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Formica blue Nassau laminate — which color tile — blue or aqua — to go with?

Pam Kueber - Updated: August 17, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

Julie wants our help: Which blue … or aqua … bathroom tile should she choose to go with the vintage Formica Nassau countertop laminate she’s salvaged? She’s building the bathroom from scratch, in the basement, so the sky’s — and sky blues’ — the limit.

She writes:

Hi Pam,

I’m about to start the biggest retro renovation of my life–finishing nearly 1000 square feet of basement entertainment space in a style appropriate to my 1959 house.  After months of searching, I found a mostly intact 1960 custom kitchen for sale on Craigslist two hours away, so I pounced.  The handy husband on the sellers’ end somehow got them out in good shape despite the unitized construction, and they are now safely in my basement waiting for construction to begin.  The plan is to use one 3ft section for a bathroom vanity and fashion a kitchenette from the rest.  The counter top pattern appears to be Formica Nassau, which I believe you thought was the pattern inspiration for Wilsonart’s Betty & Endora.  (Off topic: I recently put Endora in my pink bath and had actually purchased a sheet of Betty for use in the basement before it was discontinued [as stock laminate, note, you can still get it VDL-Pam]  I scrapped that plan once I got the real deal vintage version, but there’s definitely a resemblance.)

My dilemma concerns the tile for the bathroom.  I want to do 4×4 ceramic tile in the shower and about half way up the walls elsewhere in the room.  B&W has two colors (blue and aqua) matching the two different tones in the Formica pattern.  This seemed perfect at first, but now I’m not sure how it will all look together since from a distance the counters will appear to be something between the two colors.

I’m including shots both close up and from a bit further away of the tile samples on the counter. Can I do either/or?  Is one better than the other?  Would I be better off doing a white or salt & pepper tile with a few colored ones placed randomly instead?  The cabinets are blonde and the bathroom will be on the small side (6×10 including the shower) if that makes a difference.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Best,

Julie.

So I wrote back:

    • So, are you saying you want to use TWO colors of B&W tile and mix them up? Or are you asking, which of the two to choose?
    • Also, what are you planning for the floors?
    • Finally, photo of the cabinetry possible?

Thank you! AND: If you want to send me a photo of yourself, too, that would be great! Best, Pam

Hi Pam,

Awesome; thanks, Pam!  I was wondering which of the two colors to choose (or, as a third option, whether I should do a neutral tile and just randomly place a few blue or aqua ones).

As for floors, virtually anything is on the table at this point.  For the other areas, I am considering stained concrete or epoxy, both because these seem like highly durable options for a basement and because they wouldn’t eat into precious headroom.  Looking at photos of epoxy floors online, it seems like I might be able to mimic terrazzo or the glitter flooring in my pink bath, so perhaps that could be carried into the bathroom too.  But I also haven’t ruled out tiling the bathroom floor.  (I considered VCT too, but (a) I don’t want the maintenance hassle of stripping and polishing this much furnished square footage and (b) I have seen them ripped out after water damage.  My basement is dry, but we’re all just a freak storm / failed sump pump away, right?)  I’d love to know what others are doing for basement flooring; I’m out of my element having never done a basement before.

I am attaching a totally embarrassing photo of the current mess in my basement.  Maybe it will serve as a warning to those considering buying and storing an entire kitchen.  It’s . . . a lot.  The photo doesn’t show it all.  I have drawers and doors on the other side of the room, and one enormous L-shaped counter and cabinet are still in the garage waiting to be cut so they’ll fit down the stairs to join the rest of this mess.  I included a close up of one section, but it was tough to get a good shot–as you can see from the first photo, there’s very little room to get in between, and these things are *heavy* and tough to move. As you can see, the original cabinet pulls are gone.  I’m hunting for vintage chrome replacements, but the distance between the screws is 3.5″ rather than 3″, so it may take time. Back when I had given up hope of finding vintage cabinets, along with that sheet of Wilsonart Betty, I bought some beautiful 1950s dish knobs and back plates, thinking I’d have cabinets built.  Unless I find some giant round back plates to hide the two holes, it looks like I can’t use the dish knobs here, but I kind of feel like I deserve that for giving up too soon.

Also attaching the same photo of me you ran a couple years back with my pink bathroom story.  If the finished project turns out, I’ll have to get a better one taken in the basement.  🙂
Thanks again!
Julie

Pam responds: Which tile to use?

Like I said, fun question. My first reaction: I would want to also check for a wall tile that is the same value — intensity of color — as the strongest of the colors in your countertop. That would be: the Blue.

A worry bead with the B&Ws is that they are lighter than the strongest value on the countertop. I usually don’t want any single element in a room to “shout” — that is, be louder than its surrounding elements — unless that’s carefully planned. 

I found this at Classic Tiles — it’s the Interceramic Blue:

Of course, you’d have to get some samples to see for sure. But here’s what it looks like cropped into your mood board and indeed, it seems to be about the same as your strongest blue:


If you don’t gravitate toward the strong-powder-wedgewood blue tile look, I’d then say, without hesitation: Go with the B&W 26W aqua. I prefer it over the 20W blue (1) because I think it will give the bathroom a more definitive two-tone look, that is: blue + aqua = two distinct colors playing together; for some reason I’m not feeling the same playfulness or overall harmony if you were to use the 20W light blue with the Nassau. Again, this is likely due to 20W’s value: It’s too in the middle of the three colors within the Nassau pattern. Again, ff you want blue tile to coordinate with the Nassau, go with a blue that’s close to the strongest blue in Nassau. 

