Style. Purely style. Square is out. Brick is in.

I think it's a combination of visceral (loving that vintage feel), visual (the balance of subway versus a plan 4X4 or 6X6 appearance) and trend (everyone is doing it). I did subways in my bathroom many years ago because I always loved the look and they were finally being manufactured by places like DAL tile, so they were affordable.

I've wondered this myself. I like the look--in the right kitchen--but it's not really for me/our kitchen.

I meant to add that for our backsplash I'm putting in plain white 4x4 squares in running bond formation. I think that captures some of the look of subways but not in a super-trendy way.

pllog is correct.

In 'architectural' magazines you see that square is out and rectangle is in. Floor tiles, wall tiles, etc rectangles lend themselves to some design tricks. you can lay them vertically or horizontally, you can stack them, stagger them, cascade them etc.

6" x 6", 4" x 4" says public restroom :) 3" x 6" NY subway which is cool at the moment. Even 12" x 12" are getting dated because designers are going with large format tiles 16", 18" 24".

The other end of the spectrum is the small mosaic tiles. 3/4" or 1".

So go large or go small, nothing square and nothing medium ;)

I WAS going to say that the deal with them is that they are attractive and just plain classic~ probably a bit of being rediscovered.
Now I read that square is indeed square. Figures. I have not done any thinking about a backsplash or new flooring in my master bath but natch had been looking at squares. I guess I am doomed to be un-hip.
But seriously subway tiles are classic.

I don't know. I just get amused because every time I show dh a pic that includes subway tiles he can't see anything else but the tiles, and vehemently declares his dislike. I admit that I don't see the love, but I also can't quite relate to his strong opinion. To me, they're rather neutral.

We're doing subway tile in our kids' and guest bathroom shower/tub areas, b/c it looks fine, & goes with their very basic, classic style, and took almost zero imagination/time - easy to check it off the list and it didn't break the bank (ok, we're getting "Light Aspen" crackle subway tile in the guest bathroom, but it's straight, plain white in the kids' bath!)

BUT, in my kitchen, I'm doing anything BUT. I'll have a beautiful mosaic tile tree of life behind my rangetop and another, as yet undetermined mosaic design behind my sink without a window. I can't wait to show it off, but it's still being built...

I love subway tiles and haven't the foggiest idea why they appeal to me more than other shapes. Partly it's the calm, orderly look that lets other elements take the spotlight. Busy backsplashes tire my eyes after awhile, especially when there's competing counter clutter.
That said, I used 5 x 5 squares as my kitchen had too much horizontal going on to begin with. When I did my kitchen in 2003, square tiles were still going strong in the English mags I subscribed to, and looked quite nice (lovely, watery glazes).

Subway tiles have been aroudn for a long time. I think its appealling b/c its been around so long and it will likely never be fully out of style. Its also a very subtle texture that goes with a lot of different kitchens and can be done for very cheap.

Cheap, fashionable and neutral makes it a popular choice.

While we have subway tiles in the bathrooms of our 100 year old house and they look great. I don't think I'll put them in the kitchen, mostly because they scream bath to me. We have 6 x 6 in the kitchen and I get more compliments on that tile than anything else in the house. I don't think it's "square" at all.

I never considered subway tile in the kitchen until I found the marble and travertine ones. Seeing them in so many of the beautiful kitchens here on GW made me fall for them all the more. Plus, I like the colors they come in better than porcelain.

In this house, I had one absolute rule: ABB = Anything but brass. I also preferred antique nickel, stainless, or brushed nickel finishes. I just wanted to use something different.

I went into a model home the other day and it had all almond appliances and shiny 2" square ceramic backsplash. It reminded me of a kitchen I owned 25 years ago. It felt eerie, not icky, just very déjà vu-ish. I took that trip long ago and just do not want to do it again. I'm changing all the time. I do not look the same as I did 25 years ago and I really do not want my kitchen to look the same either.

They are the style now, but doesn't that mean that they'll end up looking dated in a few years? If it's something you really love and will always like, it doesn't matter. But do want to redo the tiling every time yours goes out of style? Of course, that's why fashions change periodically -- so companies in the business can get us to keep remodeling and spending money!

In every kitchen I'm drawn to, I realize one of the things that is consistant..subway tile. I just think it's classic and simple. We were thinking beadboard for awhile in our kitchen. Now, I'm wanting subway tile, but I worry about the grout staying clean. Especially right behind the range.

Oh, and at HD it's only 19 cents a tile :) Truth be told, my budget sucks. And it just seems more affordable to me.

I'll tell ya-- I love the tile itself, but the running bond, or brick pattern, is getting real real old. There are so many other patterns you can do with it that are much nicer, and if ever given the chance, that's exactly what I intend to do!!

okay, call me stupid! What are subway tiles?

They're just like regular tiles, but they have chewing gum stuck on them and the occasional graffiti. :)

Seriously, they are generally 2x6 or 3x6 inch tiles.

Speaking of subway tiles...A friend from my hometown was visiting me once and I took her to visit all the tourist attractions in downtown Toronto. She had recently renovated her kitchen and put in subway tiles. When we were riding the subway, she suddenly gasped, "Oh my gosh, I'm so dumb. I thought 'subway' tiles was just a random name given to that type of tile. I didn't know they were called that because they are exactly the same type of tile that is used to tile the walls of subway stations."

