Decorate A Ceiling With Floor Tiles

A simple dual-tone, random pattern.

Michelangelo is not the only one who can create a work of art on a ceiling. Anyone can create unique imagery or patterns on a ceiling using inexpensive vinyl tiles. Using your own design, floor tiles are affixed to the ceiling with adhesive to create a kind of mosaic.

Instructions

1. Determine a pattern or image to use in your ceiling mosaic. You can invent this yourself or you can base your mosaic off a photograph or other image. It is possible to keep it as simple as two subtle shades randomly placed, or you can create more complex image, such as a landscape. You might also look to early Byzantine, Roman or Turkish mosaics for inspiration.

2. Outline on a piece of graph tracing paper the dimensions of the ceiling. Use each graph unit as one tile. To translate the dimensions, divide the length and width of the room by the length of a tile (most tiles are 12 inches-by-12 inches) then count the resulting numbers of squares on the graph paper.

3. Size your image digitally to match those dimensions and print it out if you are basing your design on an image and are not drawing freehand on the graph paper. If not using an original digital image such as a digital photograph, either scan your image or take a digital photo of the image to upload into an imaging program. Another option is to resize the image with a color copy machine.

4. Tape graph tracing paper on top of the image.

5. Color in the squares to match the colors in the image using colored pencils or markers. This is your "map" for laying out the tiles on the ceiling.

6. Buy colored tiles accordingly. Optionally, white tiles can be colored with vinyl dye.

7. Remove any light fixtures from the ceiling.

8. Wash your ceiling using soapy water to remove any interfering contaminants. Allow the ceiling to dry. The ceiling needs to be smooth as well as dry. If you have popcorn texture, it will have to be scraped and sanded.

9. Working in small sections at a time, apply vinyl tile adhesive to the ceiling using a flooring trowel and set the tiles. Roll the tiles with a tile roller as you go to ensure they are sitting flush with the ceilings. Cut tiles to fit around fixture outlets by heating them with a heat gun and slicing them with a utility knife.

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