bathroom
Olde English Tiles™ has designed thousands of Heritage, Art Deco, Federation and Victorian bathrooms around Australia with as much care and rigour as we do our exteriors and for good reason; they are more than just a place to wash our bodies clean. They symbolize purity, cleanliness, innocence-if you like. The act of bathing is an act of renewal; it lifts our spirits, relaxes and invigorates us. It makes us feel human again.
Our tessellated and mosaic tiles, which are are extremely safe, inherently slip resistant, and perfectly suited to underfloor heating. Because there is a such a vast choice of patterns and colours, they can be adapted to any size or shape of room. When combined with the company's extensive range of plain subway wall tiles and Federation and Victorian wall tiles, you can achieve a look that's casual or formal, rustic or grand, authentic or simply sympathetic. The sky truly is the limit when it comes to the arrangement of these tessellated patterns.
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For the renovation of this charming Newport residence, the owner embraced a vibrant coastal/retro vibe throughout their home.
Olde English Tiles supplied the bathroom floors, shower recess walls, and laundry floors with our striking Herringbone Tapestry pattern from the Art Deco Tapestry Collection, showcasing a lively blend of speckled colours 510 and 502, along with Ontario, Bleu Pale, Yellow, and Havana - all colours from our Winckelmans range of vitrifield porcelain tiles.
To complete the look, the downstairs saloon was finished with our hand-glazed brown wall tiles, adding rich warmth and a nostalgic touch to the space. The result is a bright, character-filled home that perfectly blends timeless retro elements with a fresh coastal feel.
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When Melbourne based Interior Designer Virginia Blue of Blue Fruit Design was tasked with bringing new life to this late Victorian cottage, she turned to Olde English Tiles for a mosaic pattern to maximise a feeling of space and usability for the young family who now call it a happy home.
Virginia landed on the Gemstone pattern from the Scott Weston designer series, customising it with her own unique colour palette.
“The colours were selected to reference the age of the late 19th century home, in a mix of warm earthy hues and black for contrast, which were colours that were in use at the time the cottage was originally built, but also work well for today’s palette.
The old bathroom was very dark, and felt very small. The new bathroom feels light, airy and spacious. The Gemstone pattern was selected for the floor tile to play tricks with the eye, to make it feel larger than the room really is.
Having no obvious boundary or edge, and not encouraging the eye to follow a straight line to the wall, as well as using very small tiles, creates an optical illusion of space and proportion.
"To create consistency throughout the cottage (and further play on the sneaky psychological trickery) we used the same floor tiles and Gemstone pattern in all the areas requiring hard floor finishes.
The laundry, bathroom, fireplace hearths and even the front porch now all sport these same beautiful tiles."
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When Sydney architect Scott Weston met with his client he was tasked with rescuing a simple two-storey terrace in Sydney's historic suburb of Paddington. The owners' original thoughts had been modest - just a basic renovation, but eventually the consensus was to adopt a maximalist approach - to totally gut the terrace and start afresh.
Amongst other things, this included a visual surprise, a 'concealed' bathroom, which was completely enveloped in Winckelmans porcelain mosaics - on the floor, walls AND ceiling, creating an almost underwater grotto ambience. It featured the Gemstone design in Azurite designed by Scott Weston himself, in collaboration with Olde English Tiles.
The narrow front verandah has likewise been given a mosaic makeover using the Ogi-Kabuki pattern in black, white & dark grey penny rounds, again from the Designer Series of Mosaics.
Whereas traditionally this space would be decorated with a tessellated pattern in earthy colours, this radical reinterpretation of the standard Victorian verandah serves as a foretaste of the 'postmodern' world within.
Discover the full designer series by Scott Weston.
Photographer: Nicholas Watt
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A 1920s California Bungalow located on the shores of Sydney Harbour has been beautifully restored by design firm Arent & Pyke.
By harmonising the aesthetic language of old & new and respecting the heritage decorative details, they have created a cohesiveness that flows through the house. Their approach to the selection of furnishings & finishes was to achieve a delicate balance - neither competing with the architecture nor playing it too safe.
Prime examples of this are the bathrooms, featuring bold mosaic floors, inspired both in patterns and colours by the leadlight panels of the main bathroom door and the spectacular peacock tail shaped front entry door.
The Art Nouveau-esque floral motifs of the leadlights, in shades of pink, lemon yellow, pistachio green, & sky blue, have informed the choice of mosaic patterns - 'Field of Flowers' from the Scott Weston Designer Series, and 'Central Park'. In both cases, the use of colour coordinated marble for the skirting and vanity tops reinforces the material & thematic unity of the designers' approach.
The dual leitmotifs of colour and shape, expressed through an eclectic mix of furnishings and decorative details, echoes through the home, resulting in an atmosphere of harmony and serenity without sacrificing visual drama.
Photographer: Anson Smart
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Olde English Tiles transformed an upstairs bathroom in one of Hunters Hill’s oldest homes, blending period charm with modern functionality. The homeowner selected a classic octagon and dot tile pattern for the floor, ideal for tight spaces with angles and returns. This timeless design creates continuity and a sense of openness, perfect for preserving the home's heritage.
For the walls, hand-glazed, undulating-edge blue tiles were paired with custom-sprayed rambling rose embossed tiles and topped with a country capping in teal. Our hand-glazing process ensures bespoke colors with depth and authenticity, unmatched by mass production.
The bathroom was finished with elegant English-made tapware and fittings, adding sophistication and durability.
With Olde English Tiles, you’re not just choosing tiles—you’re choosing craftsmanship, authenticity, and timeless design tailored to your vision. For period renovations, the difference is in the details.
