Black and white floor tiles for the bathroom have a long history. They were popular during the Victorian times and during the Arts and Crafts period. The style has been copied in vinyl form, but there are many elegant versions available today. White hexagon tiles can be used with contrast dots, or with contrast circles which look like flowers. Or you can go with simple square tiles in various sizes and patterns. And then there is the pinwheel design, with its lovely geometric symmetry.
My favorite is the basketweave, which looks lovely in tile but also in its marble version, which stains more easily (but in the unlikely event that marble chips or scratches, no ugly under layer is revealed because stone is solid through and through, unlike tile).
What is so great about black and white floor tile is that it melds beautifully with very modern bathrooms as well as more traditional rooms. You can play up the black and white theme throughout the room or let the floor function as a neutral palette.
FIRST ROW
1 Basketweave tile from House and Home
2 Basic black and white pinwheel tiles. Alex's Granny Chic.
3 Marble basketweave from DIY Del Ray
4 Black and white checked at Brabourne Farm.
5 An interesting combination of large marble squares and a criss cross design of black tiles from Brabourne Farm.
SECOND ROW
6 Close-up of marble basketweave from Vector East.
7 Stunning bathroom with simple hex pattern designed by Webber + Studio via Houzz.
8 Donna DuFresne Design hex tile pattern via Houzz.
9 The Little House in the City: an example of hex black and white tile (slightly bigger than usual)
(Images: as linked above)
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It is my dream to one day have a black and white tiled floor in my bathroom.
Among all the crazy, overdone kitchen and bath renovations i've seen in the last 15 years or so -- so many with over-the-top tile installations -- basketweave tile has been one of the only patterns that has allways looked timeless and classic. It even seems to wear well. Tight joints or something.
The original-to-the-1930s black and white pinwheel tile is one of the vintage touches that sold me on my current apartment. Lovelovelove black and white tile! I had some plumbing issues in my bathroom last month, and one of my main worries wasn't how long it was going to take to fix, but whether or not they were going to have to tear up the floor (and thus my wonderful original tile) to do so! Luckily, they only had to drill one tiny hole behind the toilet, so my precious tile is safe. :-)
I love these. My last house was built in 1938 and all the bathrooms had these wonderful floors. My current house was also built in 1938 and has hideous linoleum floors in the bathrooms. I can't wait to change them.
Funnily enough I already have several of the above pictures bookmarked.
I inherited some form of black and white floor tile in my bathroom, and I hate it. It was not in good condition when I purchased the unit, And my renovation budget stopped short of the bathroom. A good scrubbing and paint job freshened the rest of the bathroom, but the floor just never looks clean. Any suggestions?
We have black and white octagonal marble tile in our bathroom. (White with a black "border" near the walls and a "rug" of black and white in the middle.)
I love it. It's survived a few style changes, there's no slipping and it feels amazing under bare feet. The only real issue is that it's pretty damn hard to keep clean.
I think I've had nearly all of these patterns in the many pre-war brownstones I've lived in. Definitely one of the perks of living in an old city - awesome subway tile, black and white tile, and hardwood floors.
Very nicely done. Long time favorite on our prewar build redo's.