Showing posts with label home renovation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home renovation. Show all posts

10/21/13

Kitchen Backsplash

I can't remember if we bought this house in 1995 or '96, but I can tell you that it's time to do a little updating. And to see what the current style in our area, all we have to do is wander through some new builds. Bedrooms will stay the same size, all you have to do is paint them to given them life.

And though hubs would love to remove all the carpeting, that simply isn't possible with Maggie, the sheepdog, tearing around the corners. Our little bit of wood in the front entryway is scarred from her trying to get a grip.  Yes, we have a carpet in here, but there are two corners to slide around when one goes down the stairs and into the main living space.

Back on topic:

The first thing that came into the hubster's mind was the kitchen backsplash. Quite a few years ago we replaced the Formica countertops with Corian. Hubs wanted granite, but I'm not a fan of granite. Besides the color I wanted (with a ripple of blue through it) was probably the rarest granite out there. READ:  $$$$ cha-ching!
 
Picture Time!
The white backsplash was so stark against the white cabinets that my MIL painted the grapevines for me.
Hubs added the under the counter lights the first year we moved in. It was DARK under there when the winter gloom arrived!

 
Test hole: discovered an outlet hidden by the builder residing under the tile behind my stove. Oops!

For some reason, I can't enlarge the next pictures. Sorry. I tried numerous times and numerous ways, but Blogger won't let me do it. I sent feedback to Google Blogger.

Tile removed. Plastering started.
 
 
Everything plastered, ready for tiling.
 
The first few tiles go up. Remember EVERY side AND outlet will have to have tiles cut to fit.
That's a lot of tiles!


FYI: Hubs has tiled before, namely our bathroom, the kidlet's bathroom and the utility room. We have a we saw. Be sure to wear your safety glasses, gloves and shoes when cutting the glass tiles. Yeah, hubs managed to step on some glass. Blood was everywhere.
Sorry, no pictures.

Pre-grout: We . . .er, HUBS did remove the stove and microwave to add a row of tiles to give it the right look.

Grouted. We sealed the quarts stone before grouting.
 
Grout still worked its way into the quartz. So we took white vinegar and a toothbrush and scrubbed every piece of quartz tile.

Finished!

Yep, there's a decent amount of stuff on my counters. And Yes, my hubby makes his own wine . . . and my kitchen is the only place in this house to do it!

At least it's past the fermenting stage. Ugh, I get yeast headaches from the smell.

I haven't forgot about the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom ride breakdown . . . well, okay, I DID forget about it, but I've had other things on my mind!
 
I'll work on it today, and hopefully will have it up later this week. I can't promise tomorrow because I need to make candy,finish judging a contest, plus write a thank-you note to an editor.
 
Later, Peeps!