Oh Glidden, how I love thee

Folks, I'm going to tell you something that is completely shocking and amazing.

I painted my entire olive green kitchen, 2 coats... with one can of paint. I can finally cross something off of my to-do-before-Tavis-gets-here list:

• Paint kitchen
• Resurface accent wall in living room 
• Paint living room and weird hallway
• Very carefully dismantle the mermaid shrine in the backyard 
• Demolish brick planter
• Install fence 
• Reassemble mermaid shrine 
• Move floral curtains to bedroom
• Bag up yard waste
• Organize/redecorate guest bedroom (we might have like 3 days to do this before Tavis comes to visit, thankfully it should only take me an afternoon.)
• Build fire pit

Ta-da! I'm hoping to get to a few more of these this weekend...

Yeah, I know, when I finished I was stunned that I managed to make it through just one can and not have to even crack open the second one (I guess I know what color the bathroom is going to be painted now huh?).

It took just one full gallon (the can was empty when I was finished) of the Glidden 2-in-1 paint in Husky Grey to paint my rather large and awkwardly shaped kitchen. You know, I didn't realize how incredibly awkward our kitchen was until I started painting it. The weird part is over by the fridge. Part of the wall just kind of juts out for no reason. Weird. It makes that spot just a bit awkward for getting into the basement or out the back door to the garage (mostly because the fridge is in the way).

Ideally, the door to the basement would've been put on the other (large) wall instead of on the tiny wall toward the fridge. That way, there would be room for more cabinetry and the fridge without it being awkward to get in and out the door. *sigh* These folks just weren't thinking when they built the house I suppose (it's not like they didn't have refrigerators in the mid 50's).

Anyway, the Painting of the Kitchen is done, and I am incredibly sore. Garry and I both decided it would be a good idea to take some money out of our house fund to pay for me to get a professional massage. Yay! It also helps that our friend is an amazing LMT that runs her own business.

Next for the kitchen is hanging everything back on the walls and giving everything a deep cleaning. Once that is all taken care of (and we take a wee break from big projects) we'll be installing the track lighting, chandelier and possibly installing some new base and crown molding, plus casing for around the tile. Should be fun!

Oh, one *small* issue we noticed, the incredibly belligerent ivy that's growing on our house has now invaded into our basement. Yep. That's being ripped out and patched ASAP! (Go ahead, imagine me cursing at a seemingly innocent ivy leaf poking its happy little face into my basement)

Painting the kitchen, and why I should learn to think things through

I finally started painting the kitchen last night!

I didn't get home from work and running errands until later than normal, so I didn't get started with the painting until about 6:30. Now for most folks, painting a kitchen isn't like painting another room since a lot of folks have open floor plans, or small kitchens blah blah blah.

I think I bit off a little more than I could chew.

See, yesterday I was on my feet all day, running around taking photos for work. This is not a normal thing. Usually I sit happily in my office working, but it just-so-happened that five different events were happening on the same day. Did I mention I decided to wear heels too? Yeah, I'm an idiot.

I get home and my feet are already hurting. This should have been a sign that maybe I should just wait until tomorrow to start painting. But no, I'm stubborn. I soldier on.

Our kitchen is a fairly decent size with quite a bit of wall space. It took me 4 hours (of course with a few short breaks and a few minor interruptions with phone calls) to get 3/4 of the first coat painting. Since the original color is like an olive/basil green color it will definitely take two coats - even with the Glidden 2-in-1.

I was exhausted afterwards. I will say that I like the color a lot more than the dark green. The room feels so much lighter than it did before and it will transition nicely with the color I picked to redo the living room (that will happen on Saturday). The great thing is, it's a color without being overpowering. It's a cool color so it doesn't compete with the tile, it recedes.

Going to finish painting the kitchen tonight! I really hope it goes a little faster tonight... Garry said he would help me, so that's a good thing. I just don't want to be up until midnight painting my kitchen and then have to go to work early in the morning. (If it was a Friday night, I'd happily stay up all night painting if I had the energy)

I can't wait to get the shelves and some artwork on the walls. It will help add some warmth and personality to the room.

Pictures of the newly painting kitchen tomorrow!

Back splash tutorial, and a note on pebble tile

Well, our back splash is finally finished! It took a whole lot of patience, persistence and probably some other "p" word (I'm a sucker for alliteration), but it is finally finished, meaning I can start painting! Yay!

