More choice than you might imagine...

If you're thinking of using mosaic tiles in your kitchen or bathroom, you might not realise just how much choice you have. When you think of mosaic tiles, you're probably picturing small square ceramic tiles in a range of colours. However these days there are so many different types of mosaic tile to choose from. They're not all square, and they're not all ceramic. New types of mosaic tile are coming on the market all the time. If you're planning a project it's good to know exactly what is available so you can perhaps pick something a little different, or something that suits your purposes better.

Let us first look at the different materials that are available. Of course you can get ceramic mosaic tiles in every colour of the rainbow. You can have tiles all of one colour, a mixture of shades of the same colour, or a bold mix of different colours. There are natural stone tiles which look lovely. Natural materials have natural differences so you'll get variance from one tile to the next, but an overall even look. If you have a large bathroom that feels too big, a dark natural slate tile can help to bring it in. If you have the opposite problem and your bathroom is small, you can pick a tile that reflects light and makes your room feel more light and airy. There's several tiles that will suit this purpose. Glass tiles are very popular these day and are available in a wide range of colours. There are glass tiles that have a foil backing to them so they reflect the light even more and have a metallic sheen. You can even get aluminium mosaic tiles that will really bounce the light around the room. If you want a truly decadent bathroom then polished marble mosaic tiles will really look the business!

Next you need to look at size and shape. Your mosaic tiles don't need to be perfectly square. You can get tiles that are rectangular, arranged either in straight rows, or overlapping like bricks in a wall. You can get tiny miniature square mosaic tiles, and even round tiles. I'm particularly fond of the tiles that are slightly misshapen circular or square tiles, they look rather like pebble and look great in slate or natural stone.

There's also the finish to think about. Do you want matt or glossy tiles? Glossy tiles will reflect more light in a smaller room, but matt tiles do have a real feeling of luxury about them, reminding me of a bathroom in an expensive hotel. You may want tiles will glitter in them, or tiles with a rainbow effect like oil on water. All these options are open to you these days.

So next time you're planning a project using mosaic tiles, you'll know that you have lots of choice. Don't just stick to the ordinary plain square ceramic tiles, take a look at something a little different.

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I saved a fortune on my new bathroom by shopping online

I'd always been keen on buying things over the Internet ever since we got a computer. It's so much easier to buy a book online and get it through the post rather than going out to a bookshop and trying to find the title you're looking for on the shelves. It also nearly always works out cheaper, so  when it came time to renovate my bathroom I wondered if I could also apply this same money saving and time saving technique to this too.

I'd only ever bought small things online before, things that didn't really matter if they arrived late or they weren't exactly as described, but money was a little tight and I hoped there would be some good savings to be had. I decided it would be an interesting project, and I hate trailing round the shops anyway!

My first job was to find a bathroom suite. I looked at several online retailers, but eventually I found a brand new bathroom suite for a really great price on eBay. It was from a retailer rather than a private individual so they would deliver it with no problem, and the delivery costs were included in the price. I triple checked all the measurements to make sure it was exactly what I wanted and ordered it. This had already saved me several hundred pounds so I was pretty impressed!

Next I needed tiles. I was planning on having porcelain floor tiles in a stone effect. I'd seen these tiles in many places so I knew they'd be easily available. I took a look at online tile shops and was amazed at the sheer choice available, much more than in a high street tile shop. However I wasn't swayed by all the options and stuck with my original choice. I found a tile that looked fabulous, the site had good photographs of each tile. I could have ordered just one to make sure it was right, but I didn't really have any particular preferences when it came to exact shades so I didn't bother, however I can see that this would be a really useful service as it could be hard to tell the exact colours and shades of some tiles when monitors are going to display the images slightly differently depending on their colour settings.

The first thing to arrive were the tiles. They were very quick and delivery was free. It was so much easier having them delivered than having to carry them all from the shop to the car, then from the car to the house. There were no breakages either. A few days later the bathroom suite arrived and it was perfect! For the price I hadn't expected such a good quality suite, but it was really good. I used to be a plumber, so I didn't need to pay out for fitting it either, so the whole job was done very cheaply, but the finish is very luxurious and looks way more expensive than it was. I'd definitely shop online for this sort of thing again.

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Consider porcelain floor tiles for your outdoor spaces

Are you considering a new driveway, patio, paths or flooring for your car port? You may have considered, brick, gravel, paving slabs or concrete, but you may well not have even considered using porcelain floor tiles.

Does it sound like a silly suggestion to you? Well think again. There are plenty of reasons why porcelain floor tiles are a great type of flooring for outdoor use.

Firstly, they are frost resistant. Many people like to create that Mediterranean feel with terracotta tiles on their patio areas, but they are prone to frost damage when there's a particularly cold winter. Porcelain is very good when it comes to surviving very low temperatures, and very high ones too come to that!  Because they are not porous, they won't absorb moisture like terracotta can either. They are so low maintenance, other than a quick sweep over now and again, you won't need to do very much at all, unlike with terracotta which you will need to seal regularly.

If you're parking a car on your new surface, many outdoor floorings can crack under the weight of a car. This is not the case with porcelain floor tiles which are incredibly strong. They are used for all sorts of high traffic and high weight purposes; from airports to car show rooms. The tiles are so tough they are very scratch resistant. This means they can look in great condition for many years, much longer than many other flooring types.

Porcelain floor tiles are also pretty reasonably priced, so you needn't worry about having to spend a fortune on your new outdoor space.

One of the best things though about using porcelain floor tiles though, is the sheer array of choice you have. You can truly create something unique. You can lay a mosaic, an unusual pattern, or a rainbow if you want to! The sky is the limit with porcelain floor tiles which are available in thousands of different colours, patterns, sizes, textures and designs.

Porcelain tiles also don't fade in the sun, so you don't need to worry that if one part of your patio or driveway gets more sun than the rest, that you'll end up with different coloured tiles in different areas over time.

Porcelain floor tiles are also very easy to lay as they are of a uniform size and shape. If you're laying them outside, you may want to make sure that you are choosing tiles that have a non-slip coating, in case they should become slippery when wet, however, as porcelain floor tiles are so commonly used in bathrooms and kitchens, most porcelain tiles do have this coating so you shouldn't find that it hinders your choice at all.

So if you are considering a new outdoor paved area, do give porcelain floor tiles some consideration. If you want your outdoor space to be unique, with porcelain tiles you'll really be able to put your own stamp on it and create something very different and trend setting.

Tiles4All have a range of porcelain floor tiles that will leave your home looking fabulous! Why not take a look today. Click the following link to visit our website - http://www.tiles4all.co.uk/Bathroom-Tiles/Wall-Tiles.html