Quince Cottage: kitchen

Showing posts with label kitchen. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2016

DIY: Tiling the Kitchen Backsplash

Welcome to Quince Cottage! Or, welcome back, if you've visited before.
Today we're going to talk about tile. More specifically, how to add some visual interest without breaking the bank or taking on a monumental project.
In a later post, we'll show you how we handled the rest of our backsplash with thin-brick, but for now we're focusing on the short wall behind the sink.
We didn't want to carry the brick through here, because architecturally it wouldn't have made much sense. But a plain old sheetrock wall is so ho hum, not to mention it can get stained from all the sink activities AND it's not exactly waterproof.
We considered subway tile, but we've BTDT and wanted something more interesting. Pinterest has been peppered with cool tiles lately and after some browsing, we headed out to Traditions In Tile at Brier Creek in Raleigh. This is a specialty tile store so their selection was far more extensive than the big box home improvement places. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly and we'd highly recommend them!
Our kitchen color palette is soft creamy white, gray, and bronze, with stainless steel appliances. It made sense to choose a tile that was warm white and gray.

The tiles came in either matte or gloss finish. We went with the matte because it looked softer and older.
If your tiles are patterned and mixed, like ours, lay out the design you want before you start setting them.
Happily, these tiles come mixed in a box and one box was more than enough to cover the area. Obviously before you purchase anything you need to do the math, length x width, plus at least 10% over that for breakage. A 12" x 12" tile came fairly close to filling our space, but there was a sizable gap both top and bottom. You'll see how we addressed that later on.

First you'll want to remove outlet covers. Because the tile adds thickness to the wall, you'll also need to bump your outlets forward using plastic spacers. These can be found at any big box home improvement store.

After you're done with the outlets, draw a level pencil line along the wall, so you'll have a guide for laying the tile. Why yes, those are bats on our dining room wall - we actually did this project back in October...

Butter the back of the first tile with mastic adhesive. This is the adhesive we used.

Available at Lowe's © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then you'll butter the back of your first tile with the adhesive.

Be sure to have a couple of damp rags available to take care of any blobs that fall off your notched trowel. Good idea to cover your counters with newspaper too.

Use the notched edge of your trowel to make grooves in the adhesive as seen above, and then stick the tile on the wall. Be sure it's lined up correctly and then press firmly for a few seconds. Repeat with each tile, using spacers between tiles and below them to keep them in place.

Cutting the tile to fit around outlets is best done with a wet saw. Measure twice, cut once! You can see that we used narrow stock trim pieces to fill much of the gap between granite ledge and the top of the tile, leaving only a reasonable amount to be filled with grout. We painted them our trim color first.

After the tile has set, (wait at least 24 hours) apply grout, wipe off the excess and any remaining "haze" with a dampened sponge and allow the grout to dry thoroughly (at least 24 hours is a good rule of thumb).
The final step is applying a bead of caulk between the counter and the bottom edge of the tiles. This fills the gap and keeps any water from getting between your wall and your counter.

Here's what it looks like all finished!

As always we like to share a cute Irish JRT photo with you before you leave. Here's Buster in his preferred sleep position...

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Don't forget to follow us on IG here and play along with our hashtag, #MagpieMonday where collectors share their favorite obsessions and we choose a favorite to feature in our gallery.

Quince Cottage Style is #agrarianchic - a mix of old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful,

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

DIY - Kitchen Cabinet Hardware Part I, Selection

Welcome back to Quince Cottage!
Today we're talking about a design detail that seems small, yet plays an import role in the overall look of your home. In our followup post (aka Part II), we'll be giving you tips for successful installation.
Knobs and pulls come in many sizes, shapes, styles, and materials. The selection can seem overwhelming. We scoured home improvement stores, specialty hardware stores, and the internet, looking for the ones that best suited not only #QuinceCottageStyle but also our budget.
We love the play of sparkle against rustic, so we chose two different knob/pull styles for our kitchen.
Here's the agrarian-industrial pull. The two part construction gives it a really authentic look.

Amerock Pull from coolknobsandpulls(dot)com

Amerock pulls © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Amerock pull © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And here's the blingy glass knob from knobdeals(dot)com. They are real glass, which DOES make a difference, both in feel and appearance. They were definitely worth the princely sum of $3.95 each!

Glass knobs © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Glass knob © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We just love this look! It plays really well with our island pendant lights too, don't you think?

Island Pendants © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a closer look at those beauties.

Island pendants © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And here