In all honesty, the process is very similar to how we laid our granite tile. Although the process for grouting had us a bit baffled so I figured this was  good to share in case you're planning on installing pebble tile as well.

I didn't include photos of the process in this post, for photos, you can see our tutorial on laying our granite counter tops.

Step one: calculate square footage and linear feet
Depending on the design you're planning on doing (one type of tile all over, or incorporating a few different kinds of tiles) You'll need to know how many square feet you'll need of each type of tile and if you're planning on adding things like pencil railing or any type of border, you'll need to make sure you have the linear feet on hand too.

To be honest, math is not my strong suit. What worked for me was deciding what types of tiles I wanted to incorporate and then deciding how much I could use where.

For instance, after we installed the counter top, we had a clearance of 17.75" between the counter and the cabinet. So, I ended up taking the travertine (3"x6") pebble tile (~4") and the pencil railing (.5") and worked out what would use up all of that space (or if I had to come up with something else). Also figure in the spacing between the tiles too (we used 1/8" spacers)

It was just enough space for 2 rows of travertine, a line of pencil railing, the pebble tile, another line of pencil railing and another 2 rows of travertine. For someone who isn't very good at math, I was rather impressed with myself!

When purchasing your tile, always make sure to buy about 10% extra - especially when using natural stone. Chances are some of the tiles are chipped, broken, or for some reason just don't look "right." Garry gets a little crazy and ends up buying 30% more than we need, but at least we can always take it back. (That's on the agenda for today)

Step two: draw a diagram of your back splash
It doesn't have to be completely to scale, but draw out how you want your back splash to look. It will certainly help as a guide when you're in the middle of the project, or if someone else is helping you.

Step three: install cement backer board 
Ideally, you would have done this before installing your counter top if you were planning on remodeling both. If you aren't planning on changing out your counter, then you'll need to take down the existing tile. If there is backer board is already there, awesome! You can just sand it down and start there. If it's like our house and the tiles were essentially "glued" on to the drywall, you'll need to install the backer board.

Installation is easy. You cut out the size you need to cover the entire wall. The cutting is also easy because all you need to do is score and snap. So all you'll need is a box cutter, t-square, marker and a tape measure. Once you get your backer board measured and cut, secure it to the wall with 3" drywall screws, making sure that you drill into the studs. Depending on how heavy your tile is, you'll want more screws. Since we used natural stone, we drilled every 4" into the studs.

Step four: protect your counter top
Trust me, you don't want to muss up your counters! I went ahead and put a few strips of painters' tape along the corner where the wall meets the counter. You'll want at least a few inches of space (because thinset and grout is really messy) to prevent from having to wipe up spills every few seconds. Also, you can cover your entire counter top with construction paper if you want. We didn't purely based on laziness and not wanting to buy one more thing.

Once your counter is protected and safe, move on to the next step...

Step five: thinset the backer board
Grab your trowel (and in my case a large putty knife as well) and start spreading that thinset! You'll want to add an even .25" or so layer of thinset to a small area (remember, you have to lay the tile within 30 minutes of applying the thinset, so the key here is to not do more than you can lay in that period of time, so dividing the back splash into sections is really helpful) and then go back over it with another .25" layer with the notched end of your trowel. If you're using natural stone or other "heavier" material, you definitely want to make sure that you have enough thinset - otherwise the tiles won't adhere properly and will fall off the wall.

Step six: lay the tile
If you are like Garry and I, this is going to be the highlight of your weekend. With laid our tile in the traditional "brick" pattern. To save Garry some frustration, I had him make the cuts as we went along instead of trying to measure it all out and cut ahead of time. This really helped because the subway tile wasn't exactly evenly cut all the way around. There were notches and indents (which is why we love it, we were definitely going for "perfectly imperfect") so trying to get an exact measurement would've driven him nuts. Plus, there were some places where the spacing needed to be adjusted (due to a cabinet being hung slightly lower than another). Overall, it was less stress on him and made the process go a lot smoother. Don't forget to put your spacers in while you're laying the tile too!

