How would you tile floor of this vintage bathroom?

15 years ago

Help, please! Our contractor is ready to lay down the tiles in our bathroom, so this weekend is THE deadline for making our decision for choosing tiles. We have wavered back and forth on this...marble...travertine...ceramic...

We are renovating a 90-year-old house and want to retain some of the vintage look..but I'm NOT loving those traditional hex or basketweave patterns (could it be because it reminds me of the grungy apartment I lived in back in my '20s?)

I have beautiful vintage inspired fixtures. I like subway tiles. What can I put on the floor? I love the look of polished marble tile, but this is a no no. So...what would you do?

Thank you.

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Comments (6)

kgwlisa
15 years ago
There are lots of vintage inspired floors that you can do that aren't necessarily lots of little pieces. Bill V shows a bathroom with a honed marble floor on the diagonal with a thin dark border and then a polished marble border beyond that. You can search around a bit to find his website and take a look at it.

Also you might want to search back on claire de luna - she shows a similar look with terrazzo tiles and a border in a creamy and warm rather than grey and cool palette. This could be pulled off with travertine and coordinating ceramic and stone for a vintage but not a slave to period feel.

You could also do a checkerboard with larger format tiles - either a subtle tone on tone checkerboard in earthtones or black and white for something more graphic that would pop. There are many ceramics out there that either look like stone or not but have colors that would look great together in a checkerboard.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
I love the look of polished marble tile, but this is a no no. So...what would you do?

Honed with a polished border and accent perimeter stripe.
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You need to find out what the requirement in the building code is for toilets in your area. It is likely either 30" or 36" Now, put your tape rule end at the center of the toilet, going left to right. Measure either 15" (for 30" requirement) or 18" (for 36" requirement) to the left and right of the center. Mark this on the floor to the left and right of the toilet. Now, put the end of the tape rule on the front lip of the toilet seat and measure 21" in front of the toilet and mark that on the floor. Draw level, straight lines going from the wall behind the toilet through the right and left marks beside the toilet. Draw a level line that goes right and left in front of the toilet through the 21" mark. Extend your side lines to meet that front line. You now have a box around your toilet. Pretend that this is the bottom of a cube that goes to the ceiling. Nothing, including the vanity or even a wall-hung sink, can be in that cube. From here, it looks like your vanity may be in the cube, even for a 30" toilet clearance. Let us know how much room you have between this cube and the wall in front of the toilet. I am afraid you will be lucky to fit a wall-hung hand washing sink in this room. If you are lucky, you may be able to put in a corner wall-hung sink. When this becomes a rental, do you have city rental inspectors? How much do they check for building code violations?
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mrslimestone
15 years ago
If you don't like the smaller tiles, I think the example above would be a nice alternative. I'd probably say using terazzo or anything in that family would take away from the vintage style you're after.

If keeping a total period appropriate look isn't a necessity, you could also do a more modern layout of tile (maybe long rectangular marble cuts offset) using a period appropriate material like honed marble.
kgwlisa
15 years ago
Terrazzo is fabulously vintage - just check bungalow baths for inspiration. Also as I said, claire de luna's bath. Not only does it not take away from the vintage style, it's part of what makes it.
clax66
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you to all who responded. We went out today and chose honed marble for the floor with mini-subway tiles for the bath surround. I'm happy, he's happy. Just need to determine best cleaning products..mmm..wonder if anyone's posted about eco-sensitive cleaning products for natural stone material..will have to check that out.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Actually, you have no choice but to use "eco friendly" products. All stone cleaners are ph neutral out of necessity. Acidic cleaners could hurt the stone, and basic cleaners could eat away at the sealer.

How would you tile floor of this vintage bathroom?

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How would you tile floor of this vintage bathroom?

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