Kitchen Reno – Progress Update #6
Hi guys! I’m comin’ at ya with a quick kitchen update because (sadly) not much has changed. We arrived home from vacation and immediately put on our tile pants (literally) and got to work. Click through for a peek at how the tiling process is coming along, what’s on the to-do list in the coming week, and of course- the promised source for the beloved tile!
In case you missed the first five updates, find them here: Kitchen Update #1 // Kitchen Update #2 / Kitchen Update #3 / Kitchen Update #4 / Kitchen Update #5
Things are moving & grooving and we’re hoping to grout this weekend! We’re actually ready to grout right now, but I’m making Emmett wait until Saturday morning because I’m filming a little “How to Lay Floor Tile” video for you guys. It’s easier than you’d think! Since he does all of the construction after his full-time job in the evenings, it’s dark outside and the lighting is no beuno… at least for a quality video (subscribe on YouTube for more of those!).
I posted the intro image on Instagram earlier in the week and had SO many questions about where this miraculous tile is from. Don’t worry- I won’t bury the lead. Lots of people guessed it was Tabarka (which I absolutely love), but sadly that was wayyyy out of our budget. You know how we are about the budget. STRICT.
To make a long story short, after weeks of searching through crappy (and ugly) tile that actually fit within our budget, I found this tile on Wayfair and felt like I hit the lottery. It’s a large field tile (18″ x 18″) that is made of terra cotta, and is produced in Spain. It looks like a mosaic, but it’s actually printed rather convincingly. It came in at $5.31 per square foot and we were trying to keep it under $6 s/f. To give you a comparison, our gorgeous bathroom tile cost $27.50 per square foot, which is a little spendy, but we only needed 30 square feet for that project. Whereas, in our kitchen we need 300 square feet. You can see how it adds up rather quickly, so finding this particular tile with the look I was going for was a super score!
Click here for the kitchen tile link! And don’t forget… the tiling video tutorial is coming soon- most likely next week.
The tiling process is actually going pretty well. Emmett is speeding right along. The worst part has been moving everything from the kitchen into other rooms. It’s making our house feel even smaller than it already is. I thought the kitchen was pretty empty, until we had to move every single thing out of there to tile. The new appliances are currently hanging out in the living room. Emmett actually tried to convince me that the best place for the fridge is in the living room anyway (eye roll… I was not amused). I don’t care how accessible the beer is, a fridge does not belong in a family room. Ha!
In regards to cabinetry and what’s on the to-do list…. yesterday I had to pop into Sherwin-Williams because our sample cabinet came back the WRONG color. You can imagine my surprised face when Emmett handed me the sample. He had no idea what color I picked, so he assumed it was supposed to be white. It turns out they forgot to tint one of our cans. I ended up having them make a custom paint color all together and I think it was a happy accident! I’m actually glad the sample came back inaccurate so I was able to really get what I want.
Next week, we’re hoping the cabinetry will be totally finished! The floor will be done, and we’ll be ready to install the lowers. After that, things should start to move pretty quickly. I’m living for the day I can put my dishes back into cabinets and regain the rest of the house. Things are 100% chaotic and I’ve been feeling under the weather (along with both dogs). Between vet visits, human doctor visits, cleaning up dog vomit (disgusting, I know) and the reno… I’m trying to tough it out and be patient for the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re so close, yet so far!
Per usual, I have to apologize for the terrible iPhone photos throughout this post. I can’t bring myself to dig out my fancy camera when the space is looking chaotic and messy (as expected in a reno). I promise, once it’s “pretty enough” to shoot, I’ll find the motivation to setup the tripod and make use of my camera again. Happy Thursday, friends! The next update will be… CABINETRY!!