A note on pebble tile: 
When you're laying pebble tile, make sure that the mesh backing "sticks" into the thinset. This tile is fairly heavy and needs the mesh to help "hold it up." It helps to gently press each stone into the thinset as you're laying it. This will ensure that it will stay put on the wall and not slide around while you're working. Also make sure to wipe any thinset off the pebble surface (because it's a pain in the butt to scrape off after it dries). You will also want to make sure that you don't have thinset oozing out between the spaces of your tile, so make sure to clean that up.

Once you're finished laying the tile, you'll want to wait 24 hours while the thinset cures before you apply the grout.

Finally! A better photo!

Gorgeous sunlight streaming in... making it difficult to take photos

The piece that inspired it all - the lotus mosaic!

It just makes me happy.... :) 

Step seven: grout the tile
You'll want to mix the grout according to the directions on the container. While you wait for the grout to set (before mixing again) take the spacers out of the wall. If you bought the fancy pre-mixed stuff, go right ahead and start (but still take the spacers out first!).

Take your rubber float and apply a generous amount of grout to the tile. Tile the float at a 45* angle and push/scrape the grout into the cracks. Do this until all the spaces are covered.

A note on pebble tile: 
OMG does this require a lot of grout! While it's absolutely beautiful and worth every frustrating moment of it, grouting pebble tile is not easy. Since the pebbles have varying thickness and the space between pebbles varies, it gets to be rather cumbersome. We actually used a smaller margin float to do the job and that seemed to help. We also ended up needing double the grout we would normally use, so if you're planning on doing pebble tile, make sure to buy double the grout you would normally use for that area. Be patient, as I promise, it will be worth it when you're done.

Step eight: wipe excess off tile
After waiting 15 minutes or so (enough time for the grout to start curing, but it's not dry yet) wipe down the excess grout on your tile. (With the pebble tile, there will be a lot). I found that using the scrubby side of the shop sponge to get the grout out of the cracks and then use the smooth side to wipe it off really helped. With our pencil railing, we had to use a kitchen sponge because the crevices were so small.

Once you get most of the excess off, wait 2 hours and then sponge off again.

Step nine: final cleaning and sealing
After you're done with the second cleaning, you'll probably be tired and want to take a nap. Now is a good time because you need to wait at least 24 hours before you do the final cleaning and at least 48 hours before you seal.

When doing the final cleaning, use either a microfiber cloth or cheesecloth to clean as much of the grout off of the tiles as possible. When the appropriate time has elapsed, seal the back splash according to the product's instructions. With natural stone, you will want to put a few coats of sealant on it, especially in the kitchen. At this point, you can peel up your painter's tape, construction paper, whatever you used to protect your counter top and admire your work.

We still need to wipe off some more grout (it was caked on there pretty thick)

I love how the pebbles really tie together the cabinets, mosaic and counter tops!  The grout really lightened everything up as well, making it feel less dark and "cave-like"

Before

After (we still have a bit of clean-up and decorating to do)

While Garry works at getting the rest of the grout off, de-hazing the tile and sealing it, I'll be painting and making new curtains! 

We took a mad-dash at cleaning last night too. Let me tell you - construction is dirty work and cleaning the kitchen was no small task! During our major "spring cleaning" I'll be de-greasing the cabinet doors and putting some new shelf liners in the drawers and cabinets, plus some organization of the pantry.

Overall, there are still some small tweaks that need to be made around the outlets where things didn't fit quite right. Yeah, we know that's something we should have checked before letting the thinset cure - chalk that one up to experience. Luckily we have extra tiles (both the pebble and travertine) that it won't be a problem to take care of. All of our previous tiling projects have been on surfaces without outlets, so this was a new one for us. Live and learn right? And now... onto painting... :D :D :D :D :D :D

Back splash complete! and now project Clean the Kitchen

The kitchen back splash is complete! I will have final photos and a tutorial for you tomorrow as we still need to buff out the tiles completely, clean the counters and put everything back where it belongs.

Thankfully, the kitchen is all finished now (except for small side projects) and we can finally give it a good scrubbing! About time too!

Storage has become a slight issue in our house. For some reason, Garry thinks it's perfectly okay to store his tools and stuff of that nature, in the pantry. A while back, I went through in a crazed fit and re-organized our pantry so I could actually see what was in there and noticed there were just a ton of tools, boxes of nails and other assorted bits in there. *sigh*

We also don't really have anywhere to put our vacuum and steam mop. They just kind of sit in the living room. No bueno. 

