As the retro decor revival continues, more and more options for period appropriate tile are becoming available. This is great news for anyone trying to repair, restore or build a midcentury bathroom. My latest discovery — two new options for tile flooring that would feel right at home in a pastel vintage bathroom. Merola Tile has added two new color options to their Metro Hex line of porcelain tile — light green and light blue. The tile is $7.95 per square foot — and available to order through the Home Depot website.
As soon as I discovered the existence of these pastel hex tiles, I contacted Maggie McBride, our contact at Merola Tile who promptly sent some samples my way — Thanks Maggie!
Once I received the samples, I was excited to compare them to my B&W Tile sample board to see how they measured up. I started by examining the Merola Tile Metro Hex mosaic in light blue.
It was not a 100% perfect match for any of the B&W Tile colors, but the hex tile was not far off the B&W 20W blue and 20F blue duraglaze. Even though it wasn’t a perfect match, I think it would still be a great choice for someone wanting to create a vintage blue bathroom — or possibly repair an existing blue midcentury bathroom floor.
The Merola light blue hex tiles looked even better with the B&W 121 blue aztec and 29R blue ripple tiles, mostly because of the addition of white into the pairing — which acts to break up the blue a little. Another great idea for using the Merola light blue hex tiles to make a midcentury style bathroom — use the blue hex with white 4.25″ tile walls and blue (or white) fixtures.
The light blue hex tile sample was a very similar blue to the Merola University blue tiles we’ve written about before. Either of these two blue tile selections could be great options to consider for anyone trying to repair, replace or build a vintage blue bathroom.
Next I studied the Merola Metro Hex porcelain mosaic tiles in light green — secretly hoping it would be the same green as my vintage mint green bathroom, which desperately needs a new floor.
I held my breath, turned on the lights, crossed my fingers and compared the Merola hex tile sample to my original green bathroom tiles. Holy moley, its a pretty good match!
Another bit of great news — if you don’t currently have a vintage mint green bathroom, but were hoping to build one — B&W Tile’s 40W green matches the Merola Metro Hex light green tile quite well, too.
It would seem then, that I’ve finally decided upon the perfect replacement flooring for my mint green 1962 bathroom, right? Well — almost.
I decided to use the power of PhotoShop to mock up an all green hex tile floor. Looks pretty good, right?
Then I realized that Merola Metro Hex tile comes in black and white patterns, that could — with just a little more effort — become green and white by swapping out the black tiles with light green. (Note — if you plan on doing any tile mixing with the light blue or light green and the black and white patterns from Merola, make sure to order the patterned tile in matte finish so that it matches the matte finish of the blue and green hex tiles.)
Suddenly, another option has presented itself. Hmmm.
Calling on the power of PhotoShop once more, I ‘installed’ my custom floor tile creation — which I also really like. Drat. What’s a girl to do?
Merola also offers a fun retro black and white flower hex pattern that could be swapped out with the green (or blue) tiles.
As much as I like the green flowers, I don’t think my sleek 1962 house wants to be quite this cute — though I think this flower pattern would look adorable in a slightly older or more ‘Coolonial’ style midcentury home.
UPDATE: Since my Photoshop mock ups don’t accurately depict the green and white in the metro hex versus my vintage tile, I’ve added these two closeups below so readers can better see how the tiles match the vintage bathroom tiles.
So now I could really use your advice, dear readers:
Which flooring option do you like best in my vintage minty green and white vintage bathroom?
Link love:
See our other stories about retro Merola Tile:
- 26 bathroom tile designs for a vintage or antique bathroom — Merola Tile
- Bathroom floor tile in production since the 1970s — 6 colors — and you can order from Home Depot
Pam Too — the link to the source is in the first paragraph – in bolded blue. (Click on any links in bold blue — those are hotlinks that will take to the info referenced)
Is B&W still in business? Can’t reach them. Jeanne
Yes as far as I know…
I like option #2. It complements the tub and wall and not as overwhelming as the green floor.
Greetings, I can’t believe I came across this story as I just purchared these tiles in the black and white flower and purchased the light blue to replace the black tiles. I also want to make a rug pattern out of the blue. My intention was to lay out the floor and replace all the necessary tiles then lay the squares. I called the manufacturer to get a suggestion for a glue to use to replace the tiles and they recommended not gluing them just replacing as I go along. My concern is that it will take so much longer and my mortar will set up. With the uneven edges of these tile sheets it will be difficult to spread mortar to the edge of the tile. I’m curious how you set the tile in your green bathroom.
2nd option for sure. It gives it a clean pop to the space. Option 1 is an overkill on the green.
I was planning to use both these colors for an upcoming bathroom project. As luck would have it, they were discontinued in February 2020 – JUST BEFORE I was ready to order. The person I emailed at Merola Tile said that the tariffs placed within the last several years on certain Chinese goods has forced them to discontinue some of their styles, due to huge cost increases (up to 400% on some tiles.) I am so bummed!!! Mosaic Tile Supplies has some great alternatives, but unfortunately, the pricing on those is way above my budget, especially since they are special order with a minimum quantity of 100 sq ft on many of the colors that are potential contenders – and I only need about 120 sq ft total. Back to the drawing board!
This is sad to hear. Have you tried Classic Tile? They are another source to check >> https://www.classictilenewyork.com/products/mosaic-tile
Thanks for that info. – I too was trying to find it, bummer!! Any luck with alternatives?
I’d start, I guess, by diving into this list >> https://retrorenovation.com/2019/01/22/12-places-to-find-4-x-4-ceramic-bathroom-tile-in-vintage-colors/