Some Backsplash Action

Hi y'all!!! How are ya?! I'm doing alright - it is awfully dreary out today =( We need the rain 'round these here parts though so it isn't SO bad.

This past weekend, The Husband and I installed a tile backsplash in our kitchen.  It is something we wanted to do before we officially moved in but the funds weren't there. Like other home non-necessities, it was placed on hold. That was until last weekend! I am so happy we were able to get it done.

First things first - we had to pick out what we wanted. This was going to be difficult. I have been wanting to at least pick a design but couldn't settle on anything. My sister did hers a couple months ago and it kicked my desire for a backsplash into high gear.

I met The Husband at Home Depot after work on Friday and wandered around trying to figure out what we wanted. We were trying to stay away from doing anything on a 45 because our floor tiles are set at 45 degrees. He wanted rectangular tiles and I just wasn't seeing anything I loved. I found a display that was set on 45 degrees but I LOVED the layout and tiles together. So we strolled over to the tile section to look at all our options. We sat on the floor in Home Depot together for about an hour before making a decision.

We purchased 100 four inch square tiles, 6 bronze accent tiles, and 5 sheets of small glass tiles. We picked out the grout we thought would like nice and went to rent a tile saw from the rental department. By now, it is 7 PM and the store closes at 9PM. The nice lady at the rental center told us that if we have the saw back before 9AM the next morning, we would only be charged the 4 hour rate install of the full day rate! Unfortunately, that meant we would have to work as long as it took to get the tiles all cut and on the wall. We agreed we would do that and use Sunday as our relax day.

We got home and started around 9:30 after prepping everything. We worked hard and really well together - I started making cuts for the additional half row we would have right underneath the cabinets. That's right - I used the wet saw all by myself! That is the ONLY way would were going to get finished at a decent hour. The Husband did the rest of the tiling and I followed behind with the half tiles. We put in the next to last tile at 12:30!! Three hours to do a little more than 15 square feet...Now here is the really important lesson you can learn from us -- MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE THE DAY OR SO BEFORE BUYING MATERIAL! Seriously -- we were one HALF of ONE tile short....

So at 12:30, we went to bed. When we got to Home Depot Saturday morning to return the saw, we bought 1 tile and used a scratch cutter in the rental center to make our cut.

Sunday we grouted the tiles. On Tuesday night - we changed out all the outlets to brown because it looks SO much better than the white, and we siliconed the bottom of the tiles; between the last tile and the counter top. 

I am so happy with it! Here is the thing about me - I always feel whatever we decide to be a great idea. Then we start the project and I become very unsure of our decision. Looking at the before pictures - I absolutely adore the outcome!

 

Can you and your significant other work together on big projects?