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:
Ashley says
Love the white with green mixed in! It actually gives me an idea for my own bathroom. I think we have matching tubs. Our toilet is the same color too, but the floor has had it. This sounds like a nice upgrade.
Kate says
I’ve wondered if the toilet (or sink) in our bathroom was green originally, but when we bought the house, they had both been replaced with white already. I found a white vintage sink with a hudee ring at my restore (for $2!) that is sitting in the garage waiting for me to install it in this bathroom. If I found the right green one before then, I would consider using that instead, but the greens are so hard to match! I really lucked out finding my vintage pink sink for my other bathroom…
Diana says
It seems that option 2 is winning. I also agree that I prefer option 2 though it looks as if the wall tile isn’t white but a light off white? But I think that option 1 overwhelms the room with too much of a good thing.
In my humble opinion.
Kate says
The wall tile is a white salt and pepper tile — it is a tad less bright than the white of the Merola hex tiles, but pretty close. If I went with that pattern, I’d use a grey grout, which might provide just enough separation between wall and floor to make it all mesh together well.
lynda says
Hmm…maybe I change my vote to all green since the white background of the wall tile does not match the white hex tile. And of course Kate is doing this herself! I didn’t realize this was your bathroom floor when I first read this post. Maybe all green with a gray grout would look the nicest and it might be easier to keep clean. My daughter did a hex grey tile and just put white tiles here with no particular pattern. I think it looks nice. Perhaps that would work for you too.
Kate says
Yes, I do all my own tile work. 🙂
The white is about as close a match to the salt and pepper wall tile as the green is to the existing retro green tiles…they are closer than they look in my mock up…
Sarah says
Either would be very good, but I prefer #1. Unless the white on the wall and the white on the floor are *perfect* match it would bug me to see two slightly different whites – one would likely look ‘dirty’. I think the green match is more forgiving and there is probably already a bit of variation between the tub and the wall tile…
Susan says
I’d go with option 1. The wall is meant to be the accent. If the wall was plain, 2 would look better as the accent.
Robin, NV says
Don’t forget about the great hex tile options at Mosaic Tile Supplies, http://www.mosaictilesupplies.com/hex-tile-hexagon-mosaic-tiles.aspx. They have a yellow/gold blend I will be using in my yellow and Ming green bathroom.
I like option #2. If the aqua doesn’t match perfectly, the white tiles will help fool the eye into thinking it’s a match.
Kate says
Yes, Mosaic Tile supplies has a lot of hex too, though I did get a sample of their green and it wasn’t right for my bathroom unfortunately.
Maryanna says
Are the field tiles in your wall the same color white as the mosaic floor tiles? They look ivory compared to the floor tiles in the mock-up, but that could very easily be a trick of the eye. If they are the same color, I’d definitely go with the green and white floor tiles.
Kate says
The field tiles in my bathroom are white salt and pepper tiles…the white from the Merola tile is pretty close to the wall, just a tad brighter. I think it will not be very noticeable, especially with grey grout in between the floor tiles…
cellen says
A million people can’t be wrong – it’s option 2! Divine!
Jess says
Yes, my vote is for Option #2. I agree with the comments that the green is close, but not exact, and the white helps detract attention. Awesome bathroom!
Kate says
Thanks Jess! I do love that minty green!!! 🙂
sara says
I love every single picture in this story! 🙂 I vote for option 2. It’s more interesting than option 1 and really makes the green pop!
Scott says
You can’t go wrong with either but what about the inverse of Option 2… mostly green with a few white hexagons? 🙂
Sticking strictly to the two options shown I am drawn to 1… you see alot of the white hex but the green is so unusual, and a nice soothing backdrop for whatever rug or throw you go with.
Kate says
Scott, the inverse of option 2 would be MUCH more work as I would have to figure out which green tiles would have to be white with no pre done pattern to follow. It is going to be some work no matter what, but if I use the white and black pattern that is already available, it is just an easy swap out, which I can totally handle!