ashlyntime: October 2013

I'm a project jumper.

No matter how hard I try I just find it near impossible to start and completely finish a project.

I think it's safe to say I have DIYer's ADD.

It's also safe to blame it all on my Dad. (Thanks Dad!)

My room of choice this week was the kitchen.

The kitchen has been in the "in progress" stage for a year now.

Okay, probably longer than a year, but who's counting?

By no means has it made it out of the "in progress" stage but this little project made it one step closer.

DIY $10 Backsplash

I've hated the backsplash for quite sometime. The previous owners used the brown paper bag technique and I just wasn't diggin' it. Not only was it ugly and dark but it also wasn't holding up very well. Here's what the kitchen looked like with the brown paper bag backsplash.

Dark and Ugly.

So I did what any good DIYer would do and I consulted Pinterest.

I came across the painted backsplash and decided to go for it.

If all else failed..well I didn't really have a backup plan so thankfully it worked out!

With the help of tutorials from Sawdust and Embryos and Sweet Parrish Place this project was a breeze.

Materials Needed:

Paint
Polyacrylic
Automotive Pinstripe tape (1/4th inch)
Ruler
Newspaper
Foam brushes

First I painted the entire backsplash a grout color.

I happened to have a bit of leftover tan from the walls and a quart of some off-white mess up paint so I just mixed the two until I got it the color I wanted.

(I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps..oops! I blame it on my DIYer's ADD.)

The lighter color on the right is my grout color. I ended up letting mine dry for like a week. Of course you don't have to wait a week but definitely give it time to completely dry.

Next I taped off my tiles.

I'll just tell you upfront this is an EXTREMELY time consuming and tedious process but so worth it! I used 2 rolls of pinstripe tape. I technically could have used 3 rolls but I just reused instead. I decided to do the standard subway tiles which measure 3in X 6in. Before I started taping I taped my ruler off by 3's. This made the process a whole lot easier (especially for a perfectionist).

I did my horizontal lines first. I started with the bottom of my ruler on the counter top measuring 3in up. For the remainder of the horizontal lines I put my ruler on the top of the tape and measured 3in up. I kept my lines straight places the ruler a few inches ahead then bringing the tape to the 3in mark. (I forgot to take a picture..again!)

After finishing the horizontal lines I started with the vertical lines. I put my ruler at the end of my previous tape then measured 6in and taped again. I found it useful to stick the tape directly on the ruler to get the measurement exact. (Don't forget to offset every other row of tile! Measure the first piece 3in instead of 6in)

*I was nervous leaving the tape on over night fearing that it would pull the grout paint up but luckily it didn't! I don't advise leaving it on overnight but you can if you have too.

Now for the fun part: PAINTING!

I used a mixture of 3 different acrylic paints (2 shades of brown and a tan) along with some of the grout color. I was really nervous about this part. I can paint flat colors like nobody's business but textured colors always make me sweat. But this was easy. I just went with it. I mixed and matched all the colors on some newspaper (because we have an excess of newspapers) until I liked the way the tile looked.

Immediately after I was finished painting I ripped the tape off. It turned out better than I had hoped!

Finally I coated it with Polyacrylic. I did as the directions suggested and did 3 coats waiting 2 hours in between coats. Normally I would have rushed this process but for this project I took my time. I wanted to make sure this would hold up (unlike that nasty brown paper bag stuff). It gave it a nice shine too!