I am not keen on the idea of salt-n-pepper tiles interspersed with the occasional blue or aqua solid tile. First and foremost, I don’t think that the salt n peps would do anything for your countertop — I’d go so far as to say they will ‘hurt’ the look, the patterns will not complement. MUCH better to go with solid tile.

I will also add: I’d likely torture the bullnose color too. White: I think that would be cheery, and it would pick up the white in your Formica Nassau. Solid: A more authentic 1960s choice. 

Thanks, Julie — SO FUN!

Readers, what do you think?

Reader Interactions

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104 comments

Comments

  1. Ranger Smith says

    Hi Julie – My first choice would be the aqua with Pam’s suggestion of the classic blue a close and respectable second. You can’t go wrong either way though. I just think the aqua is more interesting. I can’t wait for you to share pictures of the finished job with us. Good luck@

  2. Allison says

    My feeling is that the wall tile will be the main player in a bathroom; then the fixtures, then the vanity; the laminate will just be the accent to the former.

    I would be most drawn to the aqua, but (assuming the fixtures will be white) I think also that white field tile with random pops of aqua and blue would make a soothing background with the laminate reiterating the two colors.

    It would also be possible to do a mostly white/offwhite epoxy floor with color chips in the blue/aqua tones.

    Not matchy, but each different plane rubbing along comfortably.

  3. Lynne says

    I’m going to go against the crowd and say to go white with maybe a blue liner, or 2×6″ trim piece. I think the white will let that gorgeous counter take center stage, and be the focal point. A blue towel, blue accessories, or maybe a blue floor, and maybe a blue ceiling?

  4. ineffablespace says

    Colonial Bronze makes several contemporary pulls available in multiple finishes with various spacing including 3″ and 3-1/2″

  5. Nancy says

    This is going to be such a fab space, and I hope you’re having more fun than stress planning it all out!

    One bit of advice I’ve learned from a decorating “color expert” is to always view your surface color choices in the light and plane that they will be installed. Meaning: compare wall tile at the vertical angle against the horizontal plane of the counter or floor it will adjoin. This has saved me many times when selecting the correct shade or hue of a hard surface. One other bit is to place a piece of white copy paper behind the tiles as you view them – did this w/ several different brands of white subway and you’d be surprised how the subtle to major the differences were adjacent to the counter they would abut. The blue or aqua could look very different when viewed in this manner.

    Looking forward to seeing your finished space!

    • Julie says

      This makes perfect sense–thanks! And yes, definitely more fun than stress at this stage. 🙂

  6. sherree says

    I just love what you are doing! If I had to choose, I would also go with the aqua and use white as an accent. How awesome that you found those vintage cabinets and laminate! I think I would also paint the floor and not install anything that may get wet. In my 1952 basement I chose a sage / mint color epoxy with colored flecks and topped it with a commercial sealer. I use large area rugs which can be rolled up if necessary. I look forward to seeing more of your project!

  7. C.D. Ellis says

    Julie is an incredibly lucky lady…that laminate is gorgeous! One thing to consider before picking the tile might be the fixtures…unless I missed it, I didn’t read if the toilet and sink were white or a color?

  9. ineffablespace says

    Also look at Daltile semigloss for 4x and Keystones for 2x in porcelain for other blue / aqua options.

      • ineffablespace says

        I feel like you would need to sample in person to know for sure. Natural Hues may present another option.

        • Lynne says

          I looked at the Natural Hues line for our bathroom remodel. First, know that they are about twice the price of the regular 4×4 tiles. If I recall, they also didn’t have a large choice of trim pieces. They were also of a slightly different size than the 4×4. They are thicker and on an almost terracotta looking base, unlike the white back of the standard tiles. The colors are…how can I convey this….muddy??

    • Julie says

      Thanks for the tip! I actually ordered a sample of Daltile’s Aqua Glow, but they cancelled the order saying they were out of stock. I think I will order a sample of Waterfall though, if only because the price is so much lower than B&W–it’s worth a shot.

        • Julie says

          Update: Daltile Waterfall reads almost gray against my Formica, so that’s out. I ordered a sample of Pam’s suggested blue from Classic Tile NY. Second update to follow.

          • Julie says

            Update in case it helps someone: in person, the Classic Tile NY Interceramic Blue is indistinguishable from the B&W blue. I literally can’t tell them apart. So, anyone considering the B&W blue should definitely get a sample and a price quote–my bet based on experiences with both companies is that Classic Tile NY will be much less expensive (and significantly faster to ship).

        • Lauren says

          Any pics of that bathroom lurking around here? I would love to see the overall look and what other colors you used.

  10. Marie Gamalski says

    I’m team Aqua!!! Also, I have an epoxy floor (creamy, yellow, gold metallic..swirled together) and I LOVE it!! The man that did mine is amazing…he teaches other companies the technique. He/they can also take it up the wall, thereby eliminating baseboards if you like ????