Tile up the Atmosphere in Your House

Many people nowadays tend to find new ways to decorate their houses. In the western countries, you can find decorations made out of old newspapers. You can read about the invasion on Libya while you drink your morning coffee. There is just this tiny, insignificant detail – thenewspaper is your wallpaper, and you are reading the news by watching the wallpaper. Besides this, I simply love those walls where people let an artist play with the paint. It really is eye-candy. However, sometimes you can just turn to the older methods of decoration and add something new in there.

Let's focus on mosaics. It has been an art for over a thousand years so far. People would just gather small pieces of stones, painted in different colors, and they would make wonders with it. But throughout history, the houses decorated with mosaics were those of rich people, aristocracy and noblemen. However, nowadays, although this kind of decoration is a bit more expensive, it is affordable by almost anyone who can afford the decorating a house in the first place. Now, you are probably doing a little revising in your head concerning the last mosaic you saw in one of your neighbor’s houses, but it seems that you can't vividly recall. Let me help you. Have you entered their bathroom? All those colorful tiles placed there, making a figure of some kind – that’s the form of mosaic art. As you know, not many bathrooms nowadays have simple white tiles, but rather painted ones that are combined together to look more impressive and more interesting.

However, what if I tell you that the mosaics made of tiles can be used all around the house and not just in bathrooms? There are different materials from which tiles can be made of: stainless steel, stone or even glass. With this kind of tiles, you can now easily decorate your living room, kitchen or even your bedroom. Now, you might wonder what is the purpose of placing tiles, when you can just put wallpaper there, or you can just paint on your walls. Well there are several things that I want to focus on when it comes to decorating with tiles.

First of all, let’s focus on protection. If you decide to decorate your kitchen with the tiles made of stainless steel, you will, first of all, get durability. As the name suggests, this kind of tiles can last for long, and many people choose this option, because they want their decoration to last. Stainless steel is very hygienic, because stainless steel is said to be a very clean material. If you, for example, prefer glass tiles over the other types, I can say that they are really easy to clean, because dirt is easier to spot. They do belong to the „more durable” ones, although they are not as durable as the ones made out of stainless steel, logically. If you can't decide which one to choose, there is also the third option – glass combined with stainless steel tiles. Some web-sites on the internet provide you with this kind of service. They combine the durability of stainless steel tiles and the beauty and cleanliness of glass ones, thus providing you with the ultimate mosaic tile pattern. There is also one more possibility – stone tiles. And, I think that it is not necessary to describe the properties of this kind of tiles. I'll just remind you that stone was one of the first materials used by people to build shelter.

There is the second aspect, when it comes to placing tiles in your house – design. Glass tiles, for example, are pretty luminous and can lighten up the atmosphere in the room. They tend to stress the light in the room and can be very relaxing for the human eye. I cannot tell you which is the best room to put this kind of tiles in – they simply fit everywhere. You can put them in your bedroom and wake up with glorious lighting in front of your eyes, or you can put them in your garden and amaze neighbors with the powerful glow that your home gives off. Glass tiles can also be placed in your pool or in your bathroom. Although that seems like a cliché, sometimes it is much more than that. Sometimes well placed mosaic tiles become art. Stainless steel is usually placed in kitchens and bathrooms, but with the new era in art, people have started experimenting and placing the tiles all over the house. And stainless steel can both give you the sense of light and a friendly atmosphere or a sense of a dark and gloomy one. So, if you are one of those people who prefer solitude over friendship, and who actually enjoy darkness, stainless steel can be an ideal solution for you. Finally, stone tiles can make you feel like you live in a medieval castle, or like you live on the USS Enterprise, exploring space – the final frontier. The possibilities are unlimited with glass mixed metal mosaics, you just need to use your imagination and have a certain perception of reality.

You can always Google more for this kind of decoration – it is not something new – but the approach itself is changing rapidly nowadays and more and more people are getting interested in this kind of decoration as an art form. There are people whose job is to overcome this basic usage of tiles as protection and who make art out of them. You may not require their special services if you are skillful enough and if your imagination is powerful enough. However, if you are new to this type of art, it is always necessary to consult someone with more experience.

To sum up, tiles that form a mosaic are not only popular in bathrooms anymore. With the 21st century come 21 (and more) ways of placing tiles in other rooms in your house, not only as protection but also as decoration. You may try different materials and in different rooms, and although it seems at first that there are only several options, the combinations are basically limitless. Every material has its own perks and flaws, and every material is unique in its special way.

