These switch plates blend in nicely with the glass tile

I didn’t really like the way all of the light switch plates detracted from the harlequin tiled backsplash. Inspired by my Mom’s painted switch plates (shown on the right), I decided I needed to paint mine too. My Mom has that wonderful glass tile and her painted switch plates blend in beautifully.

Beautiful Tile, but Yucky Switch Plates!

In the photo on the left, you can see that mine are definitely NOT blending at all. Inspired by her results, I decided to give mine a try. First, gather all your supplies. I was able to find acrylics that were a close match to my tiles – those little bottles come in tons of color choices.

Supply List:
Sandpaper
Spray paint - either to act as your primer or to be the grout/base color in matte finish
Ruler
Paintbrushes
X-acto knife
Painter’s tape
Cutting mat

I sanded and cleaned all the switch plates and spray painted them. In a perfect world, this color will end up being the grout part. If you can’t find a color that matches your grout, mix one with your acrylics and then the spray paint is  your primer coat. I did the latter. Allow this coat to dry. Acrylics dry fast, so this won’t take long at all.

Use an X-acto knife or a razor blade for precise cuts.

Next, cut thin strips of painter’s tape to match the width of your grout. Position in alignment with grout lines. Then begin painting.

When your masterpiece is ready, carefully peel away the blue painter’s tape to reveal your painting.

Voila! As a final step, seal with several coats of clear polyurethane.

See how much better they blend in.

Now all you see is the wonderful back splash and the switch plates disappear in to the background. Perfect!

And lastly, this is how that corner area looks now that the switch plates are in disguise.

Now it’s that a swanky TV wall!!

Firstly, get a load of this inspiration photo! Isn’t it Awesome Sauce! (as my teenager would say!) So we set out to duplicate this look in our humble abode.

Can you say “Bachelor Pad”? This was the TV’s temporary home.

Here is the before shot of our room:

Can you see the design challenges here? That wall is 16′ tall! And right next to it is our oversize mantle. Since, I wanted the mantle to remain the focal point (of course), I tried not to make the TV Wall become too much of a feature. I wanted it to be neat and subtle and tidy up those cords. With all of our recent purchases with Nebraska Furniture Mart, we had received a $100 gift card. So, we decided that it was time to get that TV swivel wall mount we had been eyeing. We got a NFM brand, which was less than half the price of the brand names. And we couldn’t be happier with our wall mount. Some WD40 does wonders for making the hinges easier to move, by the way. Knowing we were going to paint afterwards, we were free to scribble all over the wall as needed.

First we marked and measured the placement of all the support pieces. Each of the 1 x 2s was place about 1.25″ smaller than the 4′ x 2′ panels. So the overall “framed out” section measured about 46.5″ x 22.5′, because I wanted the supports to be hidden behind the panel.

Here’s a photo of our progress so far:

Left: Support 1 x 2s in position. Right: First two panels are installed.

For the center panel, we needed to remove the center area to go over the wall mount. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to install the wall mount after the supports. On the other hand, when we installed the wall mount, all our attention was placed upon making it level and making sure we hit a beam behind the drywall. Either way, it worked out just fine.

First a support for the shelf was added. Then the shelf was put into position.

For the last panel, we made sure to determine that placement of the shelf and drill the hole in the right locations for the cords to be hidden by the cable box.

We nailed in the panels with tiny finish nails and countersunk them a bit. After filling all the holes with a dab of wood putty, I put on a coat of gel stain.

The next weekend, the room received a fresh coat of paint, and here’s the wonderful “after” photo. Unfortunately, there are still a few cords, but definitely minimal.

Looking pretty stylish now.

Here’s some of the ideas I ran across in my research:
1. This is a mantle with cord hiding features built in. Neat idea.
http://www.hiddenwiremantels.com

2. This relies on a nearby closet for the cord hiding. Still a great idea.
http://www.dreambookdesign.com/2012/01/cord-free-mantel-how-to-hide-your-cable.html

3. This is a system that hides cords safely inside the wall without violating code.:
http://sewelldirect.com/articles/How-to-hide-TV-cables.aspx

And lastly, this is a link to the website where I got my inspiration photo:
http://www.newyorkmarkt.com/luxury-modern-hospitality-boutique-interior-design-of-eventi-hotel-new-york-city/luxury-modern-hospitality-boutique-interior-design-eventi-hotel-new-york-city-executive-suite-furniture

I bought all my cabinet hardware from D. Lawless years ago, when I fixed up the kitchen in my starter home. They often times are selling the exact same thing that you find at the big box stores, yet their prices are usually less than half.

