In 1904, New York City planners were getting ready to open the first subway stations in the city. Worried that customers would be fearful in dark, underground spaces, they asked architects George C. Heins and Christopher Grant La Farge for a design solution, and the bright, white, glossy 3" X 6" subway tile was born. Today, the beautiful, clean subway tile look is ubiquitous and holds its own in almost any design style.

Often the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a subway tile is a white 3" X 6" in a classic horizontal arrangement. It's a timeless look, but if you'd like to push the design envelope a bit further, we've also included a few other arrangement and colour options that you might want to consider. 

Classic

A timeless and beautiful tile arrangement, the classic pattern is created by overlapping your tiles by half their length. The arrangement works really well paired with bold design elements like patterned tiles because it doesn't try to steal the show, but still offers a rich, durable texture to your wall. We think this Candlestick White subtle brick look is going to be a classic choice for many years to come! 

Another option for the classic arrangement is to lay the tiles against a contrasting grout – either a light tile with dark grout, or the opposite. Keep in mind that this creates a busier look, but can be great for spaces where the rest of the design elements are a bit more muted.

Herringbone

Herringbone continues to be one of the most popular arrangements in both floor and wall tile layouts. The zig-zag pattern is a modern and stunning visual effect. It also creates interest to the space and can help guide the eye. To reinforce vertical lines in kitchens with a high ceiling, a classic herringbone layout for the kitchen backsplash can work really well. For smaller kitchens with less vertical wall space, a horizontal herringbone could help accentuate the breadth of the space. We've seen this pattern rise for floor installations as well! Below is a photo of our Clay Chalk 11" x 2.75" tiles. 

Stack

Stack tiling is easy on the eyes with its clean lines. The tiles are simply aligned with each other and placed in repetitive grids. It’s a great arrangement for minimalist interior spaces and those with prominent rectilinear forms. A particular favourite of ours is a vertically stacked arrangement using an elongated subway tile, such as our Candlestick (Grey pictured below), which can give a beautiful effect similar to long-panel Wainscotting. We've been seeing this pattern installed more and more lately. For more inspiration with this shape we have launched our Keys collection & Stack Mosaics! 

Basketweave

Basketweave bears resemblance to a woven basket at a 90-degree angle. The effect is created by laying the subway tiles in groups that create square blocks. The number of tiles in a block depends on the ratio of the length to the width of the tiles. For a standard 3” X 6” tile, you’d need two tiles laid side-by-side to create a square, since the tile is twice as long as it is wide. For an elongated subway like our 10” X 2.5” Matisse Blue, four tiles would create your square like the photo below. The weave is achieved by placing the next square block at a 90 degree rotation, and repeating the pattern across the wall.

Here are a couple more...

Step Ladder: Very similar to the 45 degree Herringbone, this arrangement is possible when the ratio of the length to width of the tile is exactly 2:1. Two rectangular subway tiles are attached to form an ‘L’ shape first, and then overlapped with other 'L's to create a moving ladder effect – definitely a great way to elevate a space!

English Bond: a row-by-row alternation of two different sizes of subway tiles. You can also just use a single size of tile and cut it to use in your shorter-length rows. The classic English bond pattern keeps the shorter tile at approximately half the width of the longer ones, but we believe it can entirely be up to your creativity!