MAD FOR MOSAICS

posted by Elshane on Jul 29 2014, under Home Decor/Entertaining

So, we're tiling the floor, wall, and water feature in our #elSpanishOasis. And it's giving me nightmares.

I have an image of what {I think} I want in my head, but no spot-on photos to show for it. Houzz.com (where most of these inspirational photos come from) has given me a taste of inspiration, but it seems like it's up to me to put all the pieces together (hehe).

So I went tile hopping shopping, and here's what I learned...

Lingo for the untrained home improvers like myself:

Mosaic Tile: Bite-sized color-infused works of art in the form of 4 inch square tiles.

Saltillo Tile: The terra cotta-colored tile that covers the rest of the floor surface. She comes in all shapes (square, octagon, brick-like, etc) and can be treated in a variety of terra cotta hues from natural (light) to deep chocolate lacquer.

I started by mashing up possible Saltillo and mosaic tile combos to see how frequently I'd want a mosaic to pop up on my roughly 800 square foot outdoor floor space.

So far all I've decided is that I want square Saltillo tiles in a rather natural, slightly shiny finish, with a pop of mosaic every four square tiles. Can you notice what I mean by the tiles above the pool in the photo below? But, that Saltillo color is too orange for my taste.

Then comes the even more exciting part. We're adding an outdoor fountain (or water feature if I want to sound particularly fancy). I think this will give me another space to infuse those mosaic munchkins.

I'm gathering images to see how I want the mosaic placed. It seems to be popular to either tile the backdrop of the fountain in its entirety, or to simply put a perimeter of tile around the feature.

Which leads to a big decision. How much mosaic is too much mosaic? Where should I place each little treasure? And should I pick one pattern and stick with it, or use a chic curated mash-up of like-minded tiles?

As a fashion stylist, I feel pretty helpless that I can't swoop in with my style eye and save the day. I simply don't feel educated enough. It's all a "process", right? 

Stay tuned for more adventures in creating my #elspanishoasis. And follow the journey through my instagram hashtag, #elspanishoasis, as I shop materials and more... 

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HI! IT'S ELSHANE FROM LOS ANGELES, CA
(BY WAY OF NEW YORK CITY)

I STARTED MY BLOG IN 2010 AS A WAY TO ARCHIVE ALL OF THE ONE-OF-A-KIND RUNWAY PIECES THAT I OWNED FROM WORKING AS THE IN-HOUSE STYLIST FOR DIANE VON FURSTENBERG IN NYC.

THEN, IT ALL HAPPENED SO FAST... BIO

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