How to Lay Peel & Stick Tile

Ok I got a lot of compliments on the floor and a few fellow bloggers mentioned they would be doing this to their floors too.

So I decided to share my wisdom of peel & stick tile.

First forget about searching the internet for tile you like. Everytime we would find something we liked home depot or lowes had discontinued carrying it. It was so frustrating.

I knew I wanted a black and white tile floor if I couldn't get hardwoods.

It was pretty easy to find the black. Lowes carried an nice black marble tile from Armstrong, we could not find a white. We find a nice off white marble tile from Armstrong.

We bought a few of each tile to lay on the floor to see how it looked in our room.

We liked it and went back and bought 100 sq ft of each color. (we ended up buying 30 sq ft more of each color to finish).

Here's where you can learn from our mistakes. We started laying tile in one corner and working our way out. This was a big mistake because the walls are not even and the pattern started to slant.

We pulled up the tile and chalked two lines; one horizontally in the center of the room and one vertically in the center of the room. We layed the first black tile down so each point on the tile was directly on the horizontal and vertical line in the very center of the room. From that point we worked out into each of the four grids using the lines as our guides. My husband said this was much easier than working off the walls.

The tiles will cut easily with a razor blade.

Partying at....

Funky Junk Interiors

Kitchen Reveal!!!

Here is the before. When we moved in the walls were painted two shades of greenish blue and tan above the cabinets on one wall. The cabinet boxes were painted the same color as the walls and the doors were painted cream. The floor had a tan generic sheet vinyl floor.

After

Here it is after my husband made the chandelier longer.





We put a 25" apron sink on a 36" base cabinet. This was ok because the countertop holds the sink. We did have to cut the two original drawers and make them into two small drawers (they no longer open we just crazy glued them to the base cabinet)



This has been a lot of work.

Here's what we did and a breakdown of costs.

1. Paint Cabinets & Walls Benjamin Moore - $100 paint and brushes
2. Ikea Black Countertops & Farmhouse Sink - $400
3. Price Pfister Faucet Home Depot - $140
4. Armstrong Vinyl Tile Lowes - $260
5. Tongue and Groove Beadboard Backsplash Home Depot- $60
6. 2 Ikea Chandeliers - $80

For a grand total of $1,020!!!!

We did buy a paint sprayer and compressor to spray that cabinets for $120 but since their are so many uses we'll have for them I didn't include it in the total.

Their are still a few small things to do. I will not love it until it has crown molding. But for now its a huge improvement.

This post is hooked up to:

Before and After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Metamorphasis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Make your Monday @ Twice Remembered

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land

Timeless Tuesday @ Paula Grace Designs

Just Something I Whipped up Monday @ The Girl Creative

Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking

Show and Tell @ Blue Crickett Design

Why painting my cabinets led to a full blown remodel.

This all started in November when I decided to test how strong my marriage is paint the kitchen cabinets black.

We were spraying them in the garage before hell frooze over the cold spell but had to quit until we had a few warm days last week. The previous owners painted them a real hideous interesting shade of cream and blue. I degreased them and sanded them lightly. Well, when I painted them the paint didn't stick. I could literally peel it off in some places. I sanded them down to the wood and started over with Benjamin Moore Acrylic Primer and Benjamin Moore Acrylic Latex Semi Gloss Paint. Semi Gloss is not forgiving in Black so either roll it or spray it.


I figured I may as well paint the kitchen so it wouldn't drip on my newly painted black cabinets.

Well once the walls were painted my husband and I both decided we hated the floors and couldn't live with them. So up came that ugly vinyl and down went some cool checkered vinyl. I fought really hard for wood but lost that battle.



At some point we decided we must change the countertop. We wanted butcher block counters and Ikea has some great deal on them, but were out of stock when we were there. We both liked this Stone Effect Laminate and apron sink. It was too great a deal to pass up.

We hated the tile backsplash and figured while the countertop was off we would take down the backsplash. The tile and drywall came off together, so we had to re-drywall the backsplash.



