I think when most people walk into a mid century bathroom and see the ubiquitous square pink tiles, they cringe. There was probably I time when I did as well. These days, I’m really drawn to the color pink. It just makes me happy. I’ve been meaning to paint the small bathroom off my bedroom for a long time. Since I’m the only one who uses this bathroom, I didn’t hesitate to pick this color. When I saw an adorable sink backsplash featuring tiles designed by Emu Tiles on Instagram, I thought it would be fun to make a cool little backsplash for my sink too. Plus, I’m always looking for ways to use these mini tiles.

Thank you Susan Yeley Homes for posting these photos on Instagram.

It’s so cool to finally see all the monkey tiles that I made last year getting installed in their new home. I remember being nervous about the consistency of finish as I unloaded the kiln. There was a fair amount of variation due to when tiles were dipped (the glaze got thicker as I went along) and where the tiles were located in the kiln (centrally placed tiles were hotter and glossier). There’s no way I could match the consistency of the computer rendering but I think the installer, Instile, has done a nice job of interspersing lights and darks to create a beautiful surface.

I’ve been wanting to do this project since we moved to the North Beach neighborhood in 2015. It’s been really fun getting back into tessellations and color after a year of doing almost exclusively black and white sgraffito tiles. It took awhile to figure out the best way to install the tiles on our bumpy stucco garage but I think the cement board was a good choice. The installation went very smoothly. I’m starting to think about ideas for another panel on the opposite side of the door.