If anybody compares me and my husband, it is clear that he is more hard-working. (I don't say that I'm lazy). So when it comes to my ideas for a house project, he's usually down with it, as long as:
1. It adds values to the house
2. It's not too crazy
To say the least, my great idea of secret bookcase entrance was rejected. Not sure why. But several of my ideas, such as chevron pattern on foyer wall (this should have been a blog post), pot filler in the kitchen (we had to frame another wall before the drywall work could be done), the yellow side garage door, to have accent wall instead of backsplash in our master bathroom were accepted. Sometimes he even becomes more obsessed with it that I am. I guess somebody needs to do it (him) and not just to talk about it (me).
The tiles that we picked out are the same styles as our floor tiles (Daltile San Michele - Dorato). We bought them when we bought the materials for finishing the first floor, which was in April. But, we didn't finish tiling the first floor until July, I'd say. Thus, we started with this project last month and we finished it in 3 days! That's a record!
He started by measuring up the wall and the tiles. Counting how many rows and columns we needed. We also knew that we wanted to have the cut piece at the bottom, not at the top, because eyes are usually drawn to the top. He then attached a piece of wood as our guide. The starting point as well as to make sure that they were level. He applied a thin set of mortar and started putting the tile. Since the tile size came in about 12 in x 12 in (1/8" spacing), we also taped the joint between the tiles.
It took us about three hours to complete the part above the wood. That also includes the cutting time. We then waited a day to make sure they were hardened until we unscrewed the wood and continued on with the bottom part.
The next step is to fill in the grout. We matched the grout color of this wall with our floor tiles. Grouting was not hard, but took time because he needed to step up and down the ladder. I then followed him with wrung out sponge to wipe the excess after 10-20 minutes.
The last thing to do was to come back the next day and wipe out the haze caused by the grout sand. And here are before and after pictures:
I personally think it looks amazing (of course I have to stand by my ideas :p) But I do feel a spa like master bath. For bathrooms, we use Bianco Romano granite countertop and a dark maple cabinets.We obviously still need to find a vanity light and two small wall mirrors for each sink (and to put trims around the window!). But I am really happy with the way it turns out so far.
Alright, I'm gonna go and think about his my next project!