We had to go to Home Depot to get a new faucet since the apron sink has only one hole. While we were there we got some beadboard for the backsplash.
I bought two faucets because I am completely wishy washy when it comes to making decisions.

My husband ended up picking the Price Pfister -if I had went with the Moen we would have to drill a hole where the red star is for the sprayer.

This is all we are doing for now and when it is finished I will post what the final total was. But since we did all the work ourselves it has not been too expensive.

This post has been linked to:

Kitchen Progress So Far

Here's a picture of the kitchen so far.

I am ok with the blue walls, the floor and the cabinets...




I need to decide what kind of countertop.

Should I put a butcherblock or white countertop? (Ikea has both)








Will my idea of a faux tin tile backsplash in white still match or should I use a different color? (White, Spray Painted Cream or Silver)








Will my silver and white frosted lights still match or should I use something else?

Preview of Projects Underway.

This is the inspiration photo for my kitchen. John Jacob Zwiegelaar's home.

Well the kitchen has been indefinitely put on hold. Its too cold to finish spraying the cabinets in the garage. We are going to finish painting the kitchen walls tommorow. I wanted to do a black and white checkered floor but it was impossible to find a quality black and white vinyl that I could afford. We found a nice black and a tanish white from Armstrong. My darling husband is going to do the walls and floors tommorrow.

So heres what is left to do in the kitchen...
1. Finish painting the walls.
2. Put the vinyl floors down
3. Finish spraying cabinet doors (on hold until we reach 50 degrees)
4. Hang new light fixtures
5. Put new baseboards
6. Eventually paint kitchen table and get slipcovers for chairs
7. New window treatments (on hold until I budget for it and figure out what I want)



To Finish the Wood Floors (Master Bedroom, Hallway, Upstairs Living Room)
1. Fill gaps and knots
2. Sand
3. Stain
4. Seal



To Finish Master Bedroom..
1. Fix a hole in the wall from the doorknob.
2. Touch up paint on the walls
3. Restain the two dressers all the same color.
4. Organize the his and her closets.
5. Finally pack up all the clothes I've outgrown
6. Spray paint the ceiling fan




To Finish the Master Bathroom..
1. Paint Walls (when I pick a color)
2. Paint Vanity
3. Scrape popcorn off ceiling
4. Install vent
5. Put down vinyl floor tiles



To Finish Downstairs Family Room.
1. Touch up paint on walls
2. Organize Book cases
3. Find a nice end table (get rid of big wood/glas table)
4. Figure out what to put on wall behind the couch



To Finish Laundry/Office/Craft Room
1. Touch up paint
2. Attach countertops
3. Add two electrical outlets
4. Remove built in fishtank and drywall up wall
5. Add shelves over washer and dryer




Miscellaneous Home Projects
1. Paint all the inside door frames, window frames, and doors (prev. owners were smokers)
2. Paint Front Door and ouside shutters
3. Organize the garage.
4. Repaint blue desk.



Hopefully we have these finished by the end of February.

3 Projects Going at Once

Ok I am working three projects at once in a desperate attempt to have a living area that's usable for Christmas.

I am removing popcorn from my hallway ceiling, painting the kitchen cabinets black and walls grey blue and finishing installing wood floors.

I started the popcorn last weekend - apparently if you don't sand enough the stuff peels when you go to repaint. So I have to resand and paint over. I started the cabinets this week too. I am hoping to just be working on the floors by Monday.

If I by chance get the floors in by Black Friday than I am going to finish them.

Here are some pictures of my progress.


I was testing out paint colors next to the black.

See no floors.

Ok, maybe its user error but this definitely wasn't worth $17 - sorry Home depot.

Spray the ceilings with water or vinegar depending on if their painted or not... and scrape.

On the left is SW Sleepy Blue , than SW Tidewater, and the last is a custom grey-blue from Home Depot. I picked the custom blue on the right.
This bright blue was already on the walls and is going. The tan is becoming blue also. I am planning to put wood floors in here and butcher block counters.


Wish me luck.