Guilty. We did this a while ago. Don’t judge me. But a project that involves a kitchen, also involves having a clean kitchen to photograph. And that never seems to happen at the right time of day to get some great pics and I only want the best for you guys.
Anyways. We have a back splash (!!!!!!!!). I’ve never had a back splash before. Like. Ever. Growing up we had a wallpapered kitchen (love ya mom and dad, so proud of you for taking that down!) and when we lived in the apartment it was painted. This kitchen was also just painted and I was so so so excited when John suggested that we put up a back splash. I didn’t waste any time at all after his suggestion. I’m pretty sure we went to the store the next day and picked out our tile.
We first picked out tile from Home Depot, but got a less than stellar reaction from my family. Since we need it to be appealing to the masses, this was kind of a bummer! We had already bought the tile, and were on our way to Lowe’s to pick up our grout and morter, (we had gift cards to each store) when they finally responded to our texts, so we were all like, uhh, too late! But on our way to the tile section to get our other stuff, we were stopped in our tracks. We saw it. THE tile. And it was on clearance! What a stroke of luck.
So, long story short, we bought our new tile and trekked our way back to Home Depot to take the other back and get our mortar and grout. Then, Alex was really mad about being in the car so long and nobody feeding him dinner, so we booked it home. Nobody’s happy when the toddler isn’t happy.
We were so excited about getting this done that we started that night. Neither of us had ever tiled before so we did a little research on YouTube, as all soon-to-be experts would, and rolled up our sleeves (after Alex was in bed of course).
Thankfully, John’s parents had all the basics for tiling and they were kind enough to lend it to us so we could do a few projects around here. Woot!
Here is right before we got started. Oh, how I can’t wait to get those cabinets painted white!!!
Note: This is not going to be a “how-to” post because it was our first ever tiling project! We basically mimicked what we have seen on DIY network, YouTube, and have read in other blogs. I just want to brag about our new backsplash.
We just dove right in. I did all of the mortaring (?) and putting up of the sheets of tile. John did all the cutting and grouting.
And just like that 3 hours later we had a (groutless) back splash.
The next night, after Alex was in bed, we got to grouting. And by we I mean John got to grouting and I took pictures.
I did help with the wiping down after letting it set for the recommended time. Even all gunky it looks sooo much better, don’t you agree??
So now, we have a gorgeous back splash, my first ever! It’s perfect for our kitchen and makes it look so much more like home. The counters are staying, so the gray tile in the back splash really pulls it all together.
It’s been so nice to have a wipe-able surface to clean when I splash red sauce while I cook gourmet meals spaghetti.
We still need to clean up the edges a little bit and maybe put up some quarter round where the tile doesn’t quite meet the cabinets.
Our next project for the kitchen is to get the cabinets painted! I think John is planning on tackling that one while he’s on paternity leave. We already have our paint picked out and everything!!! {Picture a very pregnant lady doing a happy dance}
Update: John left a few helpful tips in the comments section, so I thought I would bring them on up here!
For anyone wondering, here are a few helpful tips:
For small mosaic tiles use a v-notch trowel
Use premixed mortar and grout, if possible (a little pricier but worth it)
For glass tiles use un-sanded grout so you don’t scratch them.
We used a score n snap to cut the tiles rather than rent a saw. Took a little time but was easy to use.
Happy tiling.
Anybody else have some major or minor kitchen updates going on?
