Kitchen Backsplash Time

FINALLY it's time to install the kitchen backsplash.  We decided to go with a small subway tile.  A simple style that is classic & classy.  These little tiles are 2x4ish in side.  They came on a sheet that worked out to be about a square foot for an easier & quicker install, the tiles are connected with little glue dots to hold their spacing.  We purchased these at Home Depot for a really good price, however, I wasn't happy with the spacing on each sheet of tiles (imagine that, lol)  The spacing just wasn't cohesive and that only creates a problem for my OCD :)  Soooo..what's a girl to do??  CUT THEM ALL APART!!!  First I wanted to check how the spacing would be and how many tiles I could get in a single row, what I'd need to cut to make it even on both ends, etc.  Well...

Can you believe that they worked out pretty much PERFECTLY with my 3/16" spacers?

We're talking NO CUTS in the first row....so we'll just need half tiles to start and finish every other row.  HOW CAN THAT WORK OUT SO WELL???

See...wasn't kidding...I really did cut apart 30 sheets of tiles, lol.

We paid less than $3 a sheet (including tax) so I guess the extra manual labor makes them work out to be about $5 a sheet, lol.  Which honestly is still not bad!

I also laid out my options for the laundry/clutter room backsplash.

I'm thinking the marble is going to win out on this one....

but that travertine & brown granite is going to have to go somewhere in the basement...because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE it!

We did a little adjusting on the pocket doors and started trimming them out today too.

I'm starting to see why we don't get anything done...what's that, 3 projects so far for today?

It is kinda nice to have doors that slide into the walls though :)

Wonder how well these bad boys will block out the sound of the washer & dryer?

and I wonder how long it will be before we actually HAVE a washer & dryer installed, lol.

It's All In The Details

Jeremy was back today and worked on finishing the crown moulding (since we were short) and he installed one of the pocket doors.  First of all let me say...solid core pocket doors = HEAVY, lol.  Oh my gosh, I didn't even think about how heavy they would be!  Good thing they'll be open most of the time!

It almost looks funny now to close off the clutter room from the mudroom!  He worked on cutting the trim but didn't get it done before he had to go...so Kade and I will probably finish that this weekend.

When Kade got home he installed some of the door headers that I finished painting this morning.

I think they look great!  I can't believe how long it takes to do all of the detail work!

However, I think we'll be SOOO glad we did it when we're done! (and we're getting closer)

The weather is finally starting to look a little nicer, so we might get some really good days to work outside and finish cutting baseboard, start (and finish) trimming windows and building all the rest of the headers.  We've still got to build them for all of the windows too!

Here's a glimpse of what it's looking like with trim!

I can't wait to get the backsplash done and the windows & pocket door trimmed out...will this room be DONE then??  I think it will be with the exception of touching up the trim (oh, and installing all of the appliances!!!  I can't wait!

Look at all of those door headers that were installed tonight!

I LOVE IT!

Here's the little coat closet inside the front door.  It's so small and cute!

Jeremy got the crown moulding installed on the wood wall today too.

Now I just need to figure out how to trim out the edges of that wall - I think I've got an idea...just need to implement it!

Meanwhile back at the ranch....ok, not the ranch, but at our current house, lol...I realized that we had some baby groundhogs arrive this spring...and today I snapped some pretty cute pics of them.

Why does it seem like there's always an outcast in EVERY family?

 

I swear they were posing for these pics.  They're letting me get pretty close...however when I get TOO close they run back in their den and the Mom comes out!  YIKES!  I don't want to mess with her!  It's too bad that groudhogs are SOOO destructive!

I'm sooooo ready for the weekend!  The Harmans are playing so we'll get a little bit of a break!  Then it should be a weekend of beautiful weather!  Hopefully we'll stay motivated and really get some more stuff done!  I probably need to start thinking about the stair railing and finishing the actual stair treads before it gets super hot outside!  (and it will be 100 degrees before we know it!)  I'm so glad the basement isn't going to be as much detail work as the main floor!! (and the detail that we do have we shouldn't have to make a decision on since we've already done it all upstairs!!)

It's NEVER going to end!

The painting that is....seriously....it's NEVER going to end!  Today I set up our two pocket doors and the extra trim that we had to get in the basement, and sprayed, sprayed, sprayed the day away!

Check out how much paint "dust" was in the air....yuck!

That's why I always wear a respirator....ALWAYS!

Pocket doors are ready to be installed!  I can't wait to see that!

I actually still have a few peices of trim to paint, hope to do that before the weekend.

It REALLY needs to quit raining though.  It's really hard to get out the table saw and the miter box in this weather!  Kade is kind of at a standstill until there are clear skies!