Once our roommate moves out at the end of the month, we can use that bedroom closet for the vacuum and steam mop (hopefully) and start getting everything arranged to some semblance of routine instead of the perpetual chaos that we seem to live in. 

I, for one, am not a huge fan of chaos. And yet, I still live continuously in it. 

The big thing on the agenda this week is to clean that kitchen. Meaning getting ALL of the construction equipment/tools/etc OUT of the kitchen (I'm looking at you Garry) vacuum, mop (probably more than once of each) getting a de-greaser and cleaning the cabinets, cleaning the fridge, taking down the curtains (and everything else on the walls) and then... finally... painting!

Painting is a weird obsession I have. For some reason I absolutely love the thought of putting a fresh coat of paint on a wall. I don't know why, because usually halfway through the project I'm tired and I don't want to do it anymore. But, the end result is usually something to be proud of and sometimes just a change of pace is nice. 

We have a few other projects as well that need to be completed in the next 3 weeks. Then, I think we're going to take a break from DIY for a while. Mostly so we can focus on the puppy, but I also because we're kind of DIY-ed out for the moment. (Meaning no more BIG projects for a while, I still have a MILLION little projects to complete from curtains, pillows, wall signs/artwork and gardening). 

Here's the list: 

• Paint kitchen
• Resurface accent wall in living room 
• Paint living room and weird hallway
• Very carefully dismantle the mermaid shrine in the backyard 
• Demolish brick planters
• Install fence 
• Reassemble mermaid shrine 
• Move floral curtains to bedroom
• Bag up yard waste
• Organize/redecorate guest bedroom (we might have like 3 days to do this before Tavis comes to visit, thankfully it should only take me an afternoon.)
• Build fire pit

I'm also hoping that we will get rid of the crappy computer desk we have and bring in the much more sturdy desk that is sitting in the garage. I'd also like to organize the garage and the sun room, but I'm doubtful that will happen in the next 3 weeks without having to take time off of work. 

As far as the DIY project list for the rest of the year (what we have as of right now)... well let's just add the list above with this: 

• Seal the basement
• Grind stumps in yard 
• Install drywall in attic
• Install electrical boxes in attic 
• Paint attic 
• Install lighting in attic
• Add rose bushes to front planter
• Add perennial flowers to front entryway 
• Pull out bushes in backyard, move what is necessary 
• Plant bulbs around mermaid shrine
• Fix front porch area 
• Tear out invasive plants and shrubs growing too close to foundation 
• Mulch garden
• Seed yard (front and back) 
• Possibly plant the shrubs/bulbs in the back yard 

On top of that, we'll need to have someone come over and cut down/grind the large pine tree in our back yard. At some point it was hit by lightning and you can tell it's dying. Having someone come over and do it would be great, and *hopefully* we could keep some of the wood to season and use in our fire pit. 

It's going to be the Year of the Yard apparently! I'm actually looking forward to getting in the dirt and planting a bunch of pretty flowers. I've never actually had a "garden" of my own, so this will definitely be interesting to see if it grows, or if it ends up being a total fluke. 

Back splash - almost done!

This weekend we spent a ton of time working on the back splash. We were so stoked that it could *finally* be done, but oh... that was not to be.

We managed to get *most* of it done, however, we didn't realize how much grout you need to properly grout the pebble tile. Let me tell you, it's a LOT! We bought one package of grout and we ran out just a little over halfway through. So, if you're planning on installing pebble tile, make sure you plan to double the amount of grout you would normally use.

Overall, it looks gorgeous! Even though we're not quite done yet, it still looks absolutely beautiful! I'll have some photos posted tomorrow after we're finished and get a chance to clean. I have to say, it's a million times better than when we moved in.

We also bought more paint today. Since I wanted to use the Glidden 2-in-1 paint, I had to find a color that came close to the origial color I picked. I still went with a light taupey-green color. It's Glidden's Huskey Grey. In the light it's a a light grey-green-taupe color. It's really pretty! I also bought some paint for the living room - Glidden's Barely Jade. It will look really nice with what I'm planning to do. :)

Back splash, by the seat of our pants

Since all of a sudden it decided to be cold and rainy yesterday, Garry and I decided it might be a good idea to take a break from the backyard situation get started on the kitchen back splash (so at some point next week I can paint and get everything done before my friend comes to visit in April. 

