Retiling the Backsplash: Demolition and Cement Board

Last weekend, we jumped in headfirst into a big kitchen project... retiling our backsplash! We had always planned on replacing the current backsplash with subway tiles, but at Costco one day we randomly happened upon this gorgeous glass and marble mosaic tile at an amazing price. I've never ever thought I would like any glass/mosaic tiles enough for our own kitchen backsplash, but I am so in love with this tile. We made the decision to go for it after Costco came out with a huge markdown coupon. We got each box of 5 square feet for $21, so it was about $4.20 a square foot. 

The first step was to demo the current backsplash. We knew that the tile would be adhered to drywall, and that we wanted to try to save it, but soon we figured out that was not possible. Oh well, we knew that installing cement board would be economical and would prevent mold, as well as make it easier for someone to take down this tile and redo in the future. 

After we cut off the power and removed the electrical stuff, Aaron used an arsenal of tools to get that tile down. I'm not really sure he used one favorite technique, but he used a grout saw, beat on a chisel with a mallet, and used a crowbar. 

Once we got all of that tile and drywall out, we made a detailed diagram with every measurement we would need. 

Then we went to Home Depot and purchased cement backerboard, the proper screws for that, and a carbide-tipped blade. The YouTube videos make the "score and snap" method look so easy, but we had quite a bit more trouble. On the  way few pieces, we had to score it almost all the way through on both sides. Here's a big tip that saved us a lot of time later on: score it nice and good, and then place a 2x4 on one side of the score line. Have one person stand on the 2x4 and the other lift up from the other side. It snaps cleanly every time, as long as you've scored it well enough! For holes for outlets, carefully drill holes and score until you can punch out the outlet area. 

We then drilled the backerboard into the studs.

The next part will be the installation of the tile itself! In my opinion, this part was actually really fun! 

My vanity corner

I mentioned in this post about our bedroom that I was working on turning this little corner in our bedroom into a vanity area.

It was my best idea ever. There were a few reasons why a vanity came to mind here... 1. The desk didn't have another home, and I seriously got this awesome West Elm desk for like $70 at the Pottery Barn Outlet last year. I'm just not wanting to part with it. 2. Our bathroom does not have drawers, which means that I basically never put on makeup, because it is too much work to get it all out, ha. 3. I have very curly, thick hair that takes forever to blowdry and straighten, so I have absolutely no interest in doing it unless I can sit down.  So, it worked out when we moved around furniture and had some extra space in the room! 

I had already updated this garage sale chair with the same spray paint and a couple dollars worth of this gray and white chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby. 

Then, I found this ugly plastic brass mirror at my favorite thrift store for $26 and gave it a nice coat of white semi-gloss spray paint. 

I put all of my makeup brushes in a drinking glass and that milk glass footed bowl is holding the makeup that I use almost every day. 

I put my perfume on a little cake stand I had, not that I usually wear any. Having a husband with fragrance allergy is so fun.

The great thing about this desk is that it has a separate piece underneath that rolls out really far. So I was able to (with a little purging) fit all of my makeup under there. Now, should you wonder, I worked at ULTA during high school and college. I'm happy to say that outside of my wedding makeup and mascara and eyeliner, I haven't bought makeup products in four years. And the stuff is mostly powder eyeshadows and blushes, so it's not goin' bad, and if it does I don't care.

This is what it looks like with the desk rolled out.

Oh, and the necklace holder. It's just a rustic wood frame that we used as a sign at our wedding. I backed it in foam board and covered it in fabric and then a piece of lace, and use specimen pins to hold up my necklaces. 

My craft room

My craft "room" is the loft area at the top of our stairs. I finally have some elements of the space finished, and I love it.

This is what the room looked like a year ago when we moved in, before I painted it (Martha Stewart's Sharkey Gray)

And now:

The room has a big desk/table that was previously our kitchen table, a high cutting table that I sort of DIYed, and a tall hand-me-down dresser that holds a lot of my craft supplies. The only furniture I actually had to purchase for the room were one cheap Target bookshelf and an IKEA tabletop. I think that was around $55 total. I primed and painted the old kitchen table from black to white. The cutting table is just two of these cheap, $20 Target bookcases with one of these IKEA VIKA AMON tabletops placed on top. I was originally going to get a door for the top, but saw these in IKEA last summer and it was perfect! 

The shelves are so great for holding my fabric and bins of fabric scraps! 

On the other side I keep things like foam, batting, works in process, etc. The backs of these cheap bookcases are cardboard, which wasn't very pretty, so I simply painted them with gray acrylic craft paint I had. 

I affixed a yard stick to the side of the tabletop with hot glue and it is wonderful for measuring out fabrics. 

The table is where I can do sewing, use my Silhouette, and do some paper crafting. I hung these IKEA ledges that I've had for a while. They hold my DIY "create" fabric scrap art, a pincushion, a vase full of threads, and some inspirational quotes.

The curtains are actually this tablecloth from Target that I cut in half, then hemmed each side and hung with ring clips. 

My craft room is bright and airy and makes me feel like creating. I think that's everything it should be! 