Now, on to the hinges. I looked all over to find hinges like mine. I really felt unsure about painting something that’s going to move so frequently. I hoped to find a fabulous price and snap them up. I couldn’t even find a match, let alone a great price. I did learn there is a lot of confusing lingo involved . . . full overlay, partial overlay, inside mount, invisible . . . blah, blah, blah! I can tell you this: when my cabinets are closed, all you see is the hinge part.

The mismatched hinges really don’t look nice.

So, although I would have loved to change them out to completely invisible hinges, I decided that mostly invisible was not so bad. Especially when I started to see that they averaged about $5 each (x 30 = $150) . . . my old hinges are looking pretty awesome now! So, here is what they looked like in their aged brass glory.

Now the hinges look Oil Rubbed too! Love Rub N Buff!

And here is what they look like after the magic. Much better, don’t you think?

Here’s how it’s done. Firstly and obviously, remove all the hinges and clean them thoroughly. I thought that CLR would be great. Nope. Not so much. So, I also tried paint thinner. Also a failure. No match for decades of grease and grime. The absolute best was dish soap and super hot water. Then let them soak. Here’s what mine looked like after their super hot bath.

See the “skin” of crud coming off? Yuck!

See how the layer of crud starts to peel away. As soon as the crud starts to separate, use a wire bristle brush to clean them thoroughly. Next step, painting with Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. Be sure to paint twice, once with the hinge closed and once with the hinge open. Pay the most attention to the side you will see when  the door is closed. I really could have stopped at this point, put on some clear coat and called it a day. But, I wanted to match the copper accents you see on my hardware. So, I used Rub N Buff Spanish Copper very sparingly to make them look more “oil rubbed brass-y”. I had a hard time duplicating the brushed look on the pulls. It is hard to have a light touch with Rub N Buff. But, it was not so noticeable once installed. Now the hinges blend in with the hardware. And it only cost about $5, which would have only bought a single new hinge. Gotta love that. Most would tell you to finish off with a clear coat, which I did not do. Firstly, I was concerned with affecting the functionality of the hinge and secondly I didn’t want them to be shiny and it is hard to find clear matte spray paint. I decided I would touch them up with Rub N Buff if needed in the future. Here’s some before & after close-ups.

A little Spanish Copper Rub N Buff makes a big difference.

Also, Pay attention to whether the lights or linkable or not and put some thought into where and how you plan to hide the wires. Ours are neatly tucked at the back of the underside of the cabinets. Extra effort here is what makes you look like a pro. My swanky electrician knew I would be ultra-picky on the tidiness of the cords, largely because the underside of the cabinets are visible from the living room. It’s a front-to-back split home and living room in the front sits lower than the kitchen in the back. Check out those cords! I think he did a great job!

We also decided to sacrifice an outlet and turn it into a switch for the lights. Some kits come with a toggle switch – another feature to look at when comparing lighting. After talking to a friendly guy in the electronics aisle at Home Depot, we decided to go with a dimmer switch for some extra cool factor. As it turns out, you have to wire those just right or you blow out the switch. Third try was the charm though, and after fifty trips up and down the stairs to turn on and off the breaker switch . . . voila! Under cabinet lighting! What a great way to showcase the granite and backsplash. Like lighting for the stage!

Here’s a link to the type of lights we used. Ours was in a pack of 6 (which I am not finding online).

 http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Indoor-Lighting-Under-Cabinet-Accent-Lighting-Puck-Lights/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbvnx/R-202051384/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051

Please imagine stainless appliances in place of the mismatched biscuit and white.

We started the tiling phase the weekend after Christmas. Fooled by the lure of a three day weekend, we thought we would have plenty of time to finish a small area like a backsplash. Well, maybe that would have worked if we had picked something square, or rectangular . . . or anything other than what we picked. But, I must say, it was totally worth it. I love our beautiful harlequin pattern. You can see it here on The Tile Shop’s website. (note, there are 3 types on this webpage. You have to use the selector to see the others):
http://www.tileshop.com/walltile/mosaics/Jinshan-Coffee-Mosaics/1989.aspx

So, the adventure began with a class at The Tile Shop. What a great marketing idea – they offer DIY classes every Saturday morning. Our enthusiastic tile teacher, Glen, taught us all the ins and outs of laying tile. Although everyone in the class seemed to have a different type of tiling project, Glen still managed to cover all the bases and all the DIYers left ready to conquer their projects. (Well, except for that one couple that decided to hire Glen!) So, we got all of our supplies and decided to start fresh the next day.

