Brick tile flooring: Is it appropriate for a mid-century home? And… do we like it? Marie writes:
Hi Pam,
Need to pick your brain. We’re in the process of buying a home from 1950. It’s got a lot of original details. I’m trying to figure out if the kitchen floor is original. It’s a glazed brick tile. To me it looks 90s, and I don’t like it… but maybe it is original? My aunt an uncle live in a house built in the early 60s, and it has a similar glazed brick floor in the entry and kitchen. Was glazed brick a midcentury thing?
Thanks!!
Marie
Congratulations, Marie, on the new/old house, and thank you for sending this question.
Brick flooring in a 1964 kitchen, from my archives. This is one of my favorite kitchens I’ve EVER show on the blog.
My answer:
My archives indicate that glazed brick flooring — either with real clay bricks or in a vinyl/asbestos or vinyl/composite resilient floor tile — were used in the midcentury era all the way through to… well, yes, the 1990s. The brick tile flooring in your house could well be original.
Louisa Kostich Cowan of Armstrong Flooring showed this style of flooring in her sketches. What a fabulous find these illustrations were!
Personally, I adore the look. Brick is warm and inviting, and it’s a neutral that can be matched with ‘most any style of cabinetry.
One downside to clay brick flooring would be that it could be hard on the back, like any ceramic tile would be. On the upside, though, real clay brick flooring is virtually indestructible — and golly, why wouldn’t you want flooring that would last forever and save so much money never needing to be replaced. Note, the old vinyl flooring also lasted a long long long time, I think — this stuff was made back in a time when “planned obsolescence” was still not necessarily a manufacturer’s de facto mode of operation. That is: Folks expected quality. Folks expected stuff that would last a long, long time — and were willing to pay for it.
Should it stay — or should it go? Well, here is my regularly repeated answer: Sometimes we get shocked by an old design, an old look, that we’re not accustomed to seeing anymore. It’s not popular today. It may even be “despised” by the mainstream design world (which wants us to tear out everything old and install the new stuff that They Are Selling.) So because we are are unaccustomed to seeing the old, and because the new is so well-marketed, we decide that we, too, h*** the old.
1963 Arnstrong catalog from my collection. Faux brick looks were all the rage. Armstrong #5352 — the most popular flooring ever sold — was still selling.
However, if we hit the pause button, and take the time to learn about it, and see how it was used — and loved — historically, we may come to like, or even love, it ourselves. I suggest: Live with it a while before taking costly and irreversible steps. See: Just bought a mid-century house? My 9 tips before you start remodeling + 21 more tips from readers.
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Ya’ll (as we say in Canada) have lost your mind. This is hideous. I know you are all about living with the “original” floors as much as possible, but lets not let bad taste be the choice. It was in bad taste when it was put in originally. Move to 12″ tiles. There’s a million colours and patterns you can make. Check out the old ads for baths and kitchens and you’ll see. I’m begging you.
No, no, no, no!!! That 12-inch tiling isn’t artistic at all, it’s machine-made. The wonderful brick was hand-laid. It has character, depth and warmth no machined tile could ever hope to match. The tile was a floor for the economically-challenged who couldn’t afford a beautiful custom floor like this. How can you possibly characterize this floor as having been an example of bad taste? My heart sings Provence, the warmth of traditional family values, HOME (in it’s fundamental sense) when I see this brick floor.
Honestly, I like it so much, I could just sit and stare at it.
Whatever do you mean? Brick isn’t in bad taste at all, it’s timeless. Like, several centuries timeless.
Not all of us in Canada would be so unpleasant as to insult your lovely classic floor in this way. I apologize for my fellow citizen up there.
I think Pam’s advice is very sensible-we all need time to get used to design ideas that aren’t familiar to us. I grew to love a number of things about my house, completely by accident, because I couldn’t afford to replace them when I moved in. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Sometimes having a tight budget is a blessing.
Keep the flooring….you obviously purchased the house because it’s style suited you….you just need to get used to that style of decor and forget today’s “sterile hospital gray and white” look that is so prevalent.
I love it! I put in unsealed terra-cotta and hate it! your floors look beautiful.
May I just add, that picture is making me want to paint my toe kicks black!
Would love to see an overall picture.
As a Mid-Century lover, I think it is beautiful, sturdy and easy to care for. I am not a fan of the modern “cookie cutter” houses. I would take into consideration the cost to remove the real brick as that would be a very time consuming job and physically demanding. But, at the end of the day, you need to be happy in your home. Such a shame to see a real retro floor in good shape ripped up and tossed out.
I love it and would use it in a kitchen right this minute! Its so warm and old world looking, and in my opinion timeless. I agree with Pam, let the shock wear off, live with it a year or so and then decide. It is neutral and you can put anything with it.
I think it’s gorgeous! I wish it were in my home.
I like it and have friends with a midcentury house full of floors like this.
What a truly beautiful and organic looking floor. I am amazed at the detail, and the hand-made quality. No two really look alike, and they’re slightly irregular. It would be a travesty to remove this floor!
We bought a 1957 house in 1975 with the original brick flooring. Loved it!
Sorry for getting in so late to the game. I live in a 1963 ranch home which has the original brick floors through the entry hall and family room. I LOOOOVE my brick floors! They are warm, easy to care for & look great. I soften them up with oriental rugs. FWIW, our home was a FISBO. We met the owners at the open house. One of the reasons they sold to us and not to the other 3 contenders with bids in was they wanted the original features of the house (brick floors/intercom system/walls) to remain & we were the only potential buyers willing to keep all of these. Live with the floors a while – I think you’ll come to love them.
I can relate to your initial reaction, but honestly I think that brick is lovely. With those white cabinets, black tow kick and maybe a bright tribal rug (I know that’s trendy and not so MC), it’s super warm and rich.
These comments are so refreshing. We are in the process of redoing our kitchen floor in our 1925 home (the current floor is not historic, it’s cheap tile from Lowe’s that was put in 2008 by the previous owners. We’ve uncovered a few layers of lino, but they are covered by the tile and the backerboard, so we can’t save it). We have decided to go with a brick-inspired tile floor (google Emser Newberry tile). I have been really worried because brick-inspired floors aren’t at all the trendy thing to do, but you all have inspired me. Thanks!