Olympia Tile - the colors are the best for retro renos!

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

I wanted to do a more complete posting on Olympia tile colors - and 50s tile colors in general - after reading something over the weekend.

On an eBay listing that I featured - the Manchu Yellow bathroom suite - the lister mentioned that Kohler had recently reissued some vintage colors. I went online to look, and must say I don't think much of them at all, they are not true 50s hues. I also went and took a look at the American Olean site, to see if they had anything new to suit retro reno bathrooms; nope. I suspect that Waterworks has some great colors -- that that is really expensive tile.

That brings me back to Olympia. I was fortunate enough to run into this company because I lived in metro Toronto a few years ago. When I was reno'ing my three bathrooms, I located a distributor nearby in the states. They sent me the board of colors - which I've photographed for you, above. Unfortunately, the company does not have any marketing materials -- no brochures, no photos on their website, nothing. Seems like they really only market directly through independent tile stores.

It is well worth the hassle to pursue these tiles, in my experience. The picture shown is our "Heron Blue" bathroom. This bathroom, like my others, was originally plastic tile, which had rotted out the shower walls altogether. I had true 50s color schemes originally - pink/green, green/beige. As you can see I toned the original exuberant 50s look down a little by choosing a blue and white scheme. I replicate the original with use of the contrasting 2x6s, and by tiling up to the original height. The wallpaper is from a now-discontinued Waverly line, Kitchen Kitsch. I hope you agree it all comes together in a perfectly acceptable, cheerful and functional retro reno look.

Finally, the Olympia tile was very reasonably priced. This is not high end. But then, neither were these original 50s bathrooms!

Here's the link to Olympia's site - which includes locations of the retail locations where you can order their tile: http://www.olympiatile.com/

Tile 50s style for your kitchen or bath: Go Canadian

I've moved: Please see my dramatically improved site: RetroRenovation.com

It was very difficult to find tile in the correct 50s shades. My best source: A Canadian-based company, Olympia Tile, had a selection of 4.25 x 4.25 "Maple Leaf" tiles in appropriate shades. Good news, their distribution network in the U.S. is growing. Go to olympiatile.com to see where you can buy this tile. No photos online - watch this site and I'll post my bathroom pics at some point.

Colors I used in my bathrooms: Heron Blue and Fawn Beige. I used the 4x4s for field tile and for edging, trimmed them with a basic United Ceramic white 2x6 from Home Depot. I used Olympia's matching 2x6 cove base to meet the walls with the floor. Note, we installed the cove pieces flush with the floor tile (rather than 'sitting on top of it' -- but struggled because the room was not perfectly square (by a long shot.) This is a trade-off decision.

Other colors I like in the Olympia line: Primrose (yellow), Teal Blue and Lake Blue, Salmon (would be great with black or grey trim) Terra Cotta, Bone and four shades of Grey - Thunder, Platinum, Silver and Tender (my favorite.)

This tile was all very inexpensive. Note, I bet you can go much higher-end -- to a Waterworks or Ann Sachs -- and probably get a better selection of colors. However, this will be at a much much higher price.

Finally: For my floors, I used American Olean Chloe, a "pinwheel" pattern evocative of the 50s, with the gloss black dots in one room, and with plain satin white in the other two. To be honest, I prefer the all-white. Use warm grey sanded grout -- it's a nice look. You must seal the grout, though - an arduous (but worthwhile) task.