Vintage pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles – pinwheel pattern. Could there be anything more luscious to find in a mid-century home?

Upon request, Colvin has sent in a close up of the floors in his pink and gray vintage bathroom. It really is so lovely – notice the slight shading of the dot within the pink 1×2’s. Ahhhhhh. Thank you, Raymond!

Related posts:

1. Colvin’s masterpiece pink and gray bathroom THIS PINK AND GRAY MASTER BATHROOM is just lovely. Pink...
2. Porcelain mosaic floor tile in lots of colors I HAD OTHER MORE LIGHT-HEARTED PLANS for today’s post, but...
3. Octagon and dot floor tiles in 13 color combinations OCTAGON FLOOR TILES are great for pre-war homes — 1920s,...

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.

Natural meaning – virtually no color. Matte or gloss finish. Gloss, though, would show more scratches. When we refinished the oak parquet floor in our dining room, above, the floor guy said, “All the old floors were done with a natural finish.” We chose matte finish and have been very happy with it. Our oak is getting a nice golden hue as time goes on. Under all the carpets, it’s a lighter color — the sunlight is affecting the color.

I think I may consult with some mid-century historic homes to discern the proper academic answer. But meanwhile: Readers — what do you think? What are you finding in your homes, with original wood floors, including what may have been hidden underneath carpet that’s been there for ages? What is the “authentic” color for mid-century oak flooring?

Related posts:

1. Octagon and dot floor tiles in 13 color combinations OCTAGON FLOOR TILES are great for pre-war homes — 1920s,...
2. Terrazzo tiles in 19 color ways and 3 sizes from Daltile Daltile snuck these in on me: Authentic terrazzo tiles. Terrazzo...
3. 60 colors of mosaic floor tile for a mid-century bathroom JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile,...

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.

Nemo Tile has the largest selection that I’ve seen yet of colors for the main tile and the dot. Looks like they have a glossy and satin white, a glossy and satin black, and for that 70s house, shades of beige and shades of gray. What a hoot, I love ‘em. For dots: white, black, navy, cobalt, red, burgundy, green and the 70s beige and gray. Nemo Tile octagon ceramic floor tile.

Related posts:

1. 60 colors of mosaic floor tile for a mid-century bathroom JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile,...
2. Colvin’s pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles Vintage pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles – pinwheel...
3. Porcelain bathroom tile in a rainbow of colors & styles from American Universal EXCITING NEWS: We have a newly discovered resource for...

I HAD OTHER MORE LIGHT-HEARTED PLANS for today’s post, but with Cathy looking for retro color floor tiles, I am featuring yet another tile resource that I came across recently. This unglazed porcelain mosaic tile, the Lyric collection from mosaictile.com, comes in a variety of colors and would be appropriate for bathroom floors including showers. There are 32 colors in all to choose from. Meanwhile, click through for a mini-gallery of some of my favorite pastels — and avocado green, too!

 

Readers, if you have any other recommendations for places to find bathroom floor tiles in colors. I would love to “complete” the list. Remember, while we have lots of eye-candy fun on this site, it’s first and foremost about resources, so keep sending me your tips! Many thanks, and have a great weekend, everyone.

Related posts:

1. 60 colors of mosaic floor tile for a mid-century bathroom JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile,...
2. Colvin’s pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles Vintage pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles – pinwheel...
3. Porcelain bathroom tile in a rainbow of colors & styles from American Universal EXCITING NEWS: We have a newly discovered resource for...

EXCITING NEWS: We have a newly discovered resource for porcelain ceramic floor and wall tiles: American Universal Corp. I love their website — it’s easy to make your own octagon-and-dot combinations, for example. Like my peach, raspberry and grey floor tile combination above — what do you think? American Universal imports these porcelain tiles from Japan. There are many colors, many sizes and styles, and the prices don’t look bad at all. Not for porcelain ceramic. Note, I have been advised that for flooring, plain ceramic is not recommended – it’s not durable enough for the wear and tear of a bathroom floor. I am not an expert, though…does this make sense to those of you more experienced than me in specifying tile. Anyway — this stuff looks really promising. There are 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s options galore. Have fun at American Universal’s website ogling the whole lineup, or meanwhile, check out my 14-image slide show become for a smattering of choices available for your retro renovation bathroom.

 

Related posts:

1. Porcelain mosaic floor tile in lots of colors I HAD OTHER MORE LIGHT-HEARTED PLANS for today’s post, but...
2. 60 colors of mosaic floor tile for a mid-century bathroom JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile,...
3. Colvin’s pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles Vintage pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles – pinwheel...

After Zep

Before ZEP

How to clean old grout in retro bathroom floor tiles? Sleeping Bee Alice plays the role of Queen of Clean. Thanks, Alice, very impressive. I do want to caution – as I have been doing cleaning research, too — to be very careful about what you use on the glazed tile itself. That glazed finish can come off, even with a scotch brite pad, so treat it very carefully. More on tile cleaning to come.

Read on for Alice’s solution (pun!) —>

Hello Pam,

I’ve made a discovery that perhaps some of your readers could benefit from.  You’ll recall the blue tiles in my bathroom (the ones PSS wanted to duplicate).  I had scrubbed the grout with every cleaner imaginable and then was easily convinced when someone told me that the grout in this bathroom wasn’t actually white, it was “bisque”.  However, just recently a friend asked if she could try a little product on them to see if she could brighten them and voila!, we actually do have white grout!  I have attached the photos so you can see the before and after difference.  One hour and half a bottle of Zep (that’s the name of the product, available at Home Depot) later, and I have a blue and white bathroom – not blue and bisque!

Hope this is useful to your readers.  What a great site RR is…thanks for keeping up the good work.

-Alice

p.s. Lest you think that I am a neat freak or something, since all of my questions to you have been about cleaning, that’s just the phase we are in of our move in process to our mid-century home. Really, it cracks my husband up to think there is a group of people out there that might have the impression that I’m all about cleaning

Related posts:

1. Colvin’s pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles Vintage pink unglazed porcelain ceramic bathroom floor tiles – pinwheel...
2. Octagon and dot floor tiles in 13 color combinations OCTAGON FLOOR TILES are great for pre-war homes — 1920s,...
3. 60 colors of mosaic floor tile for a mid-century bathroom JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile,...