Bathroom renovations - is subway tile out?

[Anonymous]

I love the hotel looking tile, so easy to clean. White is scary, grout is scary. I like subway tiles but sometimes I ask myself why are we trying to imitate a subway? Best and most timeless bathrooms I've seen are marble with brass, not cheap but classic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the hotel looking tile, so easy to clean. White is scary, grout is scary. I like subway tiles but sometimes I ask myself why are we trying to imitate a subway? Best and most timeless bathrooms I've seen are marble with brass, not cheap but classic.

The answer is that the Victorians were into cleanliness and learning about sanitation. A white, glossy ceramic tile is easier to clean than wood, which is what was there before. And it’s easy to *see* that it’s clean.

They put it in the subways to reflect light. The two uses are unrelated. They don’t imitate each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the hotel looking tile, so easy to clean. White is scary, grout is scary. I like subway tiles but sometimes I ask myself why are we trying to imitate a subway? Best and most timeless bathrooms I've seen are marble with brass, not cheap but classic.

You are frightened by very different things that I am frightened by.

[Anonymous]

I installed it in both of my bathrooms 6 years ago.
White larger format size.
No regrets.

It is timeless and classic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the hotel looking tile, so easy to clean. White is scary, grout is scary. I like subway tiles but sometimes I ask myself why are we trying to imitate a subway? Best and most timeless bathrooms I've seen are marble with brass, not cheap but classic.

The answer is that the Victorians were into cleanliness and learning about sanitation. A white, glossy ceramic tile is easier to clean than wood, which is what was there before. And it’s easy to *see* that it’s clean.

They put it in the subways to reflect light. The two uses are unrelated. They don’t imitate each other.

It was progress, but at this point absolutely no one would use tiles for a kitchen counter, very hard to actually clean, no matter how it looks. Ditto hospitals. Victorian revivals are always have a backlash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the word - and concept of - "timeless" but I think that look is as close to timeless as you're going to get!

Not quite true. Subway tiles in certain colors is dated. Salmon, olive green, baby blue all come to mind that strike me as very dated. Also white and black.

But subway tiles in white are pretty timeless.

I'd go further. 6" square tiles seem just as innocuous. There was a period of decades when you wouldn't see anything else in a bathroom. During that time subway tiles weren't around. But no one would suggest 6" square tiles right now. To me this means subway tile are a trend, that currently has had a pretty long run, and will come to an end. I say this living in a 100-year-old house that has both 1920s (just a tiny bit) and contemporary subway tiles. I like them fine but they aren't always stylish and given how many have been installed in the last 20 years, there might be a better option.

You mean 4 1/4", but yes