I recently committed (via Instagram Stories) to publish a blog post about choosing paint colors and tiles during our home renovation. I’ve since realized, now that I’m sitting down to write, that most of our painting and tiling choices were made more or less on a whim.

So here is my best effort at explaining how a blogger and an architect with quirky color tastes (the blogger slightly more quirky than the architect) stumbled through paint and tile choices while renovating an old house in Brixton. I’ll also share some lessons we learned along the way.

Paint Color Choices

We weren’t sure we would paint the outside of the house at all when we first began this renovation. But it turned out that the exterior needed waterproofing and had to be repainted no matter what, so that decision was made for us. The house was a very light gray, almost white, when we bought it, and we didn’t want to repaint it gray or white. At some point Thorsten joked that we should paint it pink and the idea stuck. The rest of our paint color choices followed in a similar fashion.

Paint colors we chose:

House exterior: “Cool Rosewater” by Plascon

Cottage exterior/kitchen cupboards: “Vista of Spring” by Duram

Bathroom interior: “Mud Slide” by Dulux

House/cottage roof: Green oxide

Front stoep + accents: Terracotta floor paint by Fired Earth

Our builder chose standard white paint for everything else.

Tile Choices

Our tiling journey began with an assortment of vintage tiles I’d been collecting over the years from Liebermann Pottery.

The Liebermann tiles inspired Thorsten’s funky bathroom design, which includes a thrifted blue sink, a vintage yellow-glass window, a vanity made of repurposed wood, and a trio of whimsical arches. One of the trickiest parts of the bathroom design turned out to be the size of the Liebermann tiles — 150×150 milimeters — which is oddly difficult to find.

The mustard-yellow tiles are from Hadeda, which imports ceramic tiles from Mexico and South America. The white tiles are by Johnson, a British company that used to have a local manufacturing operation in South Africa. However, Johnson shut down its South African operation right in the middle of our renovation and we nearly ran out of tiles before the work was done. Shout out to the staff at Union Tiles, who tracked down and sold me what may have been the last two boxes of 150×150-millimeter white Johnson tiles in all of South Africa.

Our shower floor mosaic was designed and created by Mosa Mosikidi, Gavasa Mthombeni, and Simba Mgeda — three Brixton mosaic artists who work for our neighbor, Bronwen Findlay. (Read more about our shower floor mosaic project.)

We used terracotta-colored grout throughout the bathroom. I can’t remember the brand name but I found it at Chamberlain.

Painting and Tiling Tips

1) Test paint colors beforehand.

Those tiny paint swatches from the hardware store aren’t big enough to really show what a paint color will look like. It’s imperative to buy some small samples of paint (preferably two or three shades), and paint them side-by-side on your wall before making a final decision. Even then, the final result might not look exactly how you envisioned it.

2) Don’t overthink.

There are sooooooo many color choices out there, so try not to overthink it — otherwise your walls will never get painted.

3) Make sure you buy the right type of paint.

I had no idea how confusing buying paint would be. In addition to the infinite colors, there are many different types: interior, exterior, matte, glossy, etc. (And you also need primer!) As I mentioned before, I initially bought the wrong type of paint for the bathroom and several other things, which caused a lot of unnecessary angst. Consult carefully with your contractor before buying any paint.

4) Mixing matters. Buy extra.

If you choose a non-standard paint color, the hardware store will probably have to mix it for you on-site. (At least this was the case for us.) I learned the hard way that sometimes, when you go back to buy more of the same paint color, the color comes out slightly different due to the way it was mixed. To avoid this problem, buy more paint than you think you’ll need at the outset. (You WILL need more than you think.)

5) Paint is expensive.

Be prepared to pay more than you expect for paint.

6) Check tile availability before making decisions.

Before making final decisions on tile size and color, make sure that the size and color you want are actually available in the quantity you need. This may require lots of calling around to different stores. You should buy 10-15% more tiles than you think you’ll need to allow for breakage.

7) Brief your contractors and check their work.

Brief your painters and tilers on exactly what you want. Urge them (politely) to be careful not to splatter paint, leave messes behind, etc. Do not assume they will do this on their own.

Read my previous renovation posts here, here, and here.