From the category archives:
A reader recently wrote to ask, “What color stain would be most appropriate or authentic for a mid-century oak floor?” Drats, I cannot find the email. And, I am not academically sure what the correct answer is. I would guess… a “natural” stain. Heck yeah there is more…
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OCTAGON FLOOR TILES are great for pre-war homes — 1920s, 1930s, 1940s — and then some colorways came around again in the 1970s. This tile style can work, I think, for either a vintage style bathroom or kitchen floor, and that dot gives you a nice flourish of color to play with. Heck yeah there is more…
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With so much focus these days on hardwood, tile, cork and here, of course – VCT – flooring, it’s easy to forget that in postwar homes, carpet was very desirable.
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I have two of these braided Capel rugs, and I love them. They are very durable, versatile and affordable — and fit my 1951 colonial ranch home’s decor just fine. Remember, in the 1940s 50s and 60s homes were a mix and match…inside and out…of ranch, Cape and colonial style. If your house is not all high-style Eichler modern – it could probably do will well with a warm dose of colonial underfoot. These rugs come in all wool, which is really nice… chenille styles that last forever… and fiber mixes that may be better for your damp basement. As I said, I have two Capel braided rugs and at different points have had them in the dining room, living room, bedrooms, the basement — they really are extremely versatile. And, there are zillions of style/color choices at Capel’s website.
This post originally ran Nov. 17, 2007
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This is a hot topic: Readers are hearing from floor sales people that they need to polish and buff their newly installed vinyl composite floor tiles like the professionals do in office buildings.
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With all the recent talk of shuffleboards, I did a little nosing around, and it turns out that you can still get a vinyl tile shuffleboard from Armstrong:
This definitely goes on my dream list! The back half of our basement is concrete… my husband David has been opposed to vinyl tiles even retro-sized ones… but when I show him this, it just might turn him around. He likes shuffleboard! … I think it would be pretty easy to work this very primary red-white-blue design into any number of color combos. I really particularly like the Armstrong Excelon black – it looks like it hasn’t changed forever.
Thanks also to reader Kitschy Kimberly who just happened to see a house with a vintage basement shuffleboard and sent this image in. Man, was life simpler then, or what. Thank you Kitschy Kim!
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Kitty Mommy Susan, and others, have asked how to clean terrazzo shower bases and walls. Here is a start: Some pages from a great book, Twentieth-Century Building Materials, done by the National Park Service, edited by Thomas C. Jester. It’s out of print and wicked expensive, so I just got a copy from my library a few weeks ago. I try not to show pages from books – but will make an exception for this conservation reason.
If I get a chance soon — or perhaps a reader can pursue this? — I think another route to get a good answer is to go to Crane. The two big makers of terrazzo bases seem to have been Crane and Fiat. And now, Crane owns Fiat. They still sell these today — and they are a BIG RECOMMENDATION of mine! — so they must have cleaning instructions. If anyone gets to them before I do… can you post the answer here? Many thanks, and good cleaning!
Double click for big, readable image:
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Pam,
Dotty from Columbus here. I was wanted to let everyone know that the Fritztile Exotic Pearl collection is discontinued. We were all set to have is installed and my rep for Fritz called to say the shell used in the tile has been placed on the endangered species list. Good for the creature in the shell bad for our kitchen
There are other Fritztiles that contain shell that are still available and are not included on the endangered list. There are some Exotic Pearls left on the market and will probably be seen as promotional items or seconds but the price will be almost triple from the $11.00 per sq foot. The price of the Abalone shell has risen from $2 per pound to $13. Thanks for passing this info on! Dotty
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Femme1 — aka Deb — is right on target with this complete post, that flooring seems to be one of our hottest topics right now. She’s found some great new solutions – and I didn’t have to change a word. I did, however, add some additional pics of more Fritztiles – including a Royal Pink that’s yum yum yummy! Thanks, Deb!
Hi Pam,
Because I’m STILL unable to decide which flooring to put in my kitchen (going on 2½ years now), I’ve been searching again all over the Web for possibilities. I saw a few that could work for a 50s/60s house and thought I’d pass them along because this is always such a hot topic on your blog. Heck yeah there is more…
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I am super excited at the new mosaic flooring I discovered at Daltile this weekend while poking around their website. These can be found in their Keystones collection.
These three new choices now to go to #1 among all possible flooring choices for 50s and 60s homes. Guys, the American Olean Chloe is nice, but not nearly as correct for the postwar period. (It’s a holdover from the 30s and early 40s.) Drats, 5 years too late for my 3 bathrooms. Oh well.
FYI, the very first design shown — “Random” — is by far my favorite. I cannot tell from the online material whether different variations of white are possible. I know we tend to think that all the whites must match – but I don’t think it’s a must, particularly when it comes to the floor.
Ring the bell, put out a press release, this is BIG wonderful news for the retro renovation community.
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