tile Archives | Crafted Niche - a lifestye blog that shares DIY crafts, recipes and tutorialsCrafted Niche – a lifestye blog that shares DIY crafts, recipes and tutorials

You are browsing the archive for tile Archives - Crafted Niche - a lifestye blog that shares DIY crafts, recipes and tutorials.

{Crashing @ Christy’s} Kitchen Makeover – Stage 2

November 7, 2012 in Crashing at Christy's, Kitchen

Wow! It feels like I’ve been away from the blog FOR-EVER. It wasn’t intentional. I had a moment of frustrated, frugal anger and CANCELLED my internet service. Trust me… they were overcharging.

Fast-forward a few weeks and I’m BACK IN BUSINESS. Saving $40 a month, no contract and a FASTER speed. Booyah. Take that Centurylink. I hate how phone, cable and internet companies give new customers a great price…. and then jack up the fees over time. So much for rewarding loyal customers!

Anywhoooo, I’m back from my impromptu blogcation and ready to share some of my fun!

First and foremost – we’re long overdue for an update from my sister Christy on her kitchen makeover. She first spilled the beans on her culinary-overhaul on October 1st. Wait until you see the progress! Take it away, Christy…

Hey, fellow Crafted Niche followers! I’m back to talk about my kitchen makeover. I am so over this kitchen makeover. Over it. This is a never ending project and I’m sick of going out to eat. We’ve been without a kitchen for about 8 weeks now. Lame city. But, let me show you what we’ve accomplished since you last looked and maybe that will lift my spirits.

We painted the walls to prepare for the cabinets being installed. I am loving grey right now and we went with Valspar’s Urban Sunrise. It will also be the hallway color (that or another one from the swatch).

The unpainted parts in the kitchen are where tile is going to go. So excited to get to that part, but we have to wait for the countertops. Blah.

Next up…. CABINETS!!! This is where it starts to look like a kitchen again. The Lowes installers were here for about a day and a half. They did a great job and had to spend a lot of time leveling since my old house is so off-level.

See that cutout below the window? Impromptu electrician visit. We had to have a wire run through the walls so that all the backs wouldn’t need to be cut out of the cabinets. So, I patched those a few days later.

See that blue “body outline” on the floor? That was a tape reminder not to step there. I had to try to smooth out a crack before we could tile in there.

I am so glad I had them installed instead of doing that part DIY. There are some things that are better left to the pros. For me, this was one of those things.

What now? More tiling of course!

We had to do an appliance shuffle because my old water shutoff valve doesn’t quite shut the water off. Almost, but not quite. So, we just kept sliding the fridge around after the mortar was set (at 24 hours later).

Had to show off some of my mom’s skills at cutting tile. She does such a great job!

Loving this tile color with the white cabinets! And, it should be noted that you don’t see our Labs’ hair tumbleweeds as much now. Yes!!!

Grout, de-haze, and seal. Then, we could bring in the appliances! Starting tomorrow, we’ll be cooking in our house again. So excited. But, we’ll still be without a sink for a few more weeks. Boooooo. Oh well, the next milestone is in our sights!

I love how my over-the-range microwave and range look together. So pretty. And, that microwave makes a mean bag of popcorn. Perfect.

Here’s a couple before-and-after’s to show you how we’re doing…

It feels bigger somehow. But, we didn’t move any walls or add any floor space. Actually, we lost a couple feet of cabinets, but we’ve gained countertop space. Up next is trim, countertops, tile, open shelves, oh my! And, then one day (probably this Winter), we’ll get around to tiling the floor in the laundry room that is seen from the kitchen. One day.

Thanks for reading!

-Christy

Pretty amazing already, right?! I’m telling you… Christy should be the one blogging. That girl is a get ‘er dun type… Whether it’s brass fixtures, 1970′s paneling or outdated cabinets, she’s a take-no-prisoners DIY’er.

And speaking of impressive…. my sisters are BOTH running HALF-MARATHONS in a week. Ummm WOW. I’m so proud of both of them. I wish I was closer so I could cheer them on and be their #1 fan. Super proud of my sisters!

……aaaaand sorry for the long delay in posting on the blog! I promise… I won’t cancel my internet in anger without having a back-up plan next time!

LIKE CraftedNiche on Facebook | FOLLOW CraftedNiche on Twitter | Shop CraftedNiche on Etsy

{Crashing @ Christy’s} Kitchen Makeover Kick-Off

October 1, 2012 in Crashing at Christy's, Kitchen

Christy’s back again! This time she’s sharing how she kicked-off her kitchen makeover. I’m amazed at her progress already! I’ll let her take it from here…

Oh my. So, I’m writing this post because I couldn’t stand the thought of working on this project for one more minute tonight. I’m extremely tired and will continue tomorrow. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

So, I took the plunge and decided that 2012 would be The Year of the Kitchen. Woot woot! Very exciting until you write down what all needs to happen to get a new kitchen.

