The Chic Cheap Decorator

Transform Your Kitchen

2010-01-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

A tile backsplash is a great way to make a statement in your kitchen. My kitchen has great 42 inch custom solid oak cabinets, but the white walls, gray countertops and gray floor tile made it seem like a hospital. I wanted to warm it up and give it some visual interest.

Tile is pretty permanent, and I had never tiled before, so I spent a lot of time researching and shopping for tile. There are so many styles and choices of tile that it can get pretty overwhelming. Tile can also be very expensive. My first estimate came out to $800 (just for the tile) and this almost put a halt to my tiling days before they ever began.

Instead I did some more searching. I looked at a lot of tile in several different stores until I found some accent tiles that I liked. I bought a few of each (you can always take them back to the store) and left them on my kitchen counter for several days until I decided on the ones that worked best in my kitchen. It turned out that my favorite was a great glass mosaic, but since I have a traditional cape cod style house and traditional furniture, I decided that doing the whole thing in glass might be too modern. But I didn't throw it out completely. The colors in it were perfect - it had several neutral colors, some of them warm and some of them cool, which would help me to bring in some warm color to the kitchen, but would help to tie in the gray countertops and floor.

Next I searched for affordable tiles that complemented the accent tile. I found the perfect tile at another store - a reddish ceramic tile that looks like stone. This tile also had a coordinating decorative tile with a metal tile in the center. I measured the space and drew out a design on graph paper. I put together a focal point using the accent tiles for over the stove, and then used them sparingly in the rest of the design to keep the cost down. By using a less expensive tile for most of the space, I brought my cost down to $180 for the tile. That was less than a 1/4 of my original extimate, and I wasn't sacrificing quality or design.

Since I had never tiled before, I spent a lot of time on the internet learning how to do it. I found a great article on this website: www.finehomebuilding.com/PDF/Free/021167078.pdf

By following instructions and advice from some professionals, this project came together pretty easily. I laid out my focal point on the countertop, using this as the center of my design and then worked outward in both directions. I used a liner tile to frame my design, matching the metallic finish in my stone tiles.

Because I used the glass tiles as a border, and an accent, I only had to buy three 12x12 sheets and cut them fit. The accent tiles with the metallic center were more expensive, so I used only four in my focal point and scattered just a few around the kitchen to tie it all together.

The result: It feels like a different kitchen - one I'd like to spend time in.

Materials and supplies:

Tile saw (You can rent one at Home Depot)

Enough tiles to fit your space + 10%. (You can always take extras back to the store)

Enough bull-nose tiles to cover the rough edges. (this is a tile with a smooth edge on one or two sides)

Trowel with a 3/16 serrated edge

A smaller trowel to get into the tight spaces

Grout float

Bucket for mixing grout (I used a big paint stick to stir it.)

Plenty of spacers. I used 2 different sizes - 1/8 for my main tiles, and 1/16 on either side of the border (just because by doing this it prevented me from having to cut 1/8 inch off the top row of tiles.

2 tile sponges

Tile adhesive (take your measurements and read the box for sq. foot coverage)

Unsanded grout

Cost: $180 for tile

$45 to rent a wet saw for 24 hours

$12 for adhesive

$30 grout

$6 for 1/8" and 1/16" spacers

Time: One full day to cut and lay the tile

One more day to grout

Things I learned:

Get online and google tile backsplash. Look at lots of pictures. Get an idea of what you want your kitchen to look like, before you go shopping for tile. I also got on http://www.diynetwork.com and watched as many videos as I could.

Have all your supplies on hand, including extra tiles, and start early in the morning so that you can get your tiles cut and laid the first day before you have to return the saw.

Have plenty of paper towels on hand

Put 1/8" spacers between the counter top and the first row of tiles, in case you ever have to replace the counter top.

**Use spacers in between every tile. Even a slight discrepancy in spacing can throw off the whole design.

Also use spacers between individual tiles that come on a mesh to prevent them from shifting. I had to use 1/16" spacers for the tiles I used. (I ended up with a couple of slightly crooked mosaic tiles because I didn't do this at first.)

Press firmly on each tile, making sure it is aligned and stuck firmly to the adhesive.

Rinse your sponges frequently and thoroughly when wiping off the grout

HAPPY TILING!

Do not try this @ home! (Without getting some electrical knowledge first, of course.)

2010-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

So I've had the flu, twice, in the last four weeks and my blog has again been neglected. I had some great Christmas decorating ideas (I even took pictures) but it seems I'm a little late for that now that it is January. Sigh - maybe next Christmas.

So my most recent project involved my sainted husband who is always willing to humor me and do some research when I want major construction done on the house. My house was built in the 70's, in the days when people felt they no longer needed the miracle of electric lights in their living room ceiling. My few table lamps just weren't doing the job, so after much forethought, my husband figured out a way to wire an overhead light to the outlet that is wired to a light switch to nowhere. He then went to the local hardware store and grabbed the nearest contractor to ask if he was on track.

This project required drilling a hole in the ceiling and then two holes in the wall - one where the wiring went through the ceiling to the wall, then another at the other end of the wire where it drops down to the outlet. (See the picture above, and notice the patching that was done where the wires were fed from the ceiling to the wall and then fed behind the walls and then another hole above the electrical outlet he wired it to.) It cost about $120 for the light (which was of course purchased on sale, and I had an xtra 10% off) and the wiring, and it was a learning experience for him. If you want to try this at your house, just ask and he'll tell you how he would do it the next time around, saving yourself some time and possible electrocution. Way to go honey!

