The good, the bad, and the extraordinarily ugly

If you know one thing about Paul, it’s that he loves and appreciates good tiles and tile mosaics — as well as a loaf of good homemade bread :-) He’s shown us some gorgeous tiles here on his blog. So I thought I’d take a look around the internet and see if I could find some tiles that he would love — and some that he would hate too!! And let me tell you, I came across some downright cringe-worthy stuff that I’m sure will turn Paul’s stomach. And probably yours too!! I also found some gorgeous stuff. I’ll save those ones for later in this post. First, you have to make it through the bad & extraordinarily ugly ;-)
So let’s start off with these barf-inducing beauties, direct from Ugly House Photos. The pink & white tiles in this bathroom are bad enough — do some of them really need to be sprouting tufts of grass??



The blue toilet seat really adds that decorator touch, yes?? ;-)
Don’t do this, unless you want to live in a perpetual state of dizziness:



Don’t do this either. If you patch a tile floor, for crying out loud, use the same tiles that are on the rest of the floor!!



There are no words… well, OK, actually, there are a few — gross, ugly, yucky, and what’s up with the gold-painted grout??



Tiled countertops are never a good idea. This sort-of-tiled-but-more-like-stoned vanity countertop is even worse. I think STONED is the key word here. As in, were these people stoned when they did this??



I know Paul will just LOVE this kitchen backsplash ;-) Is that a washing machine acting as a towel rack??



How about a tile mosaic chair seat. Seriously. Why??



OK, your retinas probably need a break from the burning, right?? So let’s go to the other end of the spectrum now. In honour of Paul’s love of Italy, I found a company in Italy called Fiandre that creates absolutely stunning tiles. You can download their 320-page PDF catalogue to see all their tiles and read about the company. Here’s just a sampling…

Serie 100 — Grey



Jewel — Infinity




Luminar — OptoGold

 


Crystal — CinderCrystal



From another Italian company called Impronta…



These are way too cool… from mosaico+ in — you guessed it — Italy!!
Dialoghi






Motivi




Mosaico+ has a “create your mix” option. It’s easy and fun to use – go try it out :-) Here are a few I whipped up…






It’s that time of the year, so how about a Christmas mosaic mix :-)



And on a completely different note, check out these concrete tiles from Ann Sacks…



And some gorgeous sculptural tiles, also from Ann Sacks…




I know Paul is a big fan of Sara Baldwin’s mosaics. Absolutely love this one — Beau Monde Montgomery 1 in calcatta tia and emperador dark:



And this one too!! Beau Monde Talullah in thassos and lavender mist:



How cool is this tiger mosaic bar top??



And finally, this is what inspired me to write a post about tile in the first place — the Emam Mosque in Iran.




How gorgeous is the turquoise dome??




Close-up of a minaret:



The mosque was built in the 1600s and is regarded as a masterpiece of Persian architecture. All the walls are covered with seven-colour mosaic tile. Can you imagine laying out and installing all these tiles?!


 


And finally, one last tile picture. I’m not sure what to make of this one —the fridge has been tiled!! What do you think, good or bad idea??



Seeing as Paul encouraged us to promote our own blogs, I’d love to have you come check out my home office makeover at DesignTies, the blog I share with my friend Victoria :-)
Have a good week, and Merry Christmas!!!
Kelly