This week was highly anticipated because we were so ready to dive into something new – TILING!!
In last week’s post, we focused on painting the cabinets and building the vent hood cover. We faced some challenges, but we were able to get through it – thank God! If you haven’t checked out our blog posts from previous week’s you can click here to read Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4.
Reminder: we are participating in Jeffrey Court’s Renovation Challenge and the designer with the most votes will win $5,000. Your vote and support means so much to us, so click here to cast your vote. You can vote once per day up until reveal day.
Preparation Tips
Here are a few tips that I’ve learned throughout this process:
- Make sure the surface you are tiling is smooth/flat
- Decide on the tile layout perfect for YOUR home/style
- Purchase a wet tile saw: doesn’t have to be fancy! Just good enough to make cuts seamlessly
- MOST IMPORTANT: the first row of tile has to be level in order to ensure the rest of the tiling job runs smoothly
Time to tile…
We decided to go with the vertical stacked layout because it looks great in an open concept kitchen, which is what we have. As mentioned in Week 2 blog post, we decided to go with Jeffrey Court Taffeta White 3 in x 12 in Subway Gloss Textured Ceramic Wall Tile. This tile is the perfect color and has the handmade look, which is exactly the look I was going for.
We did bring in a reinforcement – my husband’s uncle came to help us start the tiling process. Once we explained to our family that we would be tackling this project on our own as first time tilers, they were a bit worried – to say the least! My father-in-law explained that the first row of tiles and making cuts around the outlets can be the trickiest part of the tiling process, so he wanted us to have some help with making sure the first row of tiles were level and all cuts around the outlets were done properly.
As the first row of tiles was laid on the wall, all things tiling were explained to both my husband and I. The goal is to be confident enough to eventually tile again some time in the near future, without having to look for support from family members.
One thing I will say, is tiling was FUN! I was happy to be able to take on a portion of this tiling project, but had to sit back and dictate while I had my daughter wrapped around my leg looking for attention.
Reveal day is next week!!! We have some final touches that need to happen such as styling and a MAJOR cleaning session.
Why are DIY projects so MESSY?!
Don’t forget to head back next week to see our kitchen renovation reveal!
xoxo, Adrianna