Changing Yourself Means Changing You and the Things around You

Many people get bored at one point at their lives, knowing that some kind of change is inevitable. That is why women sometimes dye their hair, change their hairstyles or even go and tattoo themselves. That is also the reason why men change their vehicles, change their hairstyle or even go and tattoo themselves. Yes, I know that there are things in common that both men and women do in order to make some important change in their lives. You will notice, however, that these changes always have something to do with styles. So, here is a proposition: instead of changing your body and appearance, it is much better to change your surroundings. But this word – surroundings – sounds like a very broad term, and when I say it, I mean your home in particular. Our body and our clothes sure do represent who and what we are, but the second most important things that define us as individuals are our homes. (Maybe, our Facebook profile can come somewhere in between these two, but that is a topic for some other time.)

There are many ways to decorate your home. But the first thing that probably comes to your mind when I say decoration is probably those colorful New Year decorations. Well, I'm talking more serious stuff here. Maybe decoration is just the wrong word, so from now on I will say „home design“. There are people who have degrees in this particular job. Although it sounds easy, it is really much more than that. I'm definitely not one of those guys, but I will try to explain as well as I can the importance of this particular activity. Furthermore, I will focus only on one of them, which is the topic of this article. This kind of home design is called mosaic.

Have you ever seen the sun in your room?

Let me explain this title. Namely, there are certain mosaics that are made of tiles. Now, the term tiles is also a broad one. But the kinds of tiles we are talking about here are the ones that are similar to the ones you have in your bathroom. The only thing that differs is that these kinds of tiles used for mosaics can be made out of different materials. Their shape can also change a bit, and they need not necessarily be square-shaped. But, when we talk of materials, I feel the need to mention a few. There are tiles made of glass, stainless steel, wood or even stone. But the ones I like to talk about in this paragraph are those made of glass. The tiles made of glass are very specific because they are transparent. Mosaics that are made with this type are very stylish and sophisticated. When you put this kind of mosaic towards the sunshine, it can literally reflect it and have this beautiful glow to give off. That is the explanation to the title of this paragraph. So, if you are a type of person that enjoys sunshine and likes summer and hot weather, this is the right choice for you. Since I started this article with changes that will tell a slightly different story about ourselves, I can wholeheartedly say that the glass mosaic will present you as an extrovert, fun seeking and party loving person, who enjoys every bit of his life and dares not miss any opportunity that comes his way. It also says that you have simple taste and needs and that hedonism is your primary objective in life.

What will stainless steel say about you?

The second kinds of tiles I'm going to write about are stainless steel tiles, as the subtitle suggests. Now, they might not reflect the sunshine as the first one, but they certainly are very fashionable. Stainless steel mosaics are also very adaptable, because you can fit them practically everywhere. You can either put it in your bedroom and enjoy the beauty of it, or you can, for example, put it in your front yard and share the beauty with all the other neighbors and guests. It's all up to you. Now let's get to the part where this kind of mosaic defines your character. Stainless steel can certainly represent you in two completely different ways. If your room is dark and you add them to that dark room – this will say that you are an introvert who likes spending his time at home. You like reading books and watching movies. You do not have many friends, but those you have are very good ones. You like going to parties, but your favorite part is the one where you meet people outside the club, where the music is not that loud. On the other hand, if you fit stainless steel mosaic in, for example, a white room, with a lot of bright colors, that will say that you are a family person and that you like spending quality time with people that you are really close to. It may also say that you enjoy simple things in life, and that you find joy in interesting sports and hobbies. Believe it or not, stainless steel mosaics fit perfectly in a living-room with a fireplace and wooden, vintage furniture. But, then again, it is up to you to decide how are you going to place it and what message would you like to send to your friends.

There are, of course, several materials I haven’t written about and I hope that you became just a little bit more interested in this topic. But after all, if you are reading this article that means that you have internet connection. Therefore, Google it – there is a lot to read about on this topic, and that way you can also learn a lot about sending a message through the design of your house. Just remember, the most important thing in the world is who you are as an individual, and that is not achieved if you do not define yourself through the style of you and your surroundings.

The Feeling within You that can be woken up by the Art of Mosaic

Art has always been the most powerful thing that can play with emotions of people as well as with their sense of beauty. There is a whole branch in philosophy that is called „aesthetics“ which studies the ways we perceive beauty in things and people. As the ages change so does art and the approach that an artist makes becomes different, although the techniques do not change - just develop. There are, of course, some newer arts such as film or comic books, but the old ones are the ones I want to talk about. To be more specific, I want to write about mosaics and how they are used to decorate homes. I must warn you, I'm no expert at mosaics whatsoever, but I did a little research, in order to understand what is the purpose of it and how can it be fit into today’s homes.