I assured her that she wasn't dumb and that probably many people who don't happen to live in a city that has subways would not know that either. I know that Montreal, New York and Tokyo use the same subway tiles as here in Toronto. But I've never been in the subway system of any other city, so I don't have a clue if London, Paris, etc., use the same tiles as well, or not.

cpanther95...thanks for the explanation. I have 2 sons, I am sure that can help me make my subway tiles look authentic, should I decide I want the REAL thing. LOL Seriously, thank you.

I did google subway tile after posting, and found them. I think I saw these when visiting NY.

I like oblong tiles in general, especially laid in basketweave or diagonal herringbone. But to me [probably not technically correct] 'subway' means the very generic white/near white tiles almost always done with pale grout in a running bond pattern.

I think they're popular because its a very 'safe' choice [probably why I don't care for them]. Like the little black dress or the white cab, they fashionable, yet bland enough to be utterly unremarkable.

They can work very well if the other elements in the room have a similar period feel, but a bit of a missed opportunity otherwise.

There's really nothing wrong with them, but there's no way they'll be as popular in 10 years as they are today: familiarity always breeds some level of contempt.

My home is a 1920's Georgian Revival. In deciding on the direction of our kitchen renovation, my DH and I wanted to stay with the period of our home. White subway tiles are classic to that time period. It isn't a "safe choice". It is a choice to honor the original design and architecture of our home.

Having grown up in New York City and riding the subways almost daily ... I hate them and find nothing neutral about them. Ditto for my DH. But we now live in the south and subway tiles are everywhere. We just nod politely when our friends show us their new kitchens that all seem to include them.

Which goest to prove the old axiom that one person's gold is another person's garbage! :-)

I know alot of people who feel one way or the other about these tiles. It's not really the tile size that most people who don't like them object to. it's the stereotypical brick pattern that you always see them installed in. I have a feeling that if someone were to change it up a little, you might see them in a different light.

That's just one example.

Herringbone, just like our patio.

My friend has a 1920s bungalow here in Chicago. The bathroom has never beem remodled. I was in there this W/E and what do you know, the entire thing....subway tiles. I had never noticed! I told her she was now the height of style, no need to remodel. We got a good laugh No grout lines that I could tell either

it is funny how we all have different perspectives. i have 4x4s in my bathrooms, so that was my definition of "too bathroomy! i went with subway partially to get away from that and partially because i thought the shape worked with my galley/rectangular kitchen. i also went with beveled to give it a little more interest and, yes, to be less bathroomy!

When I asked our designer about Port Authority Bus Terminal tiles, all I got was a blank stare.

Your kitchen looks very nice, glad. Our backsplash and cabinets will be similar. You've got us beat when it comes to paper towel location. Our peninsula sink won't allow such a convenient spot.

I too chose subway tile because it fits the period of my 1922 Colonial Revival house. The original kitchen was very spare, so it never had tile, but the bathrooms did. A previous owner took them off, I'm puttin' 'em back!

No grout lines that I could tell either,

amylville-- there's a good reason for that. Back at that time, the tiles didn't have lugs on the edges as they do today. The way they got the joints was one of two ways-- either they would set a small area of tile (it was always set into fresh mud, so they couldn 't go to far or the tile would set up too much)and then rub sand into the joints, so the joints would be the thickness of the grains of sand, or they would use string, like a baker's string, as a spacer.

Alot of you renovating some of these real old tile jobs from the 40's and before, don't be surprised if when you're tearing down the old tile, if you find string under the tiles. This would be why.

FYI, from someone who RIDES the NYC subway daily:

MOST of the subway passages I go through are lined in 4x4 square. I almost never see the oblong ones. Maybe a very few really old ones....

And, I don't want my home to look like a subway passage!

The white tile, no matter what its shape or size, has never said "luxury" to me; it has always said "institutional." Even those 1920s tiles were chosen because they looked sterile and easy to clean.

So I don't quite get it when people combine Carrera marble (which to me is the epitome of luxury) w/ subway tiles (which to me is as "high school bathroom/subway tunnel" as you can get)

I'd put white subway tiles in my bathroom in a flash, because of the steriity aura. But I wouldn't pair them w/ big, splashy Carrera marble.

The kitchen I've envisioned for myself has white subway tile for backsplash. It's a clean, classic look that suits my 90-year-old home. "Talley Sue" of NY: LOL when I read your comments..I always thought they were called "subway" tile because they looked like the tiles in my city's subway system...but that's as far as the association went for me....the mosaic marble look is really hot where I live, but it seems too retro 70s for me.

So I don't quite get it when people combine Carrera marble (which to me is the epitome of luxury) w/ subway tiles (which to me is as "high school bathroom/subway tunnel" as you can get)

HEY NOW!! :-)

I resemble that remark!! :-)

It's not only the period look of the flat, butted tiles that I wanted (and I have almost no grout line at all; my tiles are right up against each other, and they are not pillow-tops, they're flat), but the decorative tiles too. I have some handmade tile from Terra Firma Tiles over my range (wanted more, couldn't afford it), and that's all part of the look. I wish I could have had a scaled-down version of the fantastic work in the subways!

we will have white ones as our backsplash because:
our appliances are white and we want them to blend with something plain, our house is brick and the brick layout will echo the outside, and our house is 1920s so they will feel much more natural there than something like a 12x12 would. i like the herringbone layout but that is much too fancy for our kitchen...over the GE range? i don't think so.
then again, our kitchen is off at the back, not really a centerpiece of our home...so not as much need to have something very striking.
in our vintage apartment, the kitchen counters were 1 inch hex tiles....so was the bathroom floor. now that did seem a little icky. kren