More metro love

aris metro tiles, kilometers of which make up commuters' daily landscapes, are now a hot home decor item. Who would have thought? You can make your bath or backsplash look like a subway corridor. Huh. Most Parisians would give anything not to be reminded of their quotidian schlep through the slender labyrinths which connect the underbelly of the capital.

It's the bevelled edge which gives these tiles their distinctive and recognizable look.



The bevelling (and I may be making that word up) allows light to bounce around much more effectively than light on a regular flat-plane tile. You need as much light as you can create in those subways, so bevelling is good.

Some metro stations have really ugly 60s tiles, like La Motte Piquet Grenelle. And they are not even bevelled, which is probably a blessing.




There's a building on rue Vavin that is all metro-tiled. It was done before this was so hipstery.



(not my photo; taken off the internet)
I think I'll incorporate some metro tiles into my next home decor project, though I'll abstain from doing the entire facade of the house.