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The bathroom of a one bedroom apartment in Balmain was in serious need of an update. Built in the late 1950s, a period of economic austerity, bathrooms were viewed as a space providing basic necessities, and nothing more. Fast forward to today, and we are far more style conscious. We view the bathroom as an integral part of the home's aesthetic.
With that in mind, the owners made several key decisions to improve the look and functionality of their small bathroom. By removing the bath and replacing it with a hobless, frameless shower, plus virtually invisible 'smart' floor wastes, they created a more free-flowing space which allowed for the inclusion of a wall-hung vanity.
By choosing the Astoria pattern from our Classic Mosaic range, with its strong diagonals, the result is a visually larger room. We also recommended they combine this timeless floor pattern with 200x50mm gloss white 'finger' tiles, which were vertically stack bonded - a common laying format of the era.
The final result is a light, bright, stylishly practical and easy maintenance bathroom that will still look good in 60years time.
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"The owner of this home on Sydney's lower north shore was keen to reinstate the original mosaic pattern including border on the verandah of her gracious turn-of-the century house. Original mosaic verandah Cremorne – Olde English Tiles™
Her unwavering commitment to authenticity continued into the bathroom & en-suite. She opted for 150x150mm vanilla wall tiles with hand-glazed capping, trim and skirting in brown, combined with the Algonquin 25 mosaic pattern in white, charcoal & havane for the floor. She was seeking a timeless, classic look - and she certainly achieved it."
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The owners of this two bedroom California Bungalow semi on Sydney's lower north shore wanted to redo the bathroom to bring it more in line with the Art Deco styling of the house's interior. Such houses typically have small bathrooms and small windows which provide poor natural light during the day. By electing to go all white, with just a hint of black in the mosaic floor - a custom version of the Tiffany 25 hexagon, and by positioning the mirror next to the window thereby increasing the amount of light in the room, they have created a bright & airy space. The hero of the room - the custom-made vanity - adds a touch of warmth and an abundance of style
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This airy French Provincial style bathroom boasts our Olde English 100 pattern in a feathery light colour scheme of soft creams and bright whites.
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The epitome of heritage meets contemporary, this bathroom evokes the nostalgia of yesteryear whilst remaining proudly rooted in the present. A free-standing bathtub and modern sanitaryware pair beautifully with our famous Glasgow tessellated floor, making this bathroom a fresh take on a vintage classic.
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This black and white checkerboard floor captures the essence of heritage. The feature wall tiles are a subtle nod to the Art Deco era and round off the space to create a very classic, timeless aesthetic.
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The Paddington floor tiles add elegance to this stylish Cronulla bathroom and are complemented beautifully by a simple white subway wall tile.
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A Glasgow pattern and Norwood border create a chic feel and timeless finish at this beautiful Kingsford home. The simple white subway tile on the walls complete the look.
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The classic Olde English III pattern and white subway wall tiles give this bathroom a timeless and chic look and feel.
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The York pattern in this gorgeous French Provincial style bathroom creates charm from a bygone era. The white subway wall tiles beautifully frame the room.
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The Toorak continuous pattern and border breathe warmth onto the floors of this heritage home in Sydney's North. The classic poppies tile on the wall combined with a simple white tile, complete the look.
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Bold and sophisticated, the Bristol border perfectly frames the Deco panel on the floor in this art deco bathroom. The Waldorf art deco tile pairs beautifully with white subway tiles on the walls and accentuate the overall look and feel.
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Despite the boldness of the floor pattern - the Newcastle combined with a Norwood border, the overall feeling of this en-suite is one of restrained elegance, achieved by employing a restricted colour palette, the centrally positioned claw-foot bath, and balance - a design principle that never goes out of date.
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Following a massive $57.5 million renovation, the Australian Museum has officially reopened to the public. The heritage-listed building is the oldest museum in Australia and the 5th oldest natural history museum in the world.
Closed for 15 months, the museum has undergone a major transformation by firms COX Architecture and Neeson Murcutt + Neille, with improved and expanded exhibition and public spaces (over 3000sqm), including education rooms, museum shop, cafe & amenities (toilets). The dramatic floor tiles in the public toilets were supplied by Olde English Tiles; the pattern is the Killara in white, dark blue & light blue.
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This light-filled bathroom harks back to the aesthetically lavish era of the roaring Art Deco years. A delicately ornate mosaic feature floor, coupled with an organic-edge wall tile, ceremoniously marries heritage pizzazz with modern cleanliness, for a fresh, character-filled finish.
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When our clients decided that they needed to improve their dated and impractical bathrooms, including main, en-suite & guest WC, the brief was for something essentially modern, functional, low maintenance, but with a classic timelessness. Consequently they chose mosaics for the floors - the Ritz pattern in black and super white, combined with 300 x 100mm matt white wall tiles stack bonded for a more contemporary feel. Timber vanities and brushed gold tapware add warmth, while circular mirrors & basins contrast with the strong diagonal grid of the floor. The result is a fresh, modern, organic feel adding to a functional streamlined look with just the faintest hint of Deco. These bathrooms certainly add style, comfort and value to this family's Hills District home.
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The Monte Carlo 2 tile creates a classic look and feel in this Glebe bathroom and is beautifully accentuated by the brass bathroom fixtures.
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This classic & chic bathroom was a part of a complete home renovation. With a dark Glasgow floor and combination of subway & decorative feature tiles on the walls, we think it's winner.
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The Lillie Middle encaustic pattern is the focal point in this beautiful Bronte bathroom. It's complimented by classic bathroom fixtures and white subway wall tiles.
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The Toorak pattern at the Queen Victoria Building evokes the building's traditional feel and makes for a memorable bathroom visit.