The process of making a mirror 4 and final

Hello everybody! HAPPY OX YEAR!!

Well, here you have the mirror almost-finished, all pieces in place, ready for grouting. Note how I resolved the right side: as I said, I cut the tiles in half, but after three rows I went back to the squares. That way all green areas have a size-relation between them, not only color.

Now, the step that many says is the most difficult when making mosaics: grouting. Is not that grouting is hard, but if you choose the wrong color, you could kill a nice done design. I have at least one post about that, with an example. Of course, you can always fix it, but definitely is not the idea! So, how to choose the correct grout color?? Well, you should have color notions I guess, and/or a good taste. Most people use gray or sand colored grout, because those are neutral colors and work well with most design and mixes of tiles. The other typical are black and white. I like black, but rarely use white. I just don't like white grout. In fact, I normally use a grout in a dark shade, compared with the colors in the mosaic. I think it looks better than a lighter shade. And as of colors, I love to use different colors! Is not that I don't use gray or sand colors, but there's also blue, red, red clay, clay, different shades of green, even purple!... and you can make your own mixes out of those!! So, it is endless, really. And that's what I love about it!

In this case, I decided in an early stage of the work to use the aquamarine grout that I have. I think is perfect, because it mixes green and blue perfectly well. Sometimes this early decisions end up changed in the end, but in this case I stick to it.

BTW, is necessary to wait 24 hours for grouting, after gluing the last tile. This way we are sure the glue is really dry.

So first, is necessary to protect all the areas that wont be grouted. In this case, the mirror itself and the back. I wont add a picture of that. Then, make the mix with the perfect amount of water. With a spatula, I cover all the areas of the front part, making sure the grout is really penetrating all the spaces between the tiles. Finally, I apply grout on the sides, so they have the same color and everything matches perfectly.

After waiting for 15 minutes (all the timing depends on the temperature), I clean very softly with a humid sponge. Just a little water in it, so the excess of grout goes away. This is the moment of true, were I'm able to see how the mix goes, if the grout add to the design, or on the contrary, it results boring or unbalanced.

In this case, I like it! I think the grout makes exactly what I was expecting. Beautiful. After about 30 minutes, I clean again with a dry cloth, and leave it for other 12-24 hour to keep drying.

Final steps (last but not least): painting the back (blue in this case), add the hanging hardware and add a polyurethane layer to the back and the sides. This is important to fix the color on the sides.

A lot of steps! But totally worth it, for me. Ah! Still have to take pictures to sell it! I like that part, though. Hope you like the results!