Decorating Around Garish Bathroom Tiles: Using Color to Enhance Existing Ceramic Tiles

At some point in everyone’s life they will invariably come up against what seems to be an impossible task, decorating around something that is impossible or just too expensive to replace. For those who have been around for a while, we have experienced and survived the avocado green and harvest goal appliances, heart pine paneling, and routed cabinet doors. One of the most daunting tasks is dealing with ceramic tile colors left over from the sixties and early seventies. How can you possibly work around something as expensive to replace as ceramic tile? A few simple suggestions should help make the task a bit easier.

In the late nineteen eighties, I moved into a church manse built by the members in the early sixties. The workmanship was excellent, but had become very dated. Unfortunately, the color for the master bath was pink. Pink ceramic walls, floors, fixtures, and even pink paint left the room a bit over whelming.

Since tearing out and replacing tile and plumbing fixtures were way beyond the budget, the solution was simply to work around the things that could not be changed. Recent product offerings claim to be able to paint ceramic tiles effectively, but the result does not impress. The work around for this bathroom was centered on creating interest not related to the pink tile and fixtures.

Since paint alone would not create the different look I was going for, I decided to look at wallpapering the walls above the ceramic tile to create interest and introduce some new elements into the room. Wallpaper is a great way to give texture, variety, and depth. The pink tile, at least, had an advantage over other colors such as avocado green. In the sense that coordinating colors such as hunter green, burgundy, and darker blues go well and give other avenues to lessen the effect of the outdated color. I selected a floral print with burgundy, mauve, and green highlights for the paper. For a small room the flowers should not be too large or too busy.

The next issue to consider is the vanity cabinet itself. Refinishing a wooden vanity or replacing it with a free standing vanity cabinet could be a nice option. If the plumbing fixtures are a unique color and you have, as I did in the manse, a colored sink, you are stuck with keeping the old sink. In that case, simply refinish the vanity and add new hardware. It the tile is light, opt for a dark finished cabinet. A cherry or cognac color will form a rich back drop. Also consider adding a granite vanity top. While under mounting the sink is a nice addition, if you are using an existing sink this might not be an option.

Thoroughly cleaning the ceramic tile during the updating process will breathe new life into the room. Several available products are available for this purpose. Windex or another window cleaner will also work well and leave a nice shine. However, never use any product with ammonia to clean granite or wood cabinets as the ammonia way harm the finish of both.

Finally, add accessories to the bathroom that highlight the colors other than the ceramic color. When combined with the wallpaper and new counter tops, visitors will hardly notice that the ceramic color is outdated and the changes will certainly help to give a crisp new look to old tile.