Wall Tile Idea – Why Not Glass Mosaics?

Need a room makeover in your own home?  Yes, you can and don’t make it just an ordinary one. Choose mosaic tiles - a practical and exquisite covering for the walls in your bathroom and kitchen backsplashes as well.

Yes, why not mosaic tiles? They make for a colourful and cheerful décor for rooms and other spaces in your house. Good news is, they come in various materials – stone, ceramic, glass, sea shell or stainless steel so you really have a lot of beautiful arrays to choose from.

If you want your walls to carry an impactful design, then mosaic it is. By just replacing a tile or two here and there in your kitchen or bathroom with attractively-designed mosaic tiles and VOILÀ!  You come up with a stunning creation!

These materials are extensively offered in a wide variety of colours. Meaning, you can always pick something that suits your taste – and budget. Besides being fun to work with, mosaic tiles are now readily available within easy reach.

Just make sure though, to shop around and get the best deals. Otherwise, you can come visit our gallery for alluring and pretty tile ideas for walls, floors, ceilings, roof and anywhere else.

Why Glass Mosaic Tiles?

You can be creative with any mosaic styles and design any look you desire with them. Glass mosaics are cheaper than stone and about the same price as ceramic. Many are now using it to create great mosaic masterpieces. Because glass is quite solid once the tile is laid, this wouldn't scratch under normal use.

For an exhilarating interior design, why not integrate even just a few pieces of glass mosaics? A truly attractive and one-of-a-kind look will likely be the outcome. Here, let’s take a look at some of the perks and drawback of using glass mosaic tiles, such as:

A multitude of attractive looks - As mentioned earlier, you can have an endless creativity with glass mosaics. Choose the right size, colour, the suitable mix – and that depends on your budget. For a more interesting outcome, combine glass mosaics with ceramic or stone and you get a more well-defined look.

A larger and more vibrant feel - Glass tiles reflect light, the reason why your room will look bigger and brighter. Your indoor ambiance will truly be enhanced with glass mosaics. When done right, be assured of a unique charm and elegance to your rooms. To be sure, always consult a professional tiler in your area. Otherwise, contact ExoTiles and never go wrong with your installation.

The Trouble With Glass Mosaic Tiles

Tiles are only as strong as the base in which they sit atop of so until glass mosaic tiles are laid they are vulnerable. Glass is without a doubt, fragile. So, utmost care must be observed when handling such material. 

For all its benefits, why worry when there’s ExoTiles that can make things easier for you? We know of qualified experts who can provide you with plenty of wall tile ideas. Give us a call today so we can start to move things up, that is – beautify your home. 

Waterjet Marble 'Medallion' Floor Tiles

ExoTiles can now supply custom made marble floor features and deliver to anywhere in the world.

Waterjet marble 'medallions' as they are called are made using a computer controlled machine which cuts the stone with a very fine jet of high pressure water. The waterjet can cut stone of thickness's up to 35mm with ease. This method allows for very high levels of accuracy, so much so, that the pieces will slot together like a jigsaw puzzle with no gaps at all.

These tiles can be made from solid stone or a composite of stone bonded to an underside layer of ceramic. Composite made medallions are cheaper and equally strong. Some people do not like the idea of it being glued to ceramic so they can choose to have it made from 100% stone if they wish.

These marble medallions are ideal for hotel lobby, shopping centre, hospital or many other applications.  Designs can be custom made including logos or anything else.

Check out the Mural Mosaic category on the ExoTiles website for a guide on pricing.

Here's some videos of how it works.

The best ways to decorate your garden with tiles

Real marble tiles look unique and beautiful as it comes in shades variations and whirling patterns and therefore you need to be careful at the time of installing these tiles to ensure that only the same patterns marble tiles are used for decorating your garden. You should get the tiles from same original batch to make sure that the pattern matches with each other. Marble tiles like the rest of the stone tiles also need high maintenance and thus you need to clean and seal it regularly. While cleaning, you should use mild detergents or products that have been designed for marble.

