I belong to a workshop (officina) of mosaic-makers, and we have made mosaic floors for many of the villas in Sussex. Sometimes we lay floors in new villas, and at other times we put a new floor over an old worn out floor.

When a villa owner wants a new floor, I visit him with a pattern book, showing him the different designs for borders and centres of mosaics. He can also choose the colours of the floor. Black and white mosaics used to be popular, but now most people prefer floors with reds and yellows
as well. The central pictures are often of gods and goddesses, such as Minerva, Neptune or Cupid, with dolphins and wine cups. The gods are supposed to bring good luck to the villa owner. Flowers and leaves are common in borders, and so are shapes like triangles and squares. The most difficult border looks like plaited rope (guilloche), and even I make mistakes sometimes when I lay it.

The mosaics are made from tiny pieces of cut stone (tesserae) which are set in cement (mortar). I mark out the pattern on the mortar with a stick so that I know where to put the tesserae. I choose the colours carefully from trays and press them into the mortar. The picture should look as lifelike as possible, with flowing lines of tesserae set close to each other.
Often I change the border pattern of a mosaic by a doorway, so it looks like a stone doormat.

Mosaic floors are difficult to make and take a long time, so my bill is not cheap - but the proud owners of my mosaics know they have a floor that will last a lifetime!