The art of creating mosaics is ancient, but its appeal in 21st century homes is easy to piece together. Eye-catching mosaics are working their way up from floors onto kitchen backsplashes and into colorful home decor.

“People are drawn to mosaics,” says Sonia King, past president and founding member of the Society of American Mosaic Artists, with studios in Dallas and San Francisco. “Unlike paintings, little pieces are assembled to make a whole, while each individual piece retains its unique identity.”

A mosaic is a surface decoration made by inlaying small pieces of various colors and textures to form a pattern or picture. In about 3000 BC, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq) created some of the earliest mosaics by pressing colored clay pegs into walls. Later, the Egyptians used fragments of colored materials to create mosaics, while the ancient Greeks are credited as the first to use colored stones and pebbles to make permanent designs.

The Romans built on this technique and cut stone into cubes, while also using fired clay and glass for special effects. The development of cements and mortars made Roman mosaics more durable and many have survived into modern times.

But the desire for beauty and color in one’s home is as relevant today as it was in ancient times. “As people move away from neutral colors in their homes, a mosaic can bring a space personality and a pop of color,” King says. “Mosaics are very engaging and each has intellectual, physical and visual elements that just draw you into it.”

During these economic times, when more people are upgrading their current homes instead of buying new ones, King says many are creating or commissioning a mosaic that is personal and makes a statement. Popular places in the home for a mosaic design include the front entryway floor, a fireplace surround and a kitchen or bathroom backsplash. “There’s a huge variety and vitality in American mosaics,” says King, who also authored Mosaic Techniques and Traditions (2003, Sterling Publishing Co.) “A mosaic can add color and life to the inside and outside of homes.”

Part of what makes a mosaic so intriguing is the abundance of materials available for a one-of-a-kind design. A piece used in a mosaic is called a tessera (or tesserae in the plural), from the Latin word for “cube.” Practical considerations, such as a material’s application and durability, help an artist to determine what tesserae to use:

•  Ceramic tesserae: Tiny glazed and unglazed tiles — an unglazed tessera features an earthy color palette, while the glazed tessera has a thin, brittle layer of glaze in a rainbow of colors.

•  Vitreous glass tesserae: This material is usually a square with a flat upper surface and beveled underneath, available in a wide range of colors.

•  Smalti: These handmade tesserae are most notably from Italy, made of very dense enamelized glass, and used in mosaics since the Byzantine era. These are expensive and are mostly opaque. Gold smalti consists of gold or white gold between two layers of glass.

•  Stones and pebbles: Pieces of slate, marble and other stones have natural color variations and interesting textures.

•  Marble gems: Flat-backed, these tesserae are also called “dragon tears.” Very popular, with more than 50 colors from which to choose, these “droplets” have finishes that are shiny, metallic or frosted.