If you are wondering about the best ways todecorate your garden with tiles than you will need to follow these tips. It is not essential that bigger tiles are better but it is a fact that bigger tiles can be installed easily. If you have large tiles for your garden, the installation process simpler and quicker as compared to the smaller tiles.

Thus you need to select the pattern that you like so that you can get it installed in your garden for enhancing its overall appeal. It is also very important to have a flat subfloor in order to have a successful installation. You can also have self leveling subfloor compound, if you want to install the tiles in your garden yourself. The other very good options are cement or plywood backer board. You should have a minimum one inch thick subfloor to have successful and best quality installation. Thin set is used for keeping tiles up on floor as it also helps in avoiding imperfections on the subfloor. There are a large variety of thin sets that are used for the application of the tiles but latex modified thin set are ideal for ceramic tiles. These sets only need water so the successful installation of the ceramic tiles.

But you should only mix the quantity that is required or that you will use within one hour of mixing otherwise the installation job becomes very difficult. If there are cutting corners in your garden then you will need to rent wet saw for cutting the tiles. If you desire to have a modern and unique look for the paving project in your garden then you will need the help ofnatural stone tiles and pavers. This is a very high quality product which comes in a large variety of colors of this natural stones like limestone, sandstone, granite and travertine. It adds a touch of uniqueness and beauty to your garden along with enhancing the overall appeal of your home.

You should always devote quality time for the installation of the tiles as if you are in a hurry, the job can be spoilt. If you want to create perfect gaps in between the tiles you will need to user plastic spacers that come in different sizes relating to the sizes of the tiles. You should always have extra tiles in case if tiles breakdown during installation as ceramic tiles are very brittle and with a hit from a hard object it tends to break down.

Add something special to your yard – freshen it up with a pool

Tired of taking your family to swimming pools every weekend during the hot days? Consider putting up your own pool at your home. This is an investment that will definitely pay off. Summer days can be very hot and refreshing yourself in a pool full of water is an excellent idea.

Great for physical activities

Organize a morning swim early with your family – right before your work. Drowsiness will instantly disappear and you will make your children wake up early even during the summer breaks. Having a pool can be a very smart move as it will provide you with a necessary amount of physical activity that will benefit your health.

There is a solution for everybody

If you are lucky enough to have a great backyard and you don’t know what to do with the extra space, constructing a swimming pool is the thing for you. Your private pool can have various shapes like round, oval, square, or some indefinite shape. If you are living in a place where climate changes occur, you can buy an above ground swimming pool, which is less expensive, but it also has shorter “lifespan”. Infinity pools are very popular nowadays, and they are typical for penthouses that have great balconies and houses with big yards which are built on hilly regions.

Indoor swimming pools

Installing a pool inside your house is a lot of work but the good side of it is that you can use it whenever you want. Equipment like heaters and pumps that will help you change the water regularly are big help when it comes to pool maintenance. If you have a big basement, don’t think twice and start a project like this.

Customize your pool, but think of the safety too

There are solutions for bigger yards as well as the small ones, since they come in various sizes and shapes and can be custom made for your personal needs. Also, the depth of the pool can be adjusted to your wishes. If you have small children, you might want to go with the one with a smaller depth and a flat bottom – safety first. But, on the other hand, if you are willing to monitor your children’s activity in swimming pools constantly, choose the one whose bottom has a slope – one part of it can be adapted for the little ones and the other can be a bit more for your own taste.

Pools and events

Speaking of design, your yard will look posh and all of your friends and neighbors will like it. It can help you a lot with making friends and socializing, as nobody is going to deny a friendly invitation for a little bit of Sunday fun, alongside a pool and a barbeque. Events such as birthdays or anniversary parties would turn into a really fun thing with a pool in your yard. A couple of twinkling lights, chairs and tables with some interesting snacks will make your friends and family have a good time, unlike all those boring cliché celebrations – just note that they are required to bring their bathing suits with them. The teenage parties which are every youngster’s wish can be organized in your yard, and you won’t need to leave your house. Your children and their invites can stay outside while you are inside with that option of monitoring their acts. Both sides will be satisfied.

