Tiling With Mixed Colours & Mixed Materials

Monochrome - Single Colour
Using a single colour produces a uniform monochromatic tiling project: This doesn't mean a classical art deco black and white tile selection; the single colour could be anything, for instance orange, red, blue or green. This tends to produce a very uniform tiled surface but doesn't have to; variation could be introduced by varying the size, shape, texture or reflectivity of tiles. Another variation although not strictly monochrome is to use a single colour and vary its tone,shade and tint by adding differing amounts of black and white to darken or lighten the main colour. Adding black to darken a colour produces a shade, white lightens it producing a tint while black and white or grey make a colour tone by greying the main colour.Natural stone tiles do this perfectly by creating unique patterns based around a single colour

Mixed Colours
As any painter will tell you; mixing colours is an art and for this reason many artists try and use a limited colour palette of just a few colours, often with one main dominant colour then adding other colours to add accents and create a mood e.g dark and sombre, light and airy, warm (generally reds and yellows), cool (blues) etc. Mosaic tiles for borders and variation can help mix up small blocks of colour that can work together by contrasting with the main tile colour or harmonising by using a similar colour

Mixed Textures and Materials
We all "see" the world in different ways with many of us seeking visual stimulation from variations in light and shade while others notice textural differences and have a more kinaesthetic mode of "seeing" by picking out surface textures noticing changes in the hardness or softness of objects. Using tiles of different materials or surface finish can add variation of not just light and shade but surface texture too for a more stimulating tiled surface