CERAMIC TILE is a totally appropriate and authentic material for midcentury bathrooms — and for kitchens, too. I’ve had several readers ask about this over the past few months – so this post is long overdue. Q. Why don’t I focus on tile countertops as much as laminate? Hmm. A. I think it’s because my two bathroom vanities both had laminate so I’m stuck in that mindset. Second, we talked about it when we renovated the bathroom, but my husband really hates tile countertops – says it’s too hard to keep the grout clean. Although: Bronwyn and Greg’s vintage original bathroom sink looks pretty darned good. Dig the green and color combination! Also, this must be tile countertop week – because we featured Jane’s new bathroom vanity yesterday, too. Jane, why did you choose tile. Any tips?

All that said, here’s what I think I know about tile countertops:

• I’ve researched so-called “tile in” sinks, and the only ones available that I could find are (2) round sinks from Kohler and (2) vintage. I guess the round sinks from Kohler would be fine if you can find round-edge trim pieces???
  

  Kohler Caxton tile-in or metal-rim bathroom sink

• I think you should not use glossy tile on a countertop. Will scratch. Use matte, which I think may also be called satin finish by some manufacturers. (You always use a matte/satin or unglazed tile on floors. Even matte/satin can get slippery when wet.)
• You’ll want to use L-shaped bullnose around the edge of the counter. There are corner-pieces, too.
• If you need/want thick tile or bullnose — I don’t have an answer for you. The tile today — which is not mud-set like the old stuff — is much thinner.

Tile countertops actually can be the most affordable solution, especially if you are handy and can do this job yourself. I also think they are quite cheery and functional – with the potential to last longer than laminate.

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Last week we looked at Cindy’s beautiful Holyoke, Mass., home – photos I took last summer. Today – we get to see the updates that she made to her bathroom vanity and tile floor and shower over the winter – she replaced the laminate on the bathroom vanity in a lighter ‘beigewood” shade, and also retiled her floor and shower stall. Cindy’s updates are incredibly well done – she has a great eye for detail and I know that she labored over each little decision…. Great inspiration and ideas, I am sure, to many retro renovators looking for a way to update their tired bathroom vanities, in particular.

Cindy writes:

Hi Pam,
Since you were here I redid the tiles and laminate cabinet in the bathroom…. Fiorella Cosgrove of Cortina Tile in West Springfield, MA was the only tile advisor who “got” my desire to be retro and I could not have done it without her and highly recommend them.(Corina Tile;1645 Riverdale St.; West Springfield MA 01089).

• The old laminate was stripped off and replaced with Wilsonart laminate-the color is beigewood #7850-60.
• The hardware was purchased at Re-Store for a super awesome $10.
• I also got a new soap dish to match the existing ones – that came from ebay and it is the Hall-Mack polished chrome …Coronado series. A local hardware store with 50 years of old inventory provided me some items from the same line and of course I have extras…even a towel rack I couldn’t resist and haven’t used yet.
• The bathroom pendants are original BUT the canopies were brass – I found a local guy to chrome them for me so they would match all other metal in the bathroom. the toilet, sinks, and tub are original.
• I’ll be looking to replace the Church toilet seat very soon if I can find the same color.
• The shower tiles are 6″x6″, made by Original Style in England, color is Ecru.
• The floor tiles are 2″x2″ Dal-Tile color is elemental tan with sporadic 1″ x1″ tiles color urban putty.   (Size created by tile installer by cutting 2×2 tiles in quarters…this give extra texture and was recommended by Cortina Tile).

The project brightened up the bathroom and remained true to the 1960′s!!! PS, do you notice the cabinet hardware from Re-Store???? Hope to see you this summer for a Re-Store rerun~
Cindy

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Several readers have asked me how to install the stainless steel countertop edging from New York Metals. In this post, I’ll take you step-by-step through the process that we used to install the metal edging in my kitchen.

I had my countertops laminated by an outfit recommended by by contractor. They made all the countertops and backsplashes separately, ahead of time, and then, when they came to install them in my kitchen, they put everything together.

To review…The edging is comprised of three different pieces.

This is the little cove molding piece you use to mask where the countertop attaches to the backsplash. The part that “shows” is the 5/16″ part. You shove the 15/16″ part back down behind the main countertop:

This next piece, the 1-5/8″ snap-on molding, goes along the edge of the main countertop.

The question I have been receiving is, how to you handle the corners.

Answers: On the OUTSIDE corners, you snip the the metal lip that sit on top of the countertop and along the underside and miter it; the fat 1.5″ part of the metal bends easily to make the turn:

On INSIDE corners, you cut the whole piece, also making miters on the lip that sit on the counter and underside.

Now, somewhere in my stash I saw 50s DIY instructions on how to then weld… spotweld?… sauter? the mitered edges for a clean finish.  Who knows which word? Lord knows which of 400 magazines this little article in. But I’ll keep an eye out. In any case, we did NOT weld anything and honestly, it’s fine. It kind of looks worse in the photo above than it is in real life. The miters are just real tight. Hey, if anyone is out on retro recon, with a camera and sees welded corners – grab the shot and send it in.

Finally – the 1″ backsplash…corners, miters…are handled the same way. In spots where the backsplash edges are visible vertically as in the photo below – back by the wallpaper – we made the bend then just secured them with a bead of glue. No screws were used.

Contractor Kevin, along with the countertop guys, were quite trepidatious about the whole thing coming in. This was the first time any of them had done this, their dads had done it 50 years ago! It really was a breeze, though. And as with the rest of my darling beloved kitchen – all the naysayers who thought I was nutso – were totally won over in the end and LOVED IT!

Above – Reader Amy asked you to “end” the countertop against a well. Here’s Option #1 – you run the backsplash all the way around.

Above – Option #1 e.g., where the countertop ends against a fridge, we wrapped the countertop in 1-5/8″ molding there – no backsplash.

Hope this all makes sense. This techy stuff is not my forte.

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