Color it up

The grey color in pools is so last season! Color it up by painting the bottom and walls of your pool with special colors that wouldn't wash off. Make your pool look like a piece of ocean as much as it can. Put a little bit more effort and tile your pool with mosaic tiles of various colors and materials. You can even make a mosaic that will look amazing and that will make your swimming pool cleaning process easier.

Complementing your house with a swimming pool is a lot of work and, sincerely, a not so small amount of money, but this is a tiny barrier in comparison to all that you get: regular physical activity, cooling during the hot summer days, a lot of fun and a perfectly arranged yard.

Does Health Improvement Arrive Along with Technology Development?

Just when it seemed that innovations had stopped popping up on every corner, something new comes up – something that’ll make someone’s life much easier or much more fun. The adjustment period concerning novelties didn't take long. Why would it, when everything has been made practical? Things you don’t like doing take much less time, like dish washing or cleaning of any kind, and things you like doing, like playing video games are literally taken to another dimension. Even business is much easier now because getting any kind of information is faster than ever and all the actual “work” is done much faster.

The transition period we've been through is mostly positive because we can sort out the bad things from the good ones – like making the difference between virtual and real life. It’s important to pass the knowledge we have to generations that have been growing up having these new things in their childhood. Every kid you see on the street, no matter the age, has its own phone and a bunch of other gadgets in their pockets that don’t stop ringing. If you decide that you like our world today so much that you want to have your baby growing up in it, it’s not just simple things you need to worry about any more.

This modern age of ours brought a lot of new diseases that are mostly psychological. They’re caused by lack of physical activity and a wrong system of values that children have today. Also, children often lose their identities and have even more problems finding out who they are while growing up than older generations did. The explanation for that is usually found in video games or too many different role models that are imposed on children. Concerns about symptoms that you think your child or some of your friend’s children have is best to check as soon as possible so you can react before is too late. Here’s a list of some usual and common diseases along with symptoms. You can use it as your first step – to get your doubts confirmed or denied before you look for professional help.

It’s much easier to think about all the good things that brilliant men have made to serve the human kind. And most people are careless about it and just say how everything good must come with something bad, instead of making sure that they used the power we have to improve every aspect of their lives – we all know that health comes first but we remember that the second we lose it. Not to forget about important things is a hard task to do, so in order to do that, you should use the simplest trick that every therapist will recommend no matter how lame you think it is. Make a list that’ll remind you how every single day is worth waking up happy. If you have trouble starting, follow this example that’ll show you how you can get everything good from the new world and the old one.

Extensive believing in frauds and not being able to rely on people is also just one of the side effects that our world suffers from. Think about it – every time you read how some famous millionaire invested something in a charity organization, you consider that to be a marketing trick. Don’t you think that that reaction is full of prejudice? Giving something back is not just an empty phrase. So even if you think that the reasons aren't right when someone’s investing in, for example, hospitals – nothing bad can’t come out of it. Medical equipment should follow new standards and new diseases. In order to do that, there’s a necessity of constant investments in the development of new equipment, so that hospitals can provide the exact treatment the patients need.

Every hospital is obligated to not only teach their patients about hygiene, but also to provide an example. There are lots of hospitals that must be renovated as soon as possible, because conditions they are in are not healthy for patients and if they’re really in that state, they shouldn't even be working because they can’t help the patient that needs to be treated, they can only do more damage to someone’s health. In most cases, doctors that work there are just trying to do the best they can – they just don’t have enough money to make things run properly.

When it comes to these dangerous conditions that are destroying the medical system, people should act fast. The technology we have has provided us with speed and quality when it comes to renovations. The importance of perfectly clean hospitals is taught in elementary schools, but it seems that grownups should be reminded that there’s something more important than their own careers. Unfortunately, every one of us must visit that institution sometime during our lifetime, so it’s better to maintain them for when that time comes.