As I've mentioned in the introduction, the approach to art changes almost daily. A mosaic is also the part of this never-ending process. When it was invented as a form of art, artist used to gather small colored stones in order to build a picture. Although this material is still popular, people are finding new ones on a daily basis in order to make mosaics more unique. My friend, who is an artist himself, was collecting buttons from different shirts for five years and then he made a mosaic out of them. After that he simply made millions of small crunched colorful papers and later made another masterpiece. But then this expansion came, where mosaics suddenly became popular as a part of a house and home decoration. Many possibilities are available, but I'm going to concentrate and present only one of them – mosaics made of tiles. It may sound strange at first, but just look at your bathroom. The colorful tiles are probably making some sort of shapeless figure and enhance the pleasure of being in there. Just imagine how would it be if you are to transfer this kinds of mosaics into other parts of your house.

The kind of steel that never goes out of date

If you were to place a mosaic in, for example, your living room, the marble tiles that you use for your bathroom may not be the smartest choice. As I have mentioned, the approach has changed, and with the approach so have the materials. One of the possible materials that tiles for mosaics can be made of is stainless steel. Namely, stainless steel is said to last for eternity, but it is not its primary feature. When combined into a mosaic, tiles made of stainless steel can have a very sophisticated look. It can fit in almost every kind of living room, and can send both the message of a warm home that welcomes every guest and a modern one for a small isolated family. It is up to you to choose how you would like to fit it into the living room. The best feature of this kind of mosaics is that they never rust, as the name suggests. Cleaning it is important, but it will take you much less time than, for example, cleaning marble tiles in your bathroom. Stainless steel tiles can be very cold or very warm when you touch them, and that depends on the temperature level in your room. Since steel is a very bad conductor of temperature, it tends to keep the same temperature for a very long period of time.

Mosaic as a window to your soul

Now, you might wonder what kind of silly title is this. Well, believe it or not, there are mosaics that are made only of glass. Each tile is designed with a special technique that involves a lot of effort and sleepless nights, and each one is carefully measured and shaped so that they will give off the feeling of transparency. These kinds of tiles are not always square shaped - they can also have more of an oval form. When they are fit into a mosaic they simply shine. If you do not believe me, just put your mosaic against the window on the east, and when the sun starts to rise, and the light touches the mosaic, it will simply start to glow with this magnificent simplicity and style. I recommend putting this kind of mosaic in bedroom, although if you are not a morning person, this morning „glow“ can be a bit of a problem for you. On the other hand, if you like and enjoy sunny mornings, this is just the thing to do. Finally, these kinds of tiles look magnificent when you put them into a swimming pool (keep in mind though that if you do chose to put them in a pool, make sure that the pool is not filled with saltwater, since it can damage the tiles). If you combine it with neon lights, you will be able to make those playboy like parties that everyone dreams about. Just imagine it...

Two is always better than one

If you are one of those indecisive people, and you can't choose whether to put glass or stainless steel mosaic into your room, there is the third option for you. Glass and steel can be combined and an even more spectacular and magnificent effect can be achieved. You can have a bit of both – the glow of the morning sun and the style and endurance of stainless steel. However, if you are about to choose this option, I recommend to consult someone who already has some experience with home design, or even better – glass mixed metal mosaics. These kinds of decoration are not really expensive, but they certainly can't be very cheap. So, if you are about to spend money on this, do it wisely. Of course, you should also consult Google – the ultimate know-it-all. You should consult Google for everything, in fact.

To sum up, art can wake up the most sublime and the most powerful feelings in a human. You may not be aware of this, but art is all around you – even in your house. If you are to follow the flow of this river, I strongly recommend getting at least one mosaic made of tiles, because it is one of the latest and very popular kinds of art, and many people nowadays choose it to decorate their home this way.

Let me Take You to the World of Modern Art

I am no expert when it comes to home decoration and other issues that involve style and taste. However, I made a thorough research on the net and found out a lot of interesting data that helped me decorate my home as best as I can and trust me, there are several aspects you should take into account, when it comes to home decoration. The comfort comes first. You don't want your home to look beautiful and to be total eye-candy, if your body cannot enjoy it. After comfort comes the usage of it. Let's face it, it is much better to have a sculpture that is a fountain at the same time, and you use it to drink water from it, than just a sculpture that stands in the corner of your room. However, this is totally optional. Finally, the look of the certain piece of decoration is taken into account. You should always pay attention what you put and where, because an ugly home, however comfortable, will not be appealing to the people who visit. Of course, there are some eastern techniques, such as feng-shui, that combine beauty and comfort, but they are mostly based on beliefs that are not really scientifically proven.

The art ages old gets a new form. Place tiles all over your house.

What I really want to focus on is the art of placing tiles and making mosaics out of them. You have probably seen on the television those big mosaics made out of small stones. Well, I'm not really talking about that kind of mosaic, but a more modern form. Tiles are nowadays produced in many materials, and each material has its own advantages and disadvantages, but we will talk about that, later. First of all I want to ask you this – where do you think you can place your mosaic made of tiles? Well, believe it or not – everywhere. There are tiles in the bathroom, and that is nothing new. Yours probably has tiles. However, you can take that to the next level of creativity and style and, for example, use painted tiles in your bathroom instead of boring one-colored ones. That way you will enjoy yourself more whilst using the bathroom and you will break the monotony that can sometimes be a feature of this part of the house. Now, lets move on to the other rooms.