First things first. Take the time to put down several layers of paper or cardboard to protect you countertops. Use lots and keep in mind they will get a little wet from the thin set! It was hard for me to refrain from checking on them again and again to make sure they were not getting damaged somehow. Ewww! Messy icky on my lovely countertops!
Let the tiling begin!
It all looked so easy when Glen did it!
He did mention how important it was to get your mortar mix just right. “Just right” when it comes to tiling a vertical surface means “won’t slide down the wall instantly”. Some of you smarty-pants out there would quickly point out that this is where the tile spacers come in. Well, have a look at our web-backed sheet of tile – scroll down a bit for the photo. In theory you would need to put a little x shaped spacer at each of the points, which doesn’t actually happen. They just pop right out. Aligning each of the points on a spacer simply doesn’t happen. And standing there holding it up for the rest of the day didn’t seem feasible either. Plus, we needed to make sure we left a 1/8″ space all along the counter to tile joint so we could fill it with the special sanded caulk (which we’ll discuss closer to the end of the post). We ended up using a paint stir stick as our spacer. Genius Moment! Finally the tiles stopped sliding down the wall! It also proved to be difficult keeping the spacers in place in between the sheets of tile. Yes, this is obviously a big reason why mosaic tiles are grouped together with webbing. Can you just imagine setting them all individually? Madness! (and lots of cursing for sure!)

About that webbing . . . I’m not sure what it is made out of, but my hands felt like they were covered with tiny splinters for days after working with the material. I even called the Tile Shop to ask if they had any fiberglass in the webbing. Nope. Ironically, Glen was the one who answers and he did remind me that is why he said to wear gloves. So, lesson learned! Wear Gloves!! Especially if you have sensitive skin, like me! I ended up scrubbing my hands with a exfoliating scrub meant to smooth rough, calloused feet for several days. It helped tremendously, as did Neosporin used like hand lotion at bedtime.
Another thing that we learned from trial and error: trim off all of the excess webbing. When you are fitting one sheet next to the other, any excess webbing just prevents you from moving the tile up next to the neighboring tiles. If you have an obstacle to work around, say a light switch, measure and mark the location and peel off any of the tiles that would interfere. Then be sure to cut out all the extra webbing. I found it really easy to lay the sheet flat and use an X-acto knife to cut off extra webbing.
There is one perk to this type of mosaic. You really don’t waste much at all. When we got to a point that we were running out of the full sheets, we assessed what we had left and made a plan. We used a full sheet consistently as our first course, which was the bottom row. Then we used 2/3 remainders as the next course and smaller pieces were used to fill in in less visible areas, like under the cabinets. When we were finished, all we had left were single bits and pieces. Another thing to keep in mind when estimating and trying to avoid buying extra tile, you will need to cut to specific needs and it is very difficult to cut thick mosaic tile. Our was probably about 1/4″ think and couldn’t be cut with nippers. It had to be cut with the tile saw. So, had to use some of the 2/3 pieces to end up with enough half diamonds to fill in at the bottom of the first row. Use painter’s tape to hold individual tiles in position if needed. Working with mosaic tile can be a lot like working a puzzle and you end up searching through the pile of extras saying thinks like, ” I need a half light brown cut vertical”.
And much link a 1000 piece puzzle . . . this project went on for days. All day Sunday, all day Monday, Tuesday night after work and Wednesday night too. For some reason, my swanky sidekick decided we MUST have the tile complete before I left the following weekend. No time to pack, or get a good night’s sleep! Just the endless tile puzzle!! Thanks, honey!
But, Wow! Look at the results!
One of my favorite parts was this corner. I was just amazed at how all the diamonds aligned so perfectly. Ahhhh . . . who’s the tile rookies now! (we are!)

I couldn’t believe how well the tiles matched across the corner.

At this point, I was finally allowed to rest and do some packing.
<insert several days of being an exhausted traveler here>

A nice shot of the corner area.

When I returned, we dove right into the grouting. Once again, the grout is all about hitting the perfect consistency. Too thin, and it just kind of falls off your float onto the counter. Too thick and it’s hard to work with. Just right and it’s like buttering toast. Well, not really. But, the right consistency does make things go very smoooothly! Keeping the grout out of the seam between the tile and the counters was not so easy. Once again, the paint stirrer did the trick.
Some of last few details were the edging, caulking and the sealing. Grouting is already finished in all the photos. We only took “after photos” during the project. I kept thinking I need to take some photos, but my hands were always covered with grout or thin set.

Let’s talk edging. I suppose we could have just stopped at a certain point and called it good. But, I felt like the edges needed “framed” with something. We considered the 2 x 6 bullnose pieces, but they made a really thick frame and too chunky. The pencil edge pieces – yowza those are expensive! – well they were really thick and also looked strange. The solution: pencil edge pieces turned on the side. They were even made from the same type of stone in matching colors. Perfect. Great idea, hubby! And I found them at Lowe’s for about a third of what other places charge for these specialty pieces.