The basic rule of hygiene is that the place which usually gets dirty the most must be the cleanest – bathrooms. If it happens that you must use the bathroom while you’re visiting someone in the hospital and you find it smelly and dirty, you immediately develop mistrust concerning the whole institution and the people who work there. A similar thing happens when you use your friend’s bathroom and you find the experience unpleasant – you subconsciously develop an aversion towards that home and you start questioning your friends’ hygiene.

So, for all reasons mentioned above, action must be taken. Starting from bathrooms is a great idea – to undertake this job will affect the whole chain reaction because people do useful things when they have a good example in front of them. When you’re thinking about starting something like this, first you think about expenses and a long period of time that will be needed to complete the task in front of you. You should devote your time to finding the right kind of tiling. If tiles are placed well, everything related to maintenance will be a piece of cake, since the materials used to make durable tiles are both sturdy and beautiful – all of which contributes to the overall look and feel of the room. Take action as soon as possible.

The History of Art and the Development of Mosaics

Several thousand years ago, men started to recognize certain patterns in the things they did on a daily basis. For example, they were listening to the bow and arrow flying through the air and they were trying to imitate that sound. There is also an example where their spears would collide and thus produce a certain rhythmic sound. You may have guessed so far that that is the way music was created at first. Men were imitating sounds they heard in nature, and the result today is rather magnificent – just look at how many different music genres exist nowadays. It is the same with other forms of art. You have probably seen those pictures of first paintings that were made in a cave – paintings of several oxen. It is now famous worldwide and it is considered the first form of this kind of art. Men were also, at first, trying different ways to represent nature and things that surrounded them. It is also rather amazing to see how much art upgraded. There are many people who added something new to art, and, thanks to them, we are almost always surrounded by it, and able to enjoy it. However, there is a special kind of art that people call mosaics. I assume that the first mosaic was made when the prehistoric man gathered several different stones and arranged them in certain order. The first mosaics were made out of stone before other materials were used for the arrangement. Mosaics are actually the topic of our discussion. However, I am not going to talk about ordinary and boring mosaics, but rather about some new ways of making those mosaics, and how can it be applied as a way of decorating the inside your home.

The art of mosaics is expanding rapidly nowadays, be prepared!

As the title suggests, the mosaic has become quite popular recently. I mean, it was popular always, but these new methods have been practiced lately, and every day more and more people are buying mosaics. Furthermore, those people who do, do not buy them only to see them as a form of art but rather as something that would serve as decoration in their homes and gardens. Mosaics that many people have installed in their homes lately are made no more no less, but with tiles. Certain bathrooms have these kinds of colorful tiles which form different kinds of figures, and that is something that these mosaics should look like, except the fact that they look way more awesome. First of all, let's take into account that the tiles nowadays have different shapes and many different colors, and most important of all, they are made of different materials. The material of tiles is most crucial for the further development of mosaics, so if you ever decide to have one, have that in mind. There are several important materials which I am going to write about, as a kind of a guide for you, if you cannot make up your mind. Of course, for further information you will have to Google a bit more since I am no expert on this matter, but I do have some experience.

Mosaics made of tiles which are made of glass

This is possible, indeed. I was walking through the mall the other day when I bumped into one – literally bumped into. It was placed temporarily beside the stairway, and it was pretty transparent. But when I took a few steps backwards I saw a beautiful postmodern mosaic which so perfectly fitted into the environment that I praised whoever placed it there. Mosaics made of glass tiles are not only transparent but also very shiny. If you point any kind of light towards it, it will shine with a very pleasing light, or rather, reflect that light in a very pleasing way. This kind of mosaic fits perfectly in white rooms where there is a lot of light. It can also be included in rooms with no light, just watch not to bump into it as I did. But the most important thing that glass mosaics can bring you is serenity. It will make you somehow forget about all the troubles that you had in the past few days, just by looking at it. I have put my glass mosaic by the fireplace in order to emphasize the importance of it, by looking at the fire through it.

