flooring looks best when set with the squares at a 90 degree angle . It brings some depth to an otherwise square room.
With VCT tile, I would create a solid 6-8 inch black border around the room….which could be done with sheet goods, ALOT of planning and a wee bit more $.
Jon M says
I’m guessing you mean at a 45 degree angle, as 90 degrees would make it look exactly the same as normal!