Pencil Edge Tiles – Perfect Finishing Touch

Now on to the caulking. Time to fill in the seam between the tile and the granite counters with the specially color matched sanded silicone sealer. It applied much like regular caulk and was pretty easy to smooth out. I just use my finger. But the finicky details was super-annoying, just like with silicone caulk. I do think it would have been much easier if we had square tiles. All of the tile’s points next to the counter made it hard to smooth the caulking just so. I’m still not thrilled with the results in some areas – like behind the faucet, but that is likely because perfection is what I’m going for at all times. I was impressed with how well it matches the rest of the grout.

The color of the grout and this caulking was Haystack.

This can be done with your painter’s tool or your finger.

And here’s how the caulking looks after the excess has been removed.

This is the sealer we bought. You can find it at Home Depot and I’m sure lots of other places. You definitely won’t need much. I think we probably used a cup for two coats. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&R=202907686&catEntryId=202907686

Since our tile is a natural stone (travertine), it needed to be sealed. This was the easiest part. Wipe on and let dry. Test with spray bottle of water. If it beads, you’re finished. If not, apply another coat. Easy breezy.

And that wraps up the puzzle party that resulted in our fab-o backsplash! Love it!

Now keep in mind, that all of my painting opinions are just opinions. They are based on lots of research, but, still just my experience/opinion.

After sanding off almost all of the finish with ultra-abrasive 80 grit sandpaper, we then wiped down all surfaces with acetone. What a mess! Even though it looked like we had sanded down to bare wood, the acetone still made the wood extremely sticky, which made me think this was the lacquer still in the wood. After the acetone clean-up, I let everything dry overnight. So, here’s the stain I decided to use (at left). There are several ways to apply this stain. I chose to brush it on, using a good quality natural bristle brush. If you want a more transparent stain, you would wipe off the excess.  I like the deep red look and didn’t wipe off. This type of stain can even be used on metal – like for a door that you want to look like wood – and the way you brush it on creates the look of wood grain. I loved the way it reduced the grain of the oak and made it look a bit more like a darker stained cherry wood.

Here’s a door comparison. The golden oak is put to shame by the new glamorous Red Mahogany Gel Stain. And the gel stain was the easiest part. It was the Spar Urethane that was such a monster. The first gallon I bought was Semi Gloss and it came out super glossy and looked nothing like the “professional” fancy cabinets at the store. And of course, that was the level of perfection I was aiming to achieve. So, I went back and bought a gallon of Satin finish instead. And this time it came out satin . . . well, except for the shiny parts. ARGHHH!! You can see my inconsisent satin vs shiny finish in the small photo below. The horizontal part on the bottom is perfect satin and the vertical part is shiny. Same finish, same technique. Way different results.

Why the shiny parts?

So, I sanded down once again, and this time I thinned the urethane with paint thinner. And the results . . . ultra dull, so flat, so ugly. Darn! I sanded down AGAIN and re-applied the satin. Much better . . . except for the few shiny parts. Agony! I decided I must have not stirred the product properly. So, I bought a new quart. And the last coat was beautiful! Finally!
And to recap, let’s look at the kitchen before all the sanding and staining and super shiny finish coats, and the not so shiny ones too! Maybe next time I’ll stick with polyurethane.

I haven’t even discussed my frustration with the tiny particles landing in my glass like finish while drying. After much frustration, I learned that it’s a good idea to turn off the heat to cut down on circulating air during the first few hours of drying. It did make a big difference. If I had it to do all over again, I would re-use the tiny holes I found on the back side of all the doors, insert a small nail and hang the doors to dry. I did notice that the horizontal surfaces dried relatively particle free. So, if possible, hang the doors to dry. Unless, of course you are not affected by perfectionism and can deal with a few specs of dust that no one else but you will notice.

But, look at these results! Almost worthy of those granite countertops now!

Goodbye golden oak. Hello gorgeous Red Mahogany!

Here are some of the projects involved that will be detailed in future posts:

1. Transforming golden oak cabinets with gel stain (and lots of patience and sanding).
2. New granite countertops purchased from Nebraska Furniture Mart.
3. Installing new mosaic tile backsplash.
4. Painting cabinet hinges to match purchased oil rubbed bronze hardware using spray paint and RubNBuff.
5. Adding beadboard to the island & painting the island.
6. Giving the stools a makeover with gel stain, fabric and nailhead trim.
7. Installing new pendant lights for the island and a new ceiling fan.
8. Painting & RubNBuff-ing existing light fixture to match.
9. Painting outlet covers to match tiles backsplash
10. Painting the walls a lighter shade of butter yellow.
11. Photoshopping in the new stainless appliances that I can’t afford yet!

For reference, here’s what out kitchen looked like before.