Creating Style and Personality with Mosaics: Inspiration from the 2017 Parade of Homes

Posted by TOA's Blog Team on Jul 20th 2017

Have you considered creating style and personality with mosaics in your home?

We love mosaics! We love their versatility, not to mention the amazing range of possibilities they come in as these articles highlight:

>> See Glass, Stone and Metal Decorative Mosaics

>> See Explore the Murano Handmade Glass Tile Collection

>> See Mosaics Add Sparkle into the New Year and Beyond!

Mosaics are an ideal solution for making a design statement that reflects you and your personal style without spending a fortune. You can use them throughout the interior and the exterior of your home and transform it into an extension of your style and personality. In fact, we were intensely inspired by how we saw mosaics used to do just that in the 2017 Parade of Homes.

If you are asking “what is a mosaic,” please refer to the Ultimate Guide to Mosaics which explains the many types and uses of mosaics.

Adding Style and Personality with Mosaics to Backsplashes

As mentioned above, while touring the 2017 Parade of Homes, I noticed mosaics used in almost every home. I admired the selections and the placement and will highlight my favorite along with products available from Tile Outlets of America to create that same look.

Ready? I'll start with one of the most common areas for a mosaic to be used – the kitchen backsplash.

Stainless Steel Mosaics

As stainless steel appliances have gained popularity so have mosaics that feature stainless steel either in part or in whole.

The mosaic in this kitchen backsplash features a brushed multi-metal, modern look that easily coordinates with any countertop and every appliance.

To create this look, consider the following products:

All of the above mosaics feature stainless in their design to varying degrees.

Here's another stunning example of the use of metal in a backsplash.

The snow white glass, stone and stainless mosaic complements the grey cabinetry with the brushed stainless door pulls and stainless range hood quite well.

It also reflects the light.

Here are some great similar choices available at Tile Outlets:

Glass and Stone Mosaics

If you prefer glass and stone to metals, check out the kitchen backsplash in the image below which showcases a soldier-style mosaic (soldier meaning in a straight line instead of offset or brick set).

Here is a closeup of that soldier-style mosaic.

This mosaic is a blend of glass and a greyish-toned stone known as wooden grey or wooden white. Notice how the soldier vertically stacked mosaic draws your eyes upward.

If you enjoy this style, I recommend Spirit Vertical Glass Mosaic.

If you love the soothing color combination, but prefer a more horizontal look, I recommend the Spirit Glass Linear Mosaic.

All Stone or All Glass Mosaics

Maybe you favor an all stone or all glass mosaic instead of the two combined together. If so please let me share some beautiful examples of both.

The two images below feature a basket weave stone mosaic.

If you have a traditional style, you will appreciate the timeless look of a basket weave stone mosaic.

Basket weave mosaics are available in a variety of stones.

We offer Carrara Basket Weave with Grey Dot.

If you desire an all or mostly glass look as you see in the image below, your options are almost unlimited!

Check out these examples of glass or mostly glass backsplashes.

They, too, reflect light. The different textures provide great visual interest, too.

Do you prefer the clean look of the pure white backsplash or the bold look of one with hues of browns and rusts? Depending upon your preference, we have several similar styles available such as:

Adding Style and Personality with Mosaics to Bathrooms

Now let’s move onto using mosaics to customize the look of your bathrooms. Your options are seemingly limitless.

You can choose to go bold by adding bright colors and make a statement by covering a full shower wall in mosaics. Or, you can be more conservative and just add a few strips or inches.

What about running strips of mosaics horizontally or vertically and centered or off-centered to create interest as you see in the images below...

Mosaic Strips

Here is a bold vertical strip.

Here is a bold horizontal strip which reflects the niche backsplash.

You could create these type of vertical and horizontal mosaic placements with products such as:

The next photo is a perfect example of how using a classic white ceramic 4x4 tile such as White Ice Bright 4 ¼ x4¼ and adding a pop of color as a horizontal band and in the niche creates a fun and lively finished product.

You can create a similar look by using

White Ice Bright 3x6 or
White Ice Bright 4x10 subway tile
and any color of glass mosaic such as Fiesta Navy, Fiesta Cobalt Blue, Fiesta Sea Blue, Fiesta Jade or even Fiesta Grafite.

Linear Mosaic

These next two bathrooms illustrate how a linear mosaic creates style and personality in a bathroom.

In the two photos below, you see a warm, beige toned shower with a marble and travertine linear mosaic.

Here's a closeup of the shower mosaic.

In the case of this next bathroom, you see a cool, grey toned shower with a glass and carrara linear mosaic.

The mosaic pulls details from the shower fixtures and the horizontal line creates a visual contrast to the vertically placed rectangular tiles.

Both of these looks can be easily replicated using the following:

For additional ideas on how to add style and personality to bathrooms, see How to Customize Your Shower with Niches, Benches and Even a Soap Dish.

Adding Style and Personality Outdoors with Mosaics in and around Pools

Up til now, I've focused exclusively inside.

That said, there's no reason why you can't be just as creative outdoors with mosaics. Keep in mind that mosaics can also be used outdoors and they look fantastic in pools.

Here are my two favorites from the Parade of Homes tour.

Black Puzzle Mosaic

Would you think of using a black glass mosaic in a pool?

It probably isn’t the color that would typically come to mind, but in this pool it looked amazing!

This is known as a puzzle mosaic.

I love how it contrasts with the water and the surface materials.

For a similar puzzle style mosaic, we offer:

2x2 Blue Glass Mosaic

My other favorite pool consisted of a expected look featuring a bright blue 2x2 glass mosaic.

Even though the blue is the more traditional pool color choice, it didn’t make this pool any less spectacular.

Notice the water features above and in the spa.

The blue mosaic reflected the water and made it look especially bright and refreshing.

Consider adding a touch of iridescence to catch even more sunlight using our Northern Lights Collection.

Unexpected Uses of Mosaics

And lastly, I would like to share one more way for you to create style and personality with mosaics.

This use of a mosaic receives my award for the most unexpected placement...

Yes, on the ceiling.

This mosaic was used on the ceiling of a living room in the tray.

Here's a closeup where you see how the mosaic integrates with the ceiling tray details.

While it isn’t every day you find mosaics on the ceiling, it just goes to show how extremely versatile and complimentary they are wherever and whenever they are used!

To create this look, consider the Light Beige Crackle Glass mosaic.

For additional ideas on how to use mosaics and tile to create your own designs, read

>> How to Create a Tile Rug in Your Home

>> Creating a Feature Wall with Tile: Inspiration from the Parade of Homes

Ready to Add Style and Personality with Mosaics to Your Home?

We hope we inspired you as much as touring these homes inspired us. Adding mosaics to your kitchen backsplash, bathroom or even outdoors is an easy and effective way to add visual interest as well as your own style and personality to a room in your home.

With so many product options, doing so can be great fun and we would love to help.

Thank you for reading.