John went to three different stores (not an easy fete in quarantine times) and video chatted with me to pick out samples. We also had to sterilize the samples or wait three days to make sure there were no virus remnants on them before touching them a bunch. That aspect of the quarantine got old really fast.
I also looked at what felt like 1,000,000 samples online to try to pick something out. Honestly it was probably about 1,000.
What is funny is that we ended up doing what we have done every single time we have bought tile. First, we started at Home Depot, got a bunch of samples. Then, we go to a tile store, Floor and Decor. Then we looked at a bunch of other sites online. Finally, we ended up at Lowes where we got a bunch more samples. In all we bought close to $400 worth of tile samples. Thankfully they are returnable. The funny thing is that we have followed this same pattern for the other tile projects that we have done too and we always end up deciding on something from Lowes. It held true again. I think it is funny that we didn't even think of starting at Lowes this time, but it just didn't occur to us until after the other places. We don't learn very fast, either that or we just like the tile at Lowes.
Here we are trying to decide between samples (didn't get any of these).
So many factors to think about: color, texture, how it complements the quartz and other colors in the room. How relatively trendy is it? Will it look dated in 5 years? How busy it? How busy do we want it? Do we want to make a statement or let it blend in.
From our after photos, you can tell we decided we wanted something to not be too busy or eye catching. But we wanted it to be something a little more interesting than just a plain tile.
We ended up going with a glazed, white ceramic tile that had just a enough interest with some texture and pattern in the tiles. We think it a little reminiscent of a mosaic tile or Spanish tile because of the different textures. But it is pretty mild because we didn't want it too eye catchy. We also went with a light grey grout to complement the countertops.
John had his second week of furlough, which, dang it, costs us a surprising amount of money. Turns out we count on his paycheck in full. That being said, it sure was useful to have that time off in order to do the house projects we had lined up. Our top priority was doing this back splash, which was definitely pretty time consuming. It took us most of the week to get it done.
One reason that it took us so long was that I thought I wanted the tile to continue above the arch. It took John a while to get the template made for that, plus to cut and install that tile. But the next day we changed our mind and decided that it was too much. So we spent some time that day removing that a couple of other tiles that we weren't satisfied with. We still need to redo the wall texture in that spot and repaint. The to-do list never ends. I think we made the right call though. It probably would have felt like over kill to leave it.
We finished! We love that we took the tile all the way down to the countertops. Often people have a 4 inch countertop splash that rims their counters. We think that taking the tile all the way down makes it look way more upscale.
John also took out the old phone jack and security system box that was on this wall. Plus, we had to get a new plant. Greenery makes things look prettier (as long as it isn't fake stuff stapled to the walls like our house had when we moved in).
We are really happy with how it turned out. Even though our kitchen looks super white now, I love it. So much work goes into each of these steps, it sure feels good to see them completed. Side note: I love having under cabinet lights. They are the perfect lighting in the evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment