Grout Expectations: Ways to Play With Tinted Paste

When Tamsen Chislett and her husband Max Lines decided to renovate the lower ground floor of their Victorian terrace in the London borough of Islington, the brief to Office S&M was simple: they weren’t to use gray anywhere in the home. The result is a joyful mash-up of vibrant color and bold architectural forms that is at odds with the grayness so often associated with London. Case in point: The marbled countertops in the ground-floor bathroom are by Smile Plastics, a company that melts and reuses discarded milk bottles and chopping boards, and cheery yellow grout outlines the white tiles cladding the floors and walls.