Our Summer Garden

Back when Aaron and I had some time off for spring break, we worked on our backyard garden and I posted this photo:

We have two of these gigantic raised beds. The garden was a great selling point for us on this house because Aaron LOVES gardening. Back in March, we planted a combination of seeds and small plants. We planted cilantro, basil, dill, thyme, rosemary, sweet banana peppers, green bell peppers, orange bell peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green beans, pickling cucumbers, kale, spinach, lettuce, and corn. We already had onions, asparagus, and green onions growing.

Here’s the garden now:

   

     

Everything has produced very well and we’ve enjoyed eating our delicious home grown produce! We’ve also enjoyed composting. It’s extremely surprising how many items we use and consume are compostable.

New Carpet!

Our new carpet was the most expensive update to our home that we’ve done so far. Fortunately, we are very happy with the outcome! It was a much needed upgrade. The carpet in our home had been there for almost twelve years and was in pretty bad shape. Through talking to our neighbors, we found out that the original owner of the home had a german shepherd dog and a cat. The next owners had a golden retriever and four boys. And finally, there’s us. Aaron has very serious allergies (chronic hives). We’ve found he is especially allergic to pet dander, so it should be no surprise that with the history of the home, the carpet was a major priority for us. And in fact now that I think about it, I don’t think he has had hives since we got the carpet!

In addition to the lingering pet dander and old age of the carpet, it was also very worn, especially in the middle of rooms. There were quite a few large stains as well. When we originally looked at the home, we had our “rose-colored glasses” on, and thought the carpet was fine. (Word to the wise: always look at a home a second time before you make an offer!) If we had realized how bad it really was, we probably could have negotiated something. Ah well, hindsight is always 20/20 and God was gracious to us through the whole process so we really cannot have any regrets.

Getting new carpet was a huge chore! It was kind of a fun one for me though as I love to unpack and find new homes for things. Both of our upstairs bathrooms, the garage, and our downstairs living area were all filled to the brim with items from the upstairs. I enjoyed putting things back together, though, and we also got to do a little furniture rearranging in the case of our bedroom (we had positioned things a certain way to hide stains).

[An example of the mess we lived in for a few days]

[The old carpet in our bedroom]

[The old carpet in the loft]

As far as the actual carpet we chose, we went with Martha Stewart’s Winterthur from Home Depot, in the color Potter’s Clay. We love that the carpet is a mixture of high and low pile, meaning it should wear well over time. We also liked the fact that high-end home builders are putting this exact carpet in brand new homes. Hopefully it will stand the test of time, both aesthetically and functionally! We opted to have Home Depot’s installers do the entire thing as we bought when there was a $35 whole home install special running. We thought the money we paid to have them remove the existing carpet and haul away was worth the extra money. (We’ve had a very difficult time getting rid of/ recycling large items due to where we live, which is another story.)

Our bedroom

When we first moved in (almost a year ago, oh my goodness!), our bedroom looked like this:

The photo only makes it look dark because it was taken at dusk right when we got into the house. We actually like the paint color, so not much has really changed in this room besides adding blinds, curtains, our furniture, and new carpet. We do have plans to paint the room this summer, though! Here's a picture of how it looks now from the same view, from the double entry doors.

All of the bedding I've actually had for years. I love our white organic bamboo sheet set from Target. The only problem is how dingy they get, so I may need to buy a new set soon! The quilt is from Marshall's a few years ago and is reversible. We don't need much else on the bed during the hot Texas summers.

I love how the gray and white striped body pillow cover looks with the plain bedding. I found it at Target.

This is looking to the other corner of the room, where you can see the bathroom door. In the corner is a vanity I'm working on for myself.

The gallery above the bed is one of my favorite parts about our room. I love the different frames I've collected over time and how all of the pictures tell a story of us. They're mainly pictures from our wedding or engagement photos. There are a lot of photos of our family and friends there as well. I love the framed lyrics to a song that was played at our wedding.

This corner window was a little bit hard to "dress", because as far as I know they don't sell any curtain rods that connect in the corner for windows like this. So I just kind of makeshifted this solution, which was just to take the finnials off the two ends and make it look like the rod comes to a corner, even though it really doesn't! The curtain rods were found at Marshall's and the white curtains a bargain from Home Goods.

This little ledge is actually a really special DIY. We found the old wood board at the old home where Aaron's grandmother grew up. I just attached L-brackets to it and then attached it to the wall, and it now holds some frames with more pictures, tealights, and a little jar with some fake flowers and our cake topper.

This little corner is what I'm working on turning into a vanity. I first need to get a nice big mirror for the area. I love being able to fix my hair and put makeup on right here, where I keep all of my products in the little drawer. It works so much better than our drawer-less bathroom. I recovered that chair from a garage sale and gave it a coat of paint. 

 And last but not least on this little tour of our bedroom is this beautiful quilt at the end of our bed. Aaron's grandmother quilted this for us as a wedding gift and it is so colorful and lovely.

Thanks for viewing this little tour of our bedroom! There will definitely be a few more updates to come!