Home and FamilyCreating Patterns With Mosaics
The different ways that mosaic tiles are used. You can design beautiful patterns and use them in many different ways.
The ancient art of mosaics is now used in modern homes in showers and on certain floor areas. This style can add a lot of color and interest to a room and you can find a wide variety of shapes, layouts, colors and textures to use. You can really make a room be different and stand out with the right use of mosaics. Many people use mosaic tile to create a combination of decor/art work, for instance a beautiful mosaic pattern as a backdrop on a kitchen wall tile.
Mosaic tiles are fashioned with small ridges on the back so that the glue can adhere and they will bond better. Mosaic tiles can be made of ceramic, stone or glass. The kind of glass used in mosaics, however, is not the ordinary glass that is sharp once cut. It is a vitreous glass that is closer to stone, and is opaque rather than as clear as glass. If you have decided to decorate with mosaics, you should make sure you work with tools and materials specifically made for mosaic work. There are specialized cutters for mosaics made from glass-you cannot use regular tile snips because they will not cut them as accurately. Many times you will see mosaic tiles made of ceramic used in architecture, since they are inexpensive and easily cut. Another often used type of mosaic tile is broken pieces of china or other dinnerware. These are difficult to work with since ceramic pieces are difficult to break, and therefore have very sharp edges when broken. Mosaic tiles will frequently be pre-designed and attached to a mesh made of fiberglass to keep the design intact. In this way, it can be glued all in one piece to keep the pattern intact. You can separate the tiles if you need to, by soaking them in warm water, which will cause the tiles to come free of the mesh.
Floors are not the only surf act where you will see mosaic tiles. Tabletops with mosaic designs are very lovely and can make a piece of furniture a true work of art. And of course, swimming pools are lined with mosaic tiles, sometimes just in a simple pattern, but sometimes with a design worked into them that can be seen through the water.