DIY Cottle Style

{I posted this on our "Bits of Everything" blog, but wanted it here too}

There is a great satisfaction that comes when you finish a home project that you've been wanting to do. Since we moved into our home two and a half years ago, I've wanted to put in a back-splash and new faucet in our kitchen. We finally found an open Saturday and got to work. It's amazing the projects you can do that don't cost too much that can make such a huge difference.

Here are the supplies you need:

*12x12 tiles of your choice
*adhesive to back the tiles
*an adhesive spreader
*grout
*a flat bottom spreader tool for spreading the grout (different than adhesive)
*a large yellow sponge to wipe the grout
*a towel to clean after you've sponged
*possibly a tile saw (we ended up renting one)
*Calk to seal the edges

We started out measuring the first piece so that it was exactly side to side and top to bottom where we wanted it above our oven. Then we started at the left and worked to the right. We spread a generous amount of adhesive and then applied the tile and pressed as hard on it as we could. Some of the adhesive came through the little tiles-which I quickly wiped up. We aligned the tiles so they connected and just kept moving through the kitchen. It took us about 4 hours to apply on and then 5 hours to let the adhesive dry before we applied the grout.

Here are the before pictures:


Here are the working pictures (which I am missing out of! :):



And here is the finished product:




I also painted our downstairs bathroom while my husband was out of town last week!
Here are the before pics:




And the after pics: p.s I used Dover Gray satin paint (Olympic)



Linked up with:
Organize and Decorate Everything