Bedrooms can be very interesting if mosaic tiles are added there. There are the ones made of glass which literally glow if the light in the room is vivid. Can you imagine the feeling of waking up and facing the glowing mosaic made out of glass tiles. It is indeed like heaven on earth, and you just woke on the cloud that floats on the surface made of sunshine.

How about living room? I know it sounds weird at first, but there are people who add mosaic tiles even there. Tiles made of stainless steel can have a very calming effect, and its color fits almost every style of living-room. Whether you enjoy those old fashioned living rooms with a fireside and two rocking chairs, or you prefer those modern ones with big TVs and a lot of electronic devices, mosaics made of tiles will fit everywhere, especially those made out of stainless steel.

Finally, you can even take the decoration outside. If you live in a house and have a yard, and you don’t know how to decorate it, I suggest that you place mosaics. Of course, watch out that it fits the rest of the house when talking about design. My favorite one was the thing that my neighbor did with tiles. He placed them at the bottom of his swimming pool. He added some lighting beside it and it had this amazing glow even during the night.

A word or two concerning the materials out of which tiles are made

As the title suggests, and as I have mentioned before, tiles can be made out of several different materials. All of them have certain qualities that make them special in their own way. But whichever one you choose, it is important that the design itself possess certain quality. Because, believe me, I have stumbled upon very fragile ones which were literally breaking under the slightest pressure of my hands. You certainly do not wish your mosaic to fall apart after a week. Therefore, durability is very important. Now when it comes to stainless steel, durability is not in question at all. These kinds of tiles tend to last for decades and they do not even rust, as the name suggests. They are also not very difficult to maintain – you may need to clean it maybe once or twice a month, just to remove the dust and make sure that you can see your reflection in them.

There are also tiles made of stone. Now you have probably seen these more often than those made of stainless steel, but if the approach to combining them into a mosaic is unique, they can be pretty interesting. Although their durability is not as good as the durability of steel tiles, it is good enough if you pay attention

Finally there are tiles made of glass, which I, also, have mentioned before. Although you may think that this kind is the most fragile, it is not so. Namely, these kinds of tiles are designed so that the glass is so thick, it is almost impossible to break them.

To sum up, colors and styles are all mixed-up nowadays as the art suggests. Therefore, people have taken tiles from bathrooms and started placing them all around the house. Little by little it became an art on its own – the art of mosaic tiles. Although it existed long before, this approach is new, and these mosaics fit in each and every room. There are different materials to choose from, and different shapes and figures to be made out of tiles, all according to your own taste.

Ah, the Dreadful Cleaning

Have you ever been too tired of cleaning your house? Oh, isn't that a stupid question – of course you have! It's like that with everybody. The bigger the house, the more space and comfort for you, the more rooms for people, and so on and so forth, but also the more work there is when it comes to cleaning. You really can’t get around it. It has to be done, eventually. But procrastination is the mother of all work! That’s a joke and don’t support it, since it won’t do you well, even though it’s very tempting.

However, cleaning can become fun if you want it, no matter how much it’s tiresome and boring. Well, you can’t just wish for it to happen and expect some supernatural entity to respond, you have to work on it. You have to have a positive attitude about it. Frankly speaking, an attitude towards things is very important. You can make anything become fun if you are positive and optimistic about it. It’s really not that hard actually.

Start off with some music, for example. You can never get bored and tired whilst listening to your favorite band. And while you listen, you can still do things, like cleaning... Yes, cleaning of course – I have been talking about it since the start. Working while listening to music, yes, that can be good. And if you think that that will make you start hating your favorite band, don’t think like that – positive attitude, remember? It’s the key to all this and much, much more.

If music isn't enough, then, well, I don’t know what else can be. Because there isn't much you can do while you’re cleaning, as you know, it tends to employ most of your body. Your ears are kind of the only thing left that isn't doing anything. You can try watching television, but unless you have a TV on every corner, I doubt that you’ll be able to clean and watch it at the same time.

Oh, but look at me, being all negative and pessimistic, even though I told you how important a positive attitude can be. But that part about TV is just me being realistic – no pessimism involved there “unfortunately”. It would be great if you were able to watch your telly and work at the same time. However, since you can’t, you have to think about other things that can amuse you while you work. I gave you one example; I think that’s enough from me.

On the other hand, you can try avoiding cleaning whatsoever! Yes, it’s possible – not entirely, but at least to some degree. And by this I mean that you should look at getting things that don’t become dirty easily, or at least they get dirty but a bit less than regular stuff.

