[photos: Ben Ritter]
So, at least 80 percent of the questions that I field about tile concern bathrooms. And 99.9 percent of the “how should I tile my bathroom?” questions are followed by this caveat: “Oh, and I want to use white subway tile.”
Fair enough. White subway tile is gorgeous and very classic. It opens up a small room and can be accessorized in any number of ways. Although I typically encourage people to embrace color in their tile choices and not play it overly safe, white subway tile appeals to so many people that I cannot say a bad word about it behind its back!
This week’s posts will be dedicated to groovy alternatives to straightforward 3-by-6-inch white ceramic subway tile, which is typically set in a horizontal running-bond pattern. Fasten your seatbelts, folks!
Exhibit A:
The bathrooms at the Lucida (more pix on website) on New York’s Upper East Side, designed by S. Russell Groves and Co. The images here are from the secondary bath (i.e. not the master bath). Instead of using ceramic, Russell and his design team chose an amazing milky glass that incorporates recycled content. This gives the same look as the expected glazed ceramic, but pulls in a bit more light–and gives walls a sense of depth that ceramic lacks. Brilliant for a small-ish space. Also clever: he executed the running-bond installation vertically, rather than horizontally, to draw the eye upward and make the ceiling look taller! The slightly elongated format (2 x 8 inches, I believe) enhances the effect:
