But owing to production methods that were lost or forgotten over time, ceramic floor tiles didn’t become prevalent in the United States until the Victorian era. Tracing TileĬeramic tiles have existed for thousands of years-in fact, archaeologists have unearthed numerous mosaic floors beneath the ashes at Pompeii.

Take a page from history’s rich offerings of tile designs to find a perfect, and appropriate, match-up for your bathroom, no matter how understated or complex your home’s architecture. The restored bathroom in an 1894 house boasts a complex mosaic floor that resembles a richly detailed rug.ĭon’t let flooring selections derail your restoration project. Often they boast spot-on period fixtures, faucets, lights, and medicine cabinets, but are accompanied by a floor that looks as though it belongs in a 1950s science fiction movie-or worse yet, in the summer palace of an Italian baron. Unfortunately, we’ve all seen them-restored bathrooms that almost got the details right.

Mosaic tile house