For example, don’t go with black furniture, especially black tables and such. No other color points out the dust and everything else possible as black does. Even if there’s not much dust, it sticks out and it really can’t go unnoticed. It’s a shame really, as this type of furniture is one the best looking ones. I’m sure you would agree. So, in this case, you have to choose: either you have the best furniture and clean it all the time, or you get some different furniture, the one that doesn't get dusty as much, and you don’t clean it a lot. It’s your decision.

When it comes to cleaning the house most of us momentarily think about the bathroom and kitchen, since these are the rooms that need the most cleaning and are the ones that get dirty much more than other parts of the house. Many can’t even do it, like me, so they get their partners, roommates, or even a cleaning lady to do it. This problem will, however, never go away, and it has to be done. So I've started implementing the idea I've been giving you all this time – a positive attitude. And, thankfully, it helped. It still disgusts me a lot, but it’s more manageable than before.

Yet, here as well, you can get a sink, toilet, bathtub, which doesn't get dirty as much as regular kinds. But besides this, there’s another thing more important. The walls, especially the ones in the bathroom, and the tiles on them, can get much more dirty and can even rust, at least the parts in between – you know what I’m talking about – and this cause more problems and more work than the rest of the bathroom altogether.

However, as always, there is a solution for this as well. Maybe it’s not what you would expect, but it does the trick. It did for me. I got those stainless steel tiles which are amazing and have solved the rust problem and the cleaning one as well. But what I actually did was get those pretty mosaic tiles, with colors and stuff. They are much prettier and they get dirty less. If not that, they are to pretty to leave unclean! There’s some motivation for cleaning. Yes, that actually became my solution.

I looked on-line, and there are many different kinds of these mosaic tiles. I got so infatuated with them that I had to get more, for the kitchen as well, and I was looking at other parts of the house to embellish with these magnificent things. What wonderful things I found! Stone tiles, I think these can be put on the outside of the house. Glass tiles and even those made of sea shells – how great is that? All of them are mosaics, so they are as pretty as these things can be.

So, all in all, I think I gave you some interesting ideas for cleaning and how to survive that dreadful “exercise”. I even gave you some ideas on how to beautify your home. What more do you want from me – more jokes? I’ll stop before you get bored completely and will tell you only one more thing. Actually I will repeat that one thing again – positive attitude!

A Psychological Approach to the Design of Your Home

We always try to say something about ourselves in many different ways. First of all, it is just by talking – we try to be funny, we brag or we just try not to be boring. But there are many non-verbal ways by which we both consciously or subconsciously convey the idea of who we are and what we do. One of them is, for example, body language. You won't believe me when I tell that body language is actually fifty percent of communication. We just need to learn how to read those „signs“ that our body sends, and we will be able to show ourselves in a better light. Another example is how we dress. That is the thing we do consciously. We pick our garments carefully and dress proper to the ways we think and the ways we tend to expose ourselves. For example, people who love rock music will always wear some pieces of clothing that will somehow tell: „Hey, I love Led Zeppelin“, or people who work as lawyers, for example, will wear suit that will say: „Hey, look at me, I am on my way to the courtroom“, and so on... But the thing I want to talk about in this article is actually not connected to dressing yourself, but to decorating your house. After all, your house should best reflect who you are, what you do and what are your attitudes towards certain things.

Our house in the middle of the street

First of all, let's say that you just moved in and that your house is not in order at all. There is furniture all over the place and you need to arrange it. After you have done that, you should consider some “deeper” decoration. The thing I want to focus on in this article in particular is how should we fit mosaic as an art in our home, and what will those mosaics convey about ourselves? But mosaics that I am going to write about are made of tiles, since that has become very popular lately. Tiles can be made out of several different materials. Believe it or not, even the material you choose will tell something different about you. So, I am going to write about mosaics made of glass, stainless steel and stone.

The glowing extrovert

As you may know, glass tiles are transparent and, therefore, they may represent your attitude towards other people. You want other people to know you well and to like you, so you present yourself like an open book and you do not keep any mystery of yourself. But that is not a bad thing at all, it means that you are a communicative person, and you tend to approach people more than they would approach you. Your interesting stories will keep the party going and the jokes you tell are always funny. Therefore, enjoyment and hedonism are things that keep you going. Mosaics made out of glass tend to glow sometimes when there is too much light in the room. That may reflect your emotions. Whenever there is positive emotion you are positive and your sadness and your depression are saved for dark rooms, where you are lonely and cannot glow.

