Every year the cost of construction and finishingmaterials is increasing, which means that not everyone can afford to change the interior when they want to refresh it. The same applies to furniture. It is no secret that kitchen furniture is subject to mechanical damage several times more than in rooms for other purposes. But how sad it is to throw away your favorite kitchen table just because its tabletop is worn out and damaged!
If your table top is damaged, you candecorate it with mosaics to breathe new life into it. There is no need to despair, there is a way out. It is enough to simply decorate the tabletop with mosaics, and it will shine with new colors, giving the interior a fresh and original look. In order to create a mosaic, you will need to put in a lot of effort, but it is worth it. The painstaking work will be fully compensated by the creation of an exclusive thing with a minimum expenditure of the family budget.
From what to make a mosaic?
For mosaics, you can use ready-made onestiles, as well as pieces left over from renovation. The ideal raw material for creating mosaics are pieces of ceramic tiles left over from renovation. Often, owners deliberately buy a slightly larger quantity of tiles, because during the gluing process they can break or get damaged. Some stores sell broken ceramic tiles at the price of recycled materials or give away the remains of unclaimed collections at a reduced price. All these tiles are suitable for making mosaics. Before starting work, the material must be crushed by hand. The easiest way is to cut the elements into small pieces with a simple glass cutter. In this case, the pieces can have different shapes and sizes. A tile cutter is usually used to create pieces of the same size. When cutting tiles, the pattern must be taken into account: if in one case the geometric correctness of the elements is important, then in another case the image will look more beautiful from chaotically cut pieces. Return to contents</a>
Preparing the substrate and the material for applying the decoration
When all the tiles are cut, and the resultingthe elements are sorted by size and color, you can start gluing the mosaic to the tabletop. The following materials and accessories are required for the work:
For the mosaic you will need: glue, solvent, tweezers, sandpaper and a brush.
- latex adhesive;
- spatula for applying adhesive;
- rags;
- solvent for paint;
- gloves;
- composition for grouting joints;
- a soft spatula for removing the grout;
- sandpaper with different grain sizes;
- wax for furniture;
- piece of cloth.
Before you apply the decoration to the table,it is necessary to think through the drawing well. You can draw a sketch of the future image on a sheet of paper, the scale of which will be equal to the worktop being processed. It is quite problematic to create a complex picture the first time, so experts recommend starting with an abstraction, which can be made from randomly scattered pieces of tiles.
Before applying the mosaic, you need to decidewith a pattern and draw it on the surface of the tabletop. Then it is necessary to process the tabletop. First of all, it is freed from varnish or paint using a solvent. It is enough to cover the wooden surface with solvent and leave it for some time. The composition will corrode the varnish, which will only need to be wiped off with a dry cloth. After removing the varnish, the table is processed with sandpaper. First, use a coarse abrasive No. 2, 3, and then a finer one - No. 1, 0. Processing with sandpaper will make the surface rougher, which will significantly improve the quality of adhesion of the mosaic elements and wood or plastic. If the fastening is insufficient, the pieces can easily fall off, which will spoil the entire result of the work. Return to the table of contents</a>
Mosaic Algorithm
When the preparatory activities are completed,the process of creating a mosaic with your own hands begins. Here you will need to use a prepared sketch. From it, the drawing is transferred to the tabletop using a pencil. If you are not confident in your abilities, you can use a simple circular drawing, which will look great on a round tabletop.
It is recommended to apply mosaic to the tabletop withedges. To create it, you need to draw circles diverging from the center. Each row of circles is laid out with tiles of a different color. It does not matter what geometric shape the mosaic elements will have. You only need to take into account one rule: larger and more even pieces should be located at the edges, and smaller ones - closer to the center. Then you can start gluing the tiles. Experts recommend starting work not from the center of the panel, as required when processing walls, but from the edges of the countertop. Each element must be applied as tightly as possible to the other, gluing it with latex glue. Unlike wall finishing, where the base is covered with adhesive, when processing the countertop, the tiles are smeared with glue. Each particle is covered with glue using a spatula and pressed tightly to the base. Excess glue is removed immediately with a dry soft cloth. The result should be an even and smooth surface with almost invisible seams. After this, the countertop is left until completely dry. It is not recommended to use a hair dryer or other heating devices for drying. Usually, about 24 hours are allotted for drying. Return to the table of contents</a>
Grout and polishing countertops
Once the mosaic has been applied, it must becover with a special grout. Then the resulting table decoration must be covered with a special grout, which will give it strength and durability. The grout is applied with a soft spatula exactly to the seams between the elements and rubbed into them well. At the same time, it is advisable to wear gloves on your hands that can protect your skin from the effects of the composition. After applying the grout, the table must again be left until it dries completely. It is not recommended to use a hair dryer or other heating methods. The longer the grout dries, the stronger the image will be. In hot weather, the tabletop can be covered with a large damp cloth so that drying does not occur too quickly. The dried composition is removed from the tile using a dry soft cloth. In some cases, if the composition has hardened very strongly, you can use sandpaper with the smallest grains. The last stage of the work is polishing the tabletop. It will give the mosaic brightness and beauty, allow it to shine and sparkle with colors. Furniture wax is used for polishing, which is applied to a soft lint-free cloth and carefully rubbed into the tile elements. The job is done - the old table, damaged by kitchen utensils, has acquired a second life. Such a piece of furniture can decorate even the simplest kitchen. To make the tabletop look more harmonious, a similar pattern can be created on the wall in the kitchen. Here, not only ceramic tiles can be used as a mosaic, but also porcelain, pieces of mirror, and pebbles.</ ul>
