Thursday, June 16, 2011

Pasta tiles

This design seen in sala 1 and 2

The full pattern here
 We fell in love with those pasta tiles the first time we laid eyes on them. Especially in the renovated colonials where they are used in the center of rooms to create a 'rug' with a neutral color tile as the border, or with a polished cement surround. Some of the old original tiles are beautiful when restored and new ones can be made with updated designs at the same location where they were made more than a century or two ago. The 'mosaico' tiles originally came to Yucatán as ballast in merchant ships and were quickly duplicated to be used in all the colonial mansions that were being built by the Spanish elite. Because of the beauty   and durability ( periodic polishing brings them to a high lustre), eventually they were used in more modest homes as well.  They can be seen in most every building in the Centro.
Still looking for art


One of our readers asked to see the finished floors in our home, so I've posted a few photos taken with my point and shoot SureShot. Not the best in the world but you at least can get the picture ( pun intended).  We have discovered that, unlike ceramic tiles, these cement ones are not impervious to stains. We made the mistake of leaving some  colored cardboard boxes on the floor between visits and when I moved them there was a pinkish stain remaining on a few of the cream colored tiles in one of the bedrooms. Floor polisher guy was to work on them the day we left, but he wasn't promising success. These porous tiles have a tendency to discolor slightly and show fine hairline cracks, so they actually look like 'old' floors fairly quickly. Part of the charm! (:D
 The tile in the terraza, our indoor/outdoor room, was chosen to bring the color of the pool and fountain inside.  I think that worked pretty well.                                                                  
Indoor/Outdoor living
Alan semi-incognito
                                                                                                                                                                                         

7 comments:

  1. Some of the tiles we've seen in the older houses are pretty funky, but you learn to love them. Yours look great at first sight.

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  2. Beautiful! I hope my house turns out as well. I especially love the blue ones that look like the ocean!

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  3. Thanks Lee, Carlos, and Pat. I just heard from Ruben that no water came under the door during the heavy downpour the other day. We were somewhat worried that the 'street river' would make its way in.

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  4. Very nice! I can also recommend pasta tiles to people who go barefoot in the house--they're smooth and never clingy, while conventional modern tile can feel sort of sticky. It's a small detail but an important one to the obsessively barefoot.

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  5. You're right Yucatango, they do feel nice to those of us who like to shed our shoes when we're at home. Smooth and cool.

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  6. i love the tiles in the terraza, very cool

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