This is how it’s looked for a few years.

Ever realize how a home project in one room can spiral into the adjoining rooms? UGH. There are two types of flooring in the dining room/kitchen/laundry areas. I knew that I wanted to all be tile. So, once I ordered the cabinets and countertops (I ended up going with Lowes’ Shendoah Cabinetry line), I wasted no time ~~suckering~~ talking my guy into scraping out the old parquet flooring. Thank goodness he helped. It would have taken me triple the amount of time that it took him.

Walking on the bare concrete was gross and I’m looking forward to the whole room being tiled. Notice the paneling in this room (dining room)? Well, it kinda just ends at the current cabinets. So, I needed to get this room drywalled so it would make sense with the new cabinets and open shelving I have planned. This part I had done by a pro. It’s totally worth paying someone to mud/tape and hang drywall. They’re so much quicker and better at it! See, project continues to spiral…

So, I had to rip out the cabinets first. That took about a week of ripping out and taking breaks. Then, I found a guy on Craigslist that would haul away the materials from demo for only $125! Sweet. Less than a dumpster and what I had wouldn’t have fit in a Bagster. Score.

All my cabinets were built in place back in 1965 so they were a bear to tear out!

Pretty right? One of the holes was from a laundry chute that dropped into the kitchen. And the others were from old leaks. Creepy. Enter the drywall guy…

In addition to tearing out the paneling, they had to tear out the scrap drywall pieces that was placed as filler behind the paneling.

Add some primer and it’s really looking nice. I still need to caulk the ends of the beams where there’s now a gap from the paneling not being there.

Getting ready for tile now! My mom offered to help (and she’s a worker bee) so I definitely took her up on her offer. I got her help for 7 hours. She’s a master tile cutter and mortar mixer. Definitely a handy lady to have around during a project like this. And, my guy helped us out by carrying in tile, mortar, and running to get tools we forgot or lunch. Everyone was exhausted at the end of the 7 hours. BUT, it was totally worth it to knock out a major chunk of the tiling.

This is us getting our layout correct and snapping our chalk lines.

My guy had pity on me and helped by taking out all the spacers. I probably would have cried if I had to do it before grouting. My body was soooooooo tired.

A series of pictures makes it look so quick. Ha! Is it easy? Yes. But, it’s time consuming and you will definitely be sore and tired. It’s all sealed and helped us spread out some of the sore muscles,

Lowes installers are coming this week to install the cabinets so we’re making a mad dash this weekend to finish up prep work for them. We have to remove the linoleum in the kitchen, would like to paint the walls and ceiling in the kitchen. I just think it will be so much easier to do that before the cabinets are in. So, back to a little couch recovery so I have a little energy in the morning!

-Christy

How GREAT does that tile look? Uh-mazeballs right?! I wish I had a fireplace in my dining room. How cozy. Who am I kidding… I wish I had a fireplace in ANY room. #MantleEnvy

Stay tuned for the next update… this one is going to be GOOD!

LIKE CraftedNiche on Facebook | FOLLOW CraftedNiche on Twitter | Shop CraftedNiche on Etsy

Bathroom Makover Magic

August 28, 2012 in Bathrooms, Building and Repurposing, Crashing at Christy's

This could quite possibly be one of the best Before & Afters YET at Crafted Niche! I won’t blab, because I want you to dive right in. Today my sister is sharing her master bathroom makeover and Ummmm yeah. It’s increadible. Seeing how this is my blog, I can totally steal her thunder and show you guys the REAL eye-candy:

Oh. Emma. Gee. right?! Nooooow I’ll turn the show over to Christy and let her walk you through how she made the magic happen:

Hi again!!!

So, I’m mainly writing this post to get my sister off my back. Hehehe. I’m soon going to be redoing this bathroom (AGAIN) and Dana wanted me to post about the original projects I’ve done in there. Being the world’s best sister, I agreed to write this. I also want to apologize for the blurry and not-so-great pictures. This was before my sister started blogging, so we’re lucky that I have any in process pictures!

My upstairs bathroom, when I moved in, was U-G-L-Y.

This is meant to look like a cheaply done panoramic. Perfect, right?? Okay, let’s highlight all the lowlights of this bathroom:

The toilet faces a wall. Boring and if you leaned too far forward, you could rest your head on the wall in front of you.
Um, the wallpaper is like a bad 80’s hotel painting.
I can’t handle glass shower doors. I like the steam shower effect they give, but I’m way too clumsy for glass doors. It would have been a matter of days before I fell through one of those bad boys.
Random, hung-in-the-corner-so-you-can’t-open-the-door-all-the-way, medicine cabinet. The door would hit the light fixture when you would open it. Plus, there’s a HUGE linen closet in the bathroom. So, no need for that thing.
The gold flecked laminate countertop.
CARPET. Oh, and they really went all out with the carpet. It was carpet scraps (3 pieces) that they just kind of cut and laid over the linoleum.

