Difficulty in Design

A design idea can be an imaginative thing. It can also be more difficult and ambitious to achieve. I look at those instances as an opportunity to explore and discover. I saw these glass penny mosaic tiles and I envisioned them covering the bathroom counter. I was so excited when they arrived and couldn't wait to get them installed. I thought I knew what I was doing. We had bought a flexible mortar and the non sanded grout. The tiles had a mesh backing on them and I just assumed that you could see the mesh behind the tiles,  so I laid them glass side down and not mesh side down, in hopes of simply peeling the mesh off at the end. I was totally wrong! After we laid them, we used too much mortar that seeped up around some of the tiles, had problems with them slipping around, and then we tried everything to remove the mesh and  the glue and that caused several of the tiles to come off too. 

Being too anxious, not gathering enough information and being to tired caused us more work. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that I learned from this mistake and I have more knowledge than ever about laying glass tiles. The counter is STILL going to be beautiful. 

 We should have laid it this side up!

 Wrong way! Too much mortar coming through!

 That mesh was not meant to come off!

 You can see the idea here.

 These are all the things we tried in removing the glue and mesh

We still have some work to do, but I can see the diamond in the rough coming through with the iridescent colors coming through the MUCK! 


Sometimes attempting a design idea can slow you down in the process, however, the outcome can leave you with a feeling of achievement and a new skill set!