The parted personality

Let’s move on to the mosaics that are made of stainless steel. Steel itself can give an impression that you are a strong person and you cannot be broken easily. It also conveys that you do not fight the battle with time but you go with the flow instead and let time do its job. As a reward you tend to see your life as harmony and peace. If you fit stainless steel mosaic into a room where white color is dominant - this would mean that you are a person who likes domination. This is simply explainable due to the fact that the white color symbolizes innocence whereas stainless steel symbolizes something strong and supreme. Therefore, you like when people subdue to you and when they listen to your orders and your requests. However, if you fit stainless steel mosaic into a room where dark colors are prevailing, that would tell a slightly different story about you. It says that you are a person who likes to be lonely and has little friends. But those friends of his are very close to him and they are always there to help him. It also says that you are kind of person who enjoys staying at home and watching a movie instead of going to parties.

Stone upon stone upon stone upon stone

Stone mosaics, on the other hand, are rather specific. People who prefer this kind of decoration tend to face difficulties in their lives in two ways. One of them is to cut right to the core of the problem and try to solve it, and the other is to stand still and wait for the problem to pass you by. Stone can also say that you are materialist and that you do not believe in God or generally anything that has not been proven by science. You like the smell and the look of money and your career is much more important to you in your life than love, for example. Stone mosaics which are fit into a traditional living-room with a fireplace and wooden furniture say that you are a family person and that people related to you are on the top of your list. But more than that, stone mosaic conveys that you are a person who enjoys nature and finds peace in activities such as fishing, hiking or just spending some time in nature.

To sum up, every person in this world has its own story to tell, but all of them want that story to have many interesting details. Those details can be added by changing yourself or the things around you. When you decide to change the things around you, go to your house and try to rearrange the furniture. I wholeheartedly suggest that you take one of the mosaics that I have presented to you above and try to fit it somewhere as best as you can, thus saying an interesting fact about you – something that no one noticed before.

Breaking the Tediousness...

Have you ever thought about decorating your bathroom and kitchen, or some other unusual place? No? I thought so. But I am here to talk you into it because there are plenty of reasons why you should do it. And besides that, you shouldn’t be so skeptical, just because something sounds new and unusual to you it doesn’t mean that it is bad or not worthy of doing. Where would the world be if people had not been brave and done new stuff and tested new things, explored new lands, or simply done something out of the ordinary?

The answer is: nowhere. Without those brave souls the world would probably still be in the stone age, people would still be hunting animals instead of having them on their plates, they would be picking raisins and whatnot in the forest instead of buying all of them and much more in stores and they would be sleeping in cold, dark caves instead of comfortable, warm houses and apartments. That would certainly be a horrible world, am I right? We should be thankful to all those brave men for the beautiful world in which we live today. Take a few moments to thank them - just kidding…

Money should not be an issue!

Moving on... Decorating the kitchen can be a nice experience for you. This goes for other parts of the house which are usually ugly and normal, probably too normal if you ask me. You’ll get something different and new, something that people don’t usually have. If that’s not enough for you, you should go with the line which I love. It is a very good one actually, catchy and whatnot and it consists of these two words: why NOT??? I usually use it when people ask me: “Why would you want to do that?” and I’d answer: “why NOT?” And, seriously, why not? Are you going to get hurt? Are you going to lose something? Money perhaps? If the money is not there for you to buy things, why is it there anyway? Just spend it – it does nothing good just lying around your home for nothing. I’m not saying that you should spend it all, but you don’t need to keep all of it in a safe place forever. Money circulates! It’s what it does. It is not supposed to just lie around. If you have everything that is of life importance, and you have money left, spend it!

If that’s not enough, spend money because it is bad for us, it makes people greedy, bad, wicked. It has never done anything good. That’s one of the many reasons to spend it. Because of that, you need to hate it… Well, you don’t need to hate money entirely, but you should not love it. People should be loved, not money and things in general. That’s just wrong. Human life is priceless, not diamonds or whatever else is considered expensive in today’s standards.

Let’s cut to the chase!

Anyway, I have moved far enough from what I was originally talking about. So let’s get back to our homes and the rooms which we were talking about. Since I've been practically making you get things for those rooms I’ll now tell you what good can come out of that purchase, and you will be able to judge for yourselves if you should or should not buy the things. But what are those things anyway? Try and guess... These things exist in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Well, usually they do, not necessarily of course. You give up? I’m talking about tiles, naturally. But not just any tiles, because regular ones you probably already have, and these don’t really embellish anything, or beautify. I’m not calling them regular for no reason. The tiles in question are mosaic tiles. I wanted to talk about them. If you want to get something else to embellish the rooms in question, think of it yourself, don’t wait for me to discover it. I can’t think of everything.

Why get these pretty little tiles?