Stainless steel mosaics will make your head spin

Considering the light the mosaics give away, those made of stainless steel tiles certainly do reflect it. However, if you place them in a room with no sunlight, they are usually quite dark and rather cold, but that does not make them bad. Moreover, these kind of mosaics are really stylish and they can fit everywhere. My neighbour had one pattern installed in his backyard, and he says that it somehow fulfils his world when he is making barbecue on Sundays with his family. Stainless steel lasts for ages, it can even serve as protection. But do not use it in that way, it is primarily for decoration. The best thing about this material is that it does not require cleaning at all. Well, maybe you should devote five minutes in a few months time and clean it with  a dry cloth, but that is it. No further work is required, when it comes to cleaning.

Ceramic tiles and the things you know about them

You all probably have ceramic tiles in your bathroom, so there is not much I can say here, except that you can make even more magnificent mosaics than those you saw. Ceramic tiles need not be one coloured or square, and the possibilities are infinite. They are, as you know, fragile. So, If you put them in some other areas instead in your bathroom you should be careful.

To sum up, mosaic is an old kind of art, and it becomes very popular from time to time. This is the time when new ideas are introduced to this kind of art, and many people opt to have one in their home. Should you decide to have one, consult this article as well as the internet about the further division of materials out of which these mosaics are made of, if you want to of course.

Mosaic tiles available through www.exotiles.com.au

Are you bored with your home?

Ok, so you bought a house or an apartment and you have been living there for a couple of years. You and your family like the location because the neighborhood is good, the schools are good and it is overall a nice place to live in. But the problem is you got a little bored with your home. The same old look is really getting you down and you want to do something with it, but what? Where do you get the money for redecorating? How do you do it in such a way that you do not influence and unnecessarily complicate the lives of the household residents?

Well, for each one of these questions there is an answer. You just have to play it smart and do some quality planning. Giving your home a breath of fresh air isn't all that big of a deal – as you might think. Being creative and changing just a few things can change your home’s look significantly. I’ll give you some tips on how you can achieve this without too much hustle. Keep in mind that these aren't the only solutions and these tips are here to get your mind going in the right direction.

Cleaning up!

OK, so at this point you’re laughing. Here you are looking for tips on redecorating your home and I’m telling you to clean up. Look at it this way, there are a lot of things that we leave lying around the house that we don’t need but we still keep them just in case. Also, if you have decorated without a plan when you first moved in, you might have a lot of excess decorative elements we can easily label as clutter. Sometimes when it comes to decoration, less is more.

Repainting  

Fresh paint can easily and inexpensively breathe in new life to your boring rooms. Find the colors that suit your needs and the mood of the rooms in question. You can also use more vibrant colors to highlight a certain part of the room that you want to be the main decorative focus.

Playing with light

Not many people realize that light is a decorative element. Just opening the curtains can sometimes change the look of the entire room. In order to manipulate with light you will need to introduce some new elements into your home. In order to reflect light you can use mirrors that are positioned in proper places.

Another way to do this is to decorate a crucial wall with glass mosaic tiles. The expense of doing this isn't all that big, since you are just tiling a single wall, not the entire room. The fact that these tiles come in a variety of patterns and colors will help you adapt them to the general style used to decorate the room. The tiles will provide your room with more discrete, colored lighting that will create a meditative environment for you to enjoy.

DIY and Green solutions

If you find yourself unable to financially spring for new decorations and new furniture, you can do a bit of research and find DIY tips on how to use old stuff and transform it into new decorations. There are really tons of websites with great ideas out there and you will definitely find something to suit your needs and personal style. DIY solutions mean that you are, to some extent, going green. Putting old stuff to new use is the basis of recycling. Refurbishing and repainting your old chairs and furniture will leave you and your guests with the impression that you have bought new furniture. Things that can’t be brought back to serve their original purpose can be used as the material for your new DIY projects.

Introducing green elements is a very good idea since along with decorating you will improve your living standards. Plants, wooden elements, stone elements; they will all create an illusion of being outside while you are actually sitting in your apartment’s living room on the 8th floor of your building. You will get a sense of space and nature which is always good, since it reduces stress and helps with creating a better mood.