The summer holidays are well under way and this part of London is like ghost town, I can now drive to the office in half the time it takes me during term time. With families making the most of school holidays and me counting the days to our trip to Scilly at the end of the month it got me to thinking about our summer influences. As a child we would be piled into the back of the family volvo and dragged from Brittany down the west coast of France in search of adventure. I remember those times fondly and wonder what influence visiting beautifully ramshackled French villages had on my idea of taste and esthetic. There are certaining worse places to be influenced by! I am currently working on a renovation project in Queens Park and we are at the stage of designing the bathrooms. The clients like a minimal look but also want to add a little tradition to add character. So this week I've been looking at tiles. I started with the obvious traditional victorian style and have started to explore other options.

The first look I was drawn to was a faded French style fleur-de-lis ideal to add history and style on a floor without adding too much boldness. I found a beautiful tile shown below that adds enough interest without being overpowering. Perfect for a romantic and subtle look but prehaps not right for this project.

I felt this was a little too rustic for these clients so the search continued. To another French inspired tile apply named the Jaques from the Boulangerie range at Fired Earth. This tile has just the right amount of colour to pair with a wall tile without claiming all the attention. This tile sites beautifully alongside the Green park metro tile also from Fired Earth. I chose the 20cm x 5cm skinny metro to be worked in a herringbone pattern on the rear shower wall to add interest and the rest of the walls would be a large format grey tile to blend with the wall colour.