There are many reasons for it, the biggest and most important being that they are pretty; maybe even beautiful. One can go as far as calling them art. You should check up on some history and see for yourselves that mosaics have been a type of art since the very beginning. It doesn't really matter where they are – they are still art, even if they are on tiles. And since you have pictures and statutes already, why not have mosaics as well? And why not have them in the kitchen, or the bathroom for that matter?

If you are “owners” of those little bundles of joy called children, these can be good for you because children love everything that is pretty and this will be even more interesting to them as they are something you do not usually see. They will especially be interesting to them if they are in the bathroom as well – if not just for them, then for you too. You won’t have to bring the newspapers in the loo...

They can also be good in order to break the tediousness of your place; that is, if you don’t already have enough colors in your home. Even if you do, they can still add to those colors.

There are plenty more reasons to get these mosaic tiles and you don’t need to hear them, as these should be enough for you.

If you decide on getting them, you’ll have a lot of options, which is great. Search them online. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of choices. The choices usually involve different materials from which the tiles are made, materials like stone, glass, steel, and not just any steel, but stainless steel, and others. There are even beautiful shell mosaic tiles. You can also get them in different shapes and patterns, and even different colors. So, should I tell you more or are you going to find out for yourself?

Pragmatism and Something Else

Everything can be practically applied to something/somewhere/somehow. Human ingenuity is limitless when it comes to that. Oh, well, it’s limitless in general, not just in that part. That little fact is simply amazing, no doubt about it. It is not rare for any of us to be surprised by ourselves when we realize how well we can think of thousands of ways to use something. These ideas can sometimes be as dumb as possible, almost to the level of a retarded person, but sometimes they can be at the level of a genius. When you do something so smart, you feel like you are Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Leonardo da Vinci all in one... Or that can simply be the ego... Definitely the ego...

But I am not here to talk about the obvious, it is the way it is, no need to debate about it. What’s important are all those ways to apply something. It’s very important because most of us are simple people, living normal lives, doing day to day chores and other things that regular people do. But I am not being very clear, now am I? What I want to talk about are all the ways you could set up and decorate your home, because that really is one of the important things for us regular people. And since human ingenuity is practically limitless and often full of dumb ideas, it can’t hurt to limit it to several good ones. At least I hope they will be good. I may be very smart but I’m not a genius! There goes that ego again, I should tone it down or something... But I’m still a smart person...

So many ways to do this, I may be over my head here, but it’s ok. One thing is certain about this arranging the things in your house and similar. Everything you can put on walls, put it. This is not the part about decorating but the part about pragmatism. It can include decoration of course, when it comes to decorating your wall with art and alike, but the rest is not. When I say the rest, what do I actually mean by “the rest”? I’m referring here to shelves of course. It is best to have as many of those. They can be used for books, for some pretty little statuettes and pictures, for all kinds of things. They can be a bit ugly, the shelves I mean, but that can be taken care of too – a paint job or you simply go out and buy some good-looking shelves – it’s rather simple actually. Those that you use for books, don’t really need to be pretty, the books cover that part, if you have them; if you don’t, get them, and start reading! It’s important to read books, for your vocabulary and for your overall knowledge. But if you really don’t want to do that, I guess you can get them just for show, to have a whole wall covered with shelves filled with books. It will make you seem like a very smart person, I guess.

Another good thing besides shelves, are wardrobes (not as much as they are for women). Not discriminating or anything, but women do have more clothing than man, it’s just the way it is. Thus, women need more room. But besides these, simple cabinets for the kitchen are important also. Don’t forget to have enough of them, because you don’t want to have to keep all your dishes on shelves, do you? That’s just bad taste and lack of ingenuity.

Talking about the kitchen decoration and functionality reminded me, it is partly connected to being practical as much as it has to do with decoration. I’m referring to tiles, and not just any tiles, because regular tiles are nothing special, they are as boring as much as they lack in creativity. These are different kind of tiles, these are mosaic tiles. Yes! It’s like I’m announcing a big winner of some enormous amount of prize money. Well, we have to be a bit theatrical or everything will get boring. Anyway, the tiles, the mosaic ones, all have some interesting patterns, if not, they are in different colors, they come in different materials, etc. The combinations are endless! It’s impossible not to find something that will suit you and the interior of your home.

From your regular types of tiles that everyone has somewhere in the house, bathroom or kitchen, to tiles made of sea shells, you can find anything you need. And that, of course, is best done online. Browse the net to find exactly what you need. There is nothing simpler than that. But I’m still going to tell you about some of them, just to get you started. For example get some tiles of stainless steel. Steel has a modern look to it, and plus it’s stainless so you won’t have to worry about them getting the rust and going all ugly on your house. Plus the mosaic patterns are wonderful, they fulfill that modern look for which you have to be going if you are getting these types. On the other hand, you can get some glass or a mixture of glass and metal tiles for a more regular kind of approach, not really the opposite of modern, but it does the trick. When you get mosaic tiles, you really can’t get any kind of retro and old look. Unless you get some wood tiles for example, or even some made of aluminium or copper, both mosaic, but with very little patterns, and you’ll certainly get that older look if you are aiming for that one.

