Studio Flat and Studio Linen in an olive kitchen

Studio Flat and Studio Linen Subway Tile run through the same olive kitchen, both laid as horizontal splashback courses above a dark benchtop. Three photographs show the long wall, the corner return, and a close view of how the Linen courses sit.

Offset courses across the long wall

Studio Flat is laid in a running bond here, each course offset from the one below, so the vertical joints stagger rather than line up. Across a wall this wide it reads as quiet horizontal banding. Light raking in from the right catches the joint lines and the shadow under the oak shelf, and little else.

Looking along the corner return

The second photograph looks along the wall at a sharp angle, the view that exposes any unevenness in a tile face. Here the courses run without ripple and the joints hold to a single straight line into the corner. The dark benchtop tracks underneath, turning with the wall at the right.

Linen at close range

Studio Linen reads warmer and creamier, with a softly varied face that only shows at this distance. The offset is the same, and where the wall turns at the right the courses carry around the corner. Against the olive fronts and the speckled dark benchtop, the cream is the lightest of the three tones.

Two off-whites this close in tone can read the same on a screen and quite differently on a wall. It is worth checking both against a physical sample, held next to your own joinery and benchtop in daylight.