The first thing I did was remove the glass shower door. Super easy. My mom helped clean up the caulk that was left behind and filled the holes in the tile wall from the screws. Easy enough. My dad then hung up a curved shower curtain rod. I have a love-hate thing going on there. I love how much space it gives me in the shower. I NEVER touch the shower curtain. But, It takes up a little extra room in the bathroom. When I redo this bathroom again, I’ll be going back to a straight rod, hung high like Young House Love. I did that in my downstairs bath and I love it. Plus, I plan on tiling to the ceiling when I finish the redo, so it will be perfect.

Next up was tearing down that medicine cabinet, the old light fixtures, and also looking under the carpet. You know what was under the carpet? Just some old linoleum tiles. They were waaaay better than the carpet pieces so my mom just cleaned them up for me and I lived with it like that for quite some time. But, like all good DIY-ers, I had plans for it. Hold tight.

Use a steamer to get old wallpaper off. My mom has one, so I just borrowed hers. I know there are other tricks that make it easier than just scraping and peeling, but odds are that you know someone who knows someone who owns a steamer. Use it! That paper came off so quickly. And, what did we do with the walls??? Wallpaper!!! I know, I know. But, this was a gorgeous print and really girled up the space.

BEFORE:

And, AFTER:

Some other changes you’ll notice in the picture above:

I painted the vanity white to get rid of that lovely orange stained wood. Don’t forget to sand and prime before painting finished wood!!!
We went from a plain mirror to a framed mirror.
My dad replaced the light fixture.
I replaced the old hardware on the doors with brushed nickel.
Pictures were taken by me and then I used Paint (the computer program) to remove the background and had them printed on Walmart.com. My mom still likes to look at them and say “I sure grew some pretty flowers!”. Dork.

OH! And, my dad installed two electrical outlets for me. Previously, the only outlet in this bathroom was in the light fixture. So, my dad cut a couple holes in the wall and ran the wiring down to the outlets. He also installed GFCI outlets so I would be safe around the water. It totally changed my morning routine when he did that.

So, things were looking better…

But, the vanity top and the floor were still an eyesore.

And, I was still facing the wall whenever I happened to sit on the toilet.

Time for a new floor and a new countertop!!!

In the spirit of honesty, those two events happened two years apart. But, since I’m blogging about this bathroom that started four years ago, I can make it look like it was a fluid process.

I went with a hexagonal tile from Daltile. Very affordable and easy to work with. I did, however, learn a couple of things:

Use the correct size slotted trowel when putting down the tile adhesive. Otherwise, the adhesive will ooze up into what should be your grout lines.
Wipe up your grout immediately instead of letting it dry overnight. Otherwise, you’ll want to scrape up the whole project and start over.

I won’t get into the details too much because I’ll cry, but it was a lot of hours of me laying on the floor with a Dremel to clean out the grout lines. Then, a lot of hours of me laying on the floor scrubbing and SCRUBBING to get the dried grout off the top of the tiles. (Dirty little secret: Inside the linen closet, there is still dried grout on top of the tiles)

I also spun the toilet around so it was facing outward into the bathroom. I’ll show you that in a little bit.

I’m still in love with the floor. I feel like it goes well with my 60’s era home. Updated, but still with the decade. The countertop was an in-stock option at Home Depot. It’s just black granite with the white under-mount sink.

But, I still wasn’t in love with the vanity.

I didn’t like how everything was just black or white. It was starting to feel a little kitschy. Plus, I hated that scroll detail on the doors of the vanity. It just looked dated to me. So, why not use some of my favorite lattice and paintable wallpaper to dress things up?? I used the same process as what I used for the closet door makeover and got to painting.

The doors are open so that the paint could cure for a week so that it wouldn’t stick to the doors/drawers when they were closed. I love how it looks like a piece of furniture now instead of a built-in cabinet with a granite top.

So to recap, this is the BEFORE:

And this is how the bathroom looks today!

The wallpaper is a bit “exciting” for my home look now. I’m more into greys and muted blues so I have a bathroom update in the works that Dana will show you when I’m done. But, I’d love to have a bathroom like this one day for a little girl to get ready in. So, who knows, maybe I’ll be calling on my mom to use similar print wallpaper one day!

Thanks for keeping up with my long-winded post. I can’t believe how far this bathroom has come! One thing I wish I had done more was taken a lot of “before” pictures. It’s definitely a motivator to see how much work you’ve done when you’re finished!

-Christy

Pretty flippin’ great, right?! That girl never ceases to amaze me. Her projects always push me to work harder on my own house. Hope you guys loved her bathroom makeover. I can’t wait to share the next chapter with you – I’m taking her some supplies to get started on it THIS weekend! Woop!