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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.

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JOHN SPOTTED THIS GREAT PORCELAIN CERAMIC MOSAIC bathroom tile, which would be great for a 1960s bathroom floor. It’s from a company new to me — Nemo Tile. There are 60 different color combinations to choose from.

Notice the multicolored mosaic on one wall only - you can see it in the mirror

Design tips for your bathroom renovation: Choose a mosaic pattern… select one color from the floor tile and pair it with a matching 4×4 field tile. For the bullnose, I’d probably stick with the same color as the field tile. I’d also likely use a matte finish for the field tile with this particular flooring.  Another possibility: You could choose one single color from the multicolored mosaic floor and use it on the walls. In this case, it could also be great fun to run the multicolor mosaic up one wall like this bathroom (look in the mirror to see what I mean).

Hi Pam,

What do you think of the photo attachment from Nemo Tile Co.? I was at an architects office today on business and I saw this sample in person and it looks kind of retro 1960s to me. The company is Nemo Tile.  This pattern is called Appiani, and they are 1″x1″ ceramic and they come in small slabs with a net backing. This color combo is called Country 01. I also like the aqua 06 and also lavande, which is a mix of two medium blues.

Best, John

Magically delicious.

Lawrence Bill, you were looking for a new floor for this bathroom. These Nemo Appiani tiles look like they *might* have a color that could work for you...

Numbers one, three and number nine — my favorites. I so badly want to be an interior designers with a gazillion clients, so that I could do a bathroom in each and every one of these 60s colors.

Link: Nemo Tile.

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Look look look. The American-Vanity — longer. I have never seen this. I adore it! Also, I need to do more on yellow bathrooms, this is a wonderful color for a bathroom. This is a wonderful bathroom design in so many ways.

Very sophisticated. If you want a solid surface sink – Carrera Marble is authentic vintage. Note, I am told you must keep it well sealed, marble requires maintenance. Alternatively, there is a least one company that makes a Carrera Marble laminate.

These blue tile colors are available today, I believe.

I love the orientation of the tile in the tub surround. I am not sure you can get 1″x4″ tiles today. But you can get 1″x2″s in sheets and run them vertically like this….

The cover shot for my catalog. Note the greek motif on the bath mat. As we’ve seen and discussed before, Greek and Roman motifs really started to take off in the 60s.

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I have a 1952 kitchen that I’ve restored.  The walls and ceiling are covered with 8″x8″ silver pearlescent Tilemaster tiles.  It’s a mind blower. I inspect houses for a living (10,000 and counting…), and I’ve never seen anything like it. When I bought the place, I had originally planned to gut the kitchen, but once in, I became entranced with the stuff.  It’s magical………I bought the house from the home’s (built in 1922), second owner, who remodeled the kitchen in 1952.  The tile is held in place by the old crappy tile setting adhesive they used then; periodically, tiles will come loose, and I resecure them with modern adhesives. I put the cabinets in, and moved some of the tile around to fill in holes left from removing some stuff so I could fit in a real refrigerator.  I worked pretty hard to keep the flavor of the original remodel in ‘52.  I want to put in boomerang formica when I change out the countertops next year. There’s a little eating nook/banquette built into the corner (out of the photo) that’s equipped with some Thonet chairs from the early 50’s.  It’s a pretty tight little composition.  If I had a better camera (wide angle lens), you could get the feel of it better. Note the original Nutone fan over the door @ the left.  The sink is an original Elkay Lustertone with draining sideboard.  I think you get the idea.  It’s pretty wild in real life with the correct lighting.

Kurt, while I have not seen a kitchen quite like this one, I have seen a few with larger, Marlite- (laminate-style) walls and ceilings. I think this was an uncommon midcentury renovation for older homes and farmhouses. Case in point: See this vintage kitchen with Marlite covering the walls and ceiling, just like yours. If, for example, you had troublesome plaster walls — you could just cover them over with these miraculous manmade plastics. Thanks so much for saving this little architectural gem – and for sharing it with us. And yes, Kurt, we also need to see your 1959 American Standard bathroom, in seafoam green when you get a chance!

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Here is a close-up of Gina’s bathroom tile. Those splatters also provide a bit of slip-resistance, I bet.

Gina has nice built-in, too.

Want to replicate the look? I found this wide selection, real 60s-70s-80s colors, at S.J. Masters:

And of course, there’s pink!

Thank you, GinaUSA, for sharing your bathroom! I am so happy you love it and are not changing it. It looks to be in great shape. What a treasure.

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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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SCATHING JANE IS READER OF THE YEAR — not because she has one of the most adventurous retro renovations under way (which she does), but because virtually each and every day she scours Craigslist nationwide and puts all kinds of neat stuff onto the Forum. Steel cabinets, yes, but also tons of Bathroom Stuff, in particular. She also sends me lots of great tips, directly – she’s become very studied in knowing when there’s something wicked good I need to see. Jan has recently sent me lots of photos of her projects and for today let’s look at: her bathroom.

It looks like Scathing Jane’s original grey bathroom is a really nice size, and had some great tile work. But, she wanted to reconfigure and raise the vanity, add a Cinderella tub, move some stuff around — and add pink to the mix. She found new/old tile-in sinks… new tile to mesh with the old… and that cool square tub. Here are a few of her comments:

• I ended up using American Universal ceramic tile SX-207 to fill in areas that had never been tiled due to built-ins.  I could not match the original greenish gray porcelain tile. Michael Montgomery (contractor) tried very hard to get me to just tile over the floor, but I wouldn’t budge.  I actually had a grey tile down in those areas, hated it, and had them rip it out.  Russ Carnes, Michael’s partner, did a beautiful job of getting the tile to work out.
• I did a put in and rip out on the walls also.  I had white going up around through/around the window originally, but didn’t like it.  At that point, we were trying to save the original greenish gray ceramic base tile.  Once I realized that could not be accomplished, the white came out and the new grey went in, replacing the original base tile with the new grey (American Olean). Again Russ did a great job, using spacers to get the tiles to line up correctly; old tile seems to be bigger.  I think I am getting away with the slightly wider space between tiles because of the color difference between the old and new.
• Nothing grouted yet.  I toyed with the idea of grey grout on the grey and pink on the new pink, but Russ recommended matching the old grout, “Jane, they didn’t use colored grout in the fifties.”, sealed that deal.
• I included an old shot of the BR.  The old vanity height was too low; toilet location put your knees in doorway.  Closets were removed so that vanity and toilet could be relocated.
• The sinks came from a great salvage yard in California — Ohmega Salvage General Store in Berkeley.  Reasonably priced for “retail”; shipping sucked, but was to be expected.  Well packed.
• The interesting thing about the sinks (FABULOUS sinks, shown at top in lead photo-pam) is that they are not exact clones.  It drove Michael (contractor) crazy until he realized that he would have to build the openings in the cabinet around each individual sink, not just use one as a template for both.  Russ did the detail work of tiling them in. (I asked Jane and she recalls they are American Standards.)

Finally, Jane wants to be sure to credit her long-suffering spouse.  “I found the house, but he said ‘This is the one!’  He provides muscle and moral support (and sometimes grumbling laced with choice adjectives.…)” she says. Don’t they all, Jane. Don’t they all.

More from Scathing Jane to come. Readers, many many of you have sent me photos and stories over the past few months. These are the most time-consuming for me to configure into posts and, yes, my life has been a three-ring circus. Life has not gotten any less circus-y, in fact, someone lit some hoops on fire. But sunshiney summer and lots of recent notes from readers have given me boundless energy and I am attacking all your emails like a demon…reader-blitz in progress. Happy Monday.

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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.

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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.

 

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