Custom Floor Mosaic

by South Cypress

We have a beautiful, boutique showroom here in Birmingham with a door that connects our office to the showroom. When designing the space and the entrance, we decided we didn't just want a plain mosaic at the door; we wanted something special - something that was us! The solution...a custom SC mosaic!

custom floor mosaic, diy, flooring, tile flooring, tiling

Choosing colors was easy, because we wanted the area to have a clean and classic vibe. We went with white & black 1x1 mosaics. How did we achieve this amazing custom look? Well, this is how:

First, before spreading thinset, was to dry-laid the entire SC area. This allowed us to work with the scale of the lettering and the placement of the black accents.

Depending on your mosaic backing, you can either pull off the pieces you need to remove or cut them apart with a basic utility knife. Our mosaics were glued together so we used a utility knife to remove the pieces.

When laying out the mosaic, we decided to take an extra step with our lettering by cutting down some of the tiles to a triangle. This gave it more of a tapered, soft edge. This was not necessary, but it upped the custom feel of the installation.

If you want to go crazy with your custom mosaic, you can also use graph paper or your favorite spreadsheet program to create the perfect design. If you decide you want to make a change to your layout after you have committed and spread your thinset, no worries. You can replace the ones that were cut out.

We wanted a classic design, but we also wanted to create a vintage feel to the mosaic. To achieve this, we chose a black grout to contrast with our white mosaics. Quick Tip - When working with a contrasting grout color, make sure to work in smaller areas. Any grout will leave a haze on your tile that you will have to remove; it will just be more noticeable with a contrasting grout.

While working with your grout, you will want to be more diligent in your initial cleaning. This will save you lots of heartache, scraping, and scrubbing at the end!