This past weekend I made my long-awaited pilgrimage to S.J. Masters Tile in Canaan, New York. Salesperson Debbie was as wonderful and helpful as can be. She tells me they do A LOT of business with New Yorkers who own 2nd homes in the area and are updating them in retro style consistent with their original design. Hurray! I have lots and lots of tiles to show you over time. S.J. Masters had a good selection. Today: This fabulous Flintstones tile (above) and a similar Pebblestone mosaic. I love love love love love these! I need to find me a 60s groove pad to restore, drats!

Anyone can order from S.J. Masters. Alternatively – check the biggest tile store in your area to see what kind of selection you can uncover. The further you get into the 50s, then 60s, you’re looking for mosaics! And it’s amazing – with mid mod so hot today, I’m seeing more and more great alternatives!

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Colors I used in my bathrooms: Heron Blue and Fawn Beige. I used the 4x4s for field tile and for edging, trimmed them with a basic United Ceramic white 2×6 from Home Depot. I used Olympia’s matching 2×6 cove base to meet the walls with the floor. Note, we installed the cove pieces flush with the floor tile (rather than ‘sitting on top of it’ — but struggled because the room was not perfectly square (by a long shot.) This is a trade-off decision.

Other colors I like in the Olympia line: Primrose (yellow), Teal Blue and Lake Blue, Salmon (would be great with black or grey trim) Terra Cotta, Bone and four shades of Grey – Thunder, Platinum, Silver and Tender (my favorite.)

This tile was all very inexpensive. Note, I bet you can go much higher-end — to a Waterworks or Ann Sachs — and probably get a better selection of colors. However, this will be at a much much higher price.

Finally: For my floors, I used American Olean Chloe, a “pinwheel” pattern evocative of the 50s, with the gloss black dots in one room, and with plain satin white in the other two. To be honest, I prefer the all-white. Use warm grey sanded grout — it’s a nice look. You must seal the grout, though – an arduous (but worthwhile) task.

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