by S. Bates

Created on: October 31, 2008

Mosaic style decorating will never die. It has been around for eons. There are so many different ways to incorporate a mosaic in your home. Mosaic style can be anything from tiles, stained glass, paper, paint, rocks, wood; anything can be used as separate pieces to make a design. Your overall design or picture should just be a bunch of pieces put together to create one.

Most of us are more familiar with tiles, large or small, on floors, walls, in pictures, on furniture. The list is only limited by your imagination. And information and examples are everywhere, just look around you, you will see something in mosaic style. Look at the floor your probably standing on. If its put together in pieces, such as tile, it is a mosaic.

For decorating in a home, or building, you will see smaller versions in pictures, tops of tables, back splashes on walls. These are all put together with smaller pieces of any kind of material to form a pleasing picture or pattern.

When using ceramic tile, small pieces, either in regular or irregular sizes and shapes, can be glued or cemented to just about anything. You determine the design, fill it in with different colors to create the pattern. It's best to let this dry overnight. You can then come back and use a grout, found at any home improvement store, to fill in the cracks around your pieces. Using a very lightly moist sponge, wipe any of the grout off that is on top of the tiles. Try not to wipe any grout out below the top of the tiles if you want a smooth, flat surface such as a table top. Otherwise, when you place a glass or vase, etc., on it, it could be unlevel or wobbly. If you are not going to be sitting anything on top of it, letting the grout go just a little lower in the cracks may give you a more mosaic effect. It is totally up to you.

If you desire to try using anykind of stained glass, broken shards of old dishes, anything with sharp edges, you will need to file, or grind, the edges smooth so there are no sharp edges. The same application proceedure is used unless you are applying your glass pieces to another piece of glass. Then you need to use a clear glue to first apply your pieces. You will want the light to shine through your stained glass so you have to make sure whatever you use to apply the pieces is transparent. You can then fill in with grout, even a colored grout. Already colored grout is available without mixing, or you can mix your own to whatever color you need, or want. If you have any questions about grout,

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