I am going to rap up the kitchen details all in one long post today since I am sure you are probably ready to be done talking about it and move on to something else, no?!
I literally have had SO MANY complements on the tile we choose for our kitchen. I know I said this before but truly I am IN LOVE with the kitchen and I think the biggest reason for the pure joy that I feel when I walk in there is that gorgeous beveled arabesque tile from Mission Stone and Tile.
This tile was generously provided to us by Mission Stone and Tile for the One Room Challenge that we participated in and I feel so blessed to be able to have their gorgeous product in my home.
We started at the right end and worked our way up and then over. From there we filled in the gaps. We made a little video of how we attached the tile to the wall. You can see that post here.
I really was stuck on choosing what color grout to use and it really was helpful for me to paint the wall in my color options prior to putting up the tile. I mentioned this before in my post but honestly this is the BEST tip I would recommend if you are like me...aka...super in-decisive.
In the end, I knew the white was too plain, the dark gray was too busy and when I looked at the light gray, I heard angels singing, it was perfect! I know dramatic, right!?
Grouting is messy. Super messy but it only lasts a little bit and then you clean it up!
The game changer for the whole look is when Mark filled in all the gaps, and edges with the caulk. If you didn't catch it in our reveal post, there was still a lot of caulking that wasn't completed yet. We just needed one more day and didn't have that but since then it's all been finished and it really completes the look, not to mention adding the outlet covers makes the whole project absolutely complete!
It wasn't hard for me to choose the style of tile that I wanted because I have been drooling over this arabesque tile. When I looked at Mission Stone and Tile's shop, I really fell in love with a few of their other options. If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure you click over to see their products.
A tile backsplash is a game changer for your kitchen, and for a small investment the improvement to your room is major!
The other project that we worked on that has really changed the function of our dining room. Fact is, our dining space is tight and cramped
Here is an old pic of what we were doing before.
It's cute in all but to get into those chairs on the left side by the window took talent and coordination. They didn't scootch back and you really were trapped there until you were done because who wants to get in and out of that?!
Plus with the chairs back there we had to move the table further over toward the island which really made that aisle between the island and the chairs on the right side of the table very small. It was annoying to have more than our family eating at this table in this dining room.
Then we came up with the idea of the bench!
Literally we use this bench every.single.day. My little guy prefers sitting on the bench to eat his meals and it's perfect for lining up a bunch of little butts when we have extra kids over.
The best part is, we can fold it down when we need more space!
Those little X shaped legs have hinges on them and fold right up into the bench so that it lays flat against the wall.
We can push the table up to the windows and gain a lot more room. Those curtains really soften the room too. The whole thing turned out SO much better than I anticipated!
So that's the last of the details on the kitchen update. If you happen to see something and have questions, please drop a comment and I'll make sure to give you the best details I can!
This room is truly the heart of our home and if you can remember again how it looked when we first looked at the house...shiver because it was bad...it's unbelievable sometimes that it's the same room to me!
How about a quick reminder??
So much better!
Thanks for sticking around through this whole kitchen update! I'm ready to show you a few more things I've been working on around the house lately so stick around, I promise it wont be kitchen posts for a bit anyway!