Garry was starting to get a little frustrated because it seems like all we do lately is deal with tile. Well, that's what happens when you're dealing with 50 sq ft of it I suppose. I decided that maybe instead of trying to figure out all of the measurements all at once, that we should just "do it as we go" and it might actually move faster that way. 

Since we're using a noce travertine tile, it doesn't have to be as precise as the granite tile had to be. That helped in the process, since it was really hard to use those little spacers with the bullnosed and slightly uneven edges. 

Luckily, the process worked. In an hour and a half, we finished a good chunk of the back splash. And you kow what folks - it looks gorgeous - even better than I imagined it to be!

Forgive the crappy photo quality, I didn't bring my camera home from work

Doesn't it look gorgeous?! We'll be using a light-colored grout so it won't look that much different once we grout it. I think the color really brightens up the back splash area and it looks less like a "black hole." The noce travertine has a really great "rough" texture to it that contrasts really nicely with the slick granite. The pencil molding around the pebble tile is carved to look like rope. You can't really tell in this photo, but it looks awesome!

The other great thing, the colors in the pebbles really pick up the colors in the counter top, cabinets and travartine. 

Tomorrow we're going to do the other side of the stove and sink area. Yes, we will be saving the "behind the stove" area for last. I need to pick up some rail molding to finish framing the mosaic and we need to make sure we have enough of the pebble tile to do what we need to do, or adjust the design accordingly. 

I'll post the tutorial once we complete the project. However, I'll say that it's not much different than laying the tile for the granite counters, with the exception that it's a vertical surface, not horizontal. 

We're coming along! After this weekend we should be done with the back splash and then I can finally paint! YAY paint!

A change of heart... I mean paint

Well folks, we finally decided on some paint colors!

We decided to go with the Earth Elements collection at Lowes. We chose a taupey-grey green color (from the
"Air" collection) for the kitchen and then paint the living room the shade darker.

Yeah, I know, we *just* painted in August.

Something I've learned is that no matter how hard you plan or how many paint chips you tape up, sometimes you still will end up repainting. I should have known we would end up doing it again as we went through a similar situation at our old apartment. (We painted the living room a bright light aqua and I ended up repainting it a sage green and loved it)

I guess change is hard for this chica. As much as I thought I could love light aqua paint, I'm just not loving it in the living room anymore. Apparently, earthy greens is where I'm happiest in the living room. Well, at least now we know.

Oh, and the accent wall? Yep, we're redoing that too. :) It will look awesome when it's done. It's a secret though!

Of course, I'm hoping to finish all of this before my dear friends come in from London for a visit. Que hysterical fits of DIY over the next few weeks.


You can view my styleboard for the living room on Kaboodle here.

We already own the couch, clock and white curtains. I'm still not 100% sold on the dark tan curtains, but I'd like to find something in a faux dupioni (Christmas Tree Shoppe usually sells them for dirt cheap) in a similar color or in ivory. I'll be honest, I'm not planning on making any more curtains for a while.

Also, I'm hoping that we will (finally) move the computer desk somewhere where it won't be in the way. I just don't like it in the living room as it makes the room look really cluttered. Garry has eyes to make the current guest room the office, but I'm hoping he will concede to putting it in the attic. There is infinitely more storage in our attic and there's enough space for an office and a guest room (with the current guest room becoming a baby room down the road).

With the change in paint - we're going to be changing up some of the accessories in the living room too. I'm also hoping at some point to get this.

I think it will be gorgeous.

Garry isn't entirely on board, I'm not really sure why either. I think it will open up the space on that end of our living room. I was also planning on getting one of those tall vases (with jute or some other natural fiber wrapped around it) and get some tall stuff to put in it. How's that for technical terms!

We're also in the market for a new area rug. I'd really love a nice, fluffy flokati rug, but those can be a bit of a pain to clean. Something cream colored with a high-pile (otherwise the cats destroy it) will work.

The personality of the room is really going to come out in the accessories. We have a bunch of really nice pieces (and we finally hung my carousel prints!) so the background can be neutral instead of trying to compete with all of our fun things.

We'll be working on the back splash tile this evening! Here's hoping it's as productive as I'm hoping it to be!