Show Off Your Stuff

2009-11-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

The top of your kitchen cabinets is a great place to show off antiques, souveniers, and other small items. Oops - my cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. Now what? I bought a 10" shelf and some brackets that can be mounted on top of the shelf (to act as bookends) and hung it over the pass-through window in my kitchen. A doorway or over a window works too. It created instant space to display my STUFF

Warning - Math Involved

2009-11-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's not tomorrow, but it's close. Thought I would share one of my recent projects. I had a half wall with a funny little handrail on my stairs which I have always hated. This involved a little demolition. Karry couldn't wait for that part. I came home one night to find he had started to take the wall down before I could take a before picture, so this will have to do.

After cutting down the wall we started to assemble our new balistrade. To save money, we reused the board at the base of the old handrail as our base for the new balistrade. Because it was oak, I bought a newel, a half newel, handrail, and a shoe rail in oak and stained them to match. I also bought 11 primed balisters and painted them white to match the trim in the rest of the house. In all this came to about $150.in

The tricky part was figuring out the measurements and angles. I had to reach way back into my memory to the geometry class I had in 9th grade. Code requires that the balisters be no more than 4" apart, so I used that measurement and the length of the pre-cut balsisters to figure out the measurements for the handrail and newels.

The finished product? (drumroll please...) A traditional staircase which fits the traditional style of the house and makes the room feel larger and more open. Bonus: now I can see when the kids are on the stairs eavesdropping on our conversation :)

2009-11-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

Bad, Bad Blogger!

I have been a very bad blogger. All my remodeling projects (some of them unplanned due to a little flooding) have kept me a little too busy. I promise to do better - starting tomorrow! (I'd start today but it's midnight and I'd have to turn back the clock to do it today.)

The Bed w/9 Lives

2009-04-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

So this little scenario is how not to do things! This bed was cheap in materials, but definitely not in time.

It all started 10 years ago when the neighbors threw this bed out to the curb. It was painted white, and a little beat up, but I thought it had potential. I grabbed it off the curb and hauled it into my garage where I promptly started stripping off the old paint. That became quite a project as I stripped that paint out of all those little crevices. I lost interest and considered putting it back on the curb, looking worse than ever.

It sat in my garage for about three years, when I decided to get it back out and finish the job. When I had finally stripped every last drip of paint, I realized that it was meant to be a white bed, because some of it was solid wood, some of it was plywood, and it was made of different kinds of wood. I tried staining it, but that looked awful and discouraged again, it went into the attic for 4 more years.

As I was painting and antiquing my bathroom cabinets, I decided to get it out again, and between coats on the cabinets, I used the same paint and painted the bed. I then antiqued it using walnut stain, but more subtly than the cabinets. Instead of staining the whole thing, I took a small brush and just swept some stain into the the crevices. I think I will add finials to the posts, just to finish it off.

What I learned from this: evaluate a project thouroughly before I begin! I could have easily sanded it and painted it 10 years ago and saved myself the headache!

This project cost:

bed - free

stripper and steel wool - about $10

paint - leftover from bathroom

stain - leftover

time - way too much!!!

Fabulous Focal Point

2009-03-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today I'm cleaning up the film of dust that has settled over everything in the house from my bathroom remodel. So, I thought I'd show off my fireplace that we did when we first moved in last October. The walls in this room were all white, and the fireplace was in the corner, the walls behind it coming to a 90 degree angle. I talked hubby into making me a new wall which cut across the corner, giving me one wall over the fireplace. I then painted the rest of the room a deep red and I painted just the fireplace wall in an ivory and framed it with molding to make it stand out. I finished it off with some accessories I bought at Hobby Lobby 1/2 price, a flea market mantel clock, and a picture I already owned. Now the fireplace, rather than the TV is the focal point in the room.

My New Bathroom for less than $250 (Before pictures are on an earlier post)

2009-03-21T20:22:00.001-07:00

Here it is! I still need to put up some crown molding I had laying around the garage and eventually put in a bronze faucet, but most of it's done and it looks like a new bathroom!

This makeover cost me:

New cabinet hardware and towel racks - $60

Paint, stain, supplies- $45

Molding -$31

New shower curtain and rod - $42

New vanity light - $64

I already the rugs, towels and accessories. (Which were originally purchased on sale, of course.)

Grand Total: $242

How I did it:

Cabinets - I bought a precut decorative wood molding and glued it to the front of the cabinet. Then I used liquid sander on the cabinets and primed them. Then I painted them with 2 coats of antique white paint. Instead of buying the antiquing glaze, it was much more cost effective to buy the smallest can of Minwax water-based stain and wipe it on over the paint. I did a small area at a time, because the stain dries fast. I took a paintbrush and stained in the grooves and edges. Over the whole thing I put a polycrylic clear coat to protect the paint. I replaced the knobs and drawer pulls with bronze.

Vanity Mirror - I didn't want to lose my three way mirror and cabinets, or spend a lot of money on a new one, so I took it down, and with a little help from hubby and his miter saw, chopped off the top where the lights were part of the cabinet so I could hang a separate light fixture, and reframed the mirrors with chair rail that I painted, followed by clear coat.

Finally - I painted the walls in a light brown, hung up bronze towel racks, hung the new shower curtain, and washed my old rugs.

Before Pictures

2009-03-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's my old boring bathroom. The previous owners tiled the floor and the bathtub, and put in a cultured marble counter top/sink, so I had a good start. The vanity and medicine cabinets needed a serious update, however.

From "Eighties" to "21st Century" for under $300

2009-03-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Have been remodelling my bathroom this week. (Pictures to come!) So far I have painted and antiqued my vanity and added some decorative molding (looks like a new vanity for $15 and a few hours of my time) and I am currently working on the cabinet over the toilet. I have also modified my existing vanity mirror/cabinet for $28 (with a little help from Lowe's, hubby's mitre saw, some wood putty and stain.) Tomorrow I paint the walls and put up the new light fixture. Details to follow...