All in all, you have many types and kinds, with simple or complex patterns, and much more, so in essence, you’ll always find what you are looking for.

I don’t really have anything else to tell you, nothing comes to mind right now, and I have told you enough to get you going. Like I said previously, it is about human ingenuity, human in general, not just mine.

Mosaics Through History

It has been a technique in art, specifically decorative art, usually used indoors, on all sorts of buildings. From small ones to huge cathedrals. It consists of small pieces, usually in the form of a rectangle, made from several different materials, stone and glass for example, and always in many colors. Colors are what make them special, and the same can be used to create a pattern or even a bigger picture.

I am talking about mosaics of course. They have existed for the last 5000 years, since the first states in Mesopotamia. They were made of stone, ivory and shells in those days. But, mosaic patterns were not used until the age of the Roman Empire, which is more than two thousand years later. In the beginning, just a few were in color, but they were still very appealing.

Nevertheless, they became popular when the most respected art was developing, the one in ancient Greece and Rome. Large mosaics were made, usually depicting a story about some mythological creature, a God, demigod, etc. What was usually portrayed back then, it wasn't anything revolutionary of course. Mosaics weren't as prestige as paintings were, but they were still popular. Many rich Romans had them in their own villas all across the Empire.

As it always is with most things, others started using them, copying or creating something new, but this, as most other forms, was never made obsolete. No form of art can become obsolete. Thus, the first Christians started implementing mosaics in their art, first in small basilicas, then later in churches and so on. Many Roman buildings with mosaics were simply converted into Christian ones. But of course, original Roman creations, and Greek too, still exist. If they weren’t, I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell you about them, and no one else would be able to do the same either.

Rome as a nation died, but another empire inherited it, the Byzantine one, and thus, the art. It became predominantly Christian of course, yet still a magnificent form as it always has been. Thousands of mosaics were created all over the empire, depictions of emperors, saints and much more.

The Roman mosaic art continued to be made even in the middle ages, but it’s last great period ended in the high middle ages. It was very popular when the Norman ruled Sicily, where Christian and Muslim art mixed, probably the only country where these two religions, always in the state of war, lived together in peace. Just like in Sicily, during the same period in Venice, this form of art didn’t go out of style.

As you already know from visiting these places or seeing them on shows, many churches all over Italy had their domes beautified by mosaics. What is also interesting is that in many cases, not only the interior was decorated with mosaics, but the exterior too, and glass tiles have gotten more popular for decorative purposes.

During the renaissance and baroque they went out of fashion, but of course there were still people who did them. Frescoes became more popular and replaced the mosaics in churches but thankfully, there were still those who preferred the previous.

In the modern era they still exist. They are not really popular with large buildings and there aren’t many professionals, but as I have already told you, mosaics went out of fashion a long time ago. But today they are still popular among numerous artisans and crafters. They make mosaics from a variety of items, even odd ones like doll parts, beads, photographs. And these modern mosaics can be found anywhere, covering almost anything you can imagine, from benches to bicycles. They can also be found on walls, but this style owes much to the video game pixel art and pop culture. Still, this counts as well.

All in all, this is a great form of art, and what is good, it’s doable, and you can have it in your own home. If you do not want pictures, because that may be too much for an average household, because much place is needed and it really doesn't seem like it is something that will fit in with the regular stuff, but you can still have some mosaic patterns on your kitchen walls, or in the bathroom. Most of us already have tiles in these areas of our homes, and thus, why not make them beautiful. Because, after all (this I have told you), don’t they look wonderful? It is art, it’s retro and it really looks vintage. If you are a lover of something like that, this will be great for you, if not, you should still consider it.

You will surely be able to find various examples of mosaic tiles on the internet if you are now, hopefully, interested in them. I have found out that many people have stone tiles on the facade of their houses, and you are maybe one of them, but why not get stone mosaic tiles? If that does not sound good to you, maybe you should stick with the indoors. Look up some glass mosaic tiles or even a mixture of glass and metal mosaic tiles. And all of them can go in different, all great-looking patterns. They are also made from many other materials like marble, copper, and even sea shells and wood. Yes, I found that hard to believe, but it is true. If you have some sort of a weekend cottage far out in the woods, wood mosaic tiles can really come in handy if you want to keep your house from wood in its entirety.

There are many ways in which you can use these and make your home even prettier or just a bit more different than most other homes, and this is certainly one of the ways you can do that. And, once again, after all that you’ve read… really… why not have mosaic installed in your own home? They will live up the atmosphere, they are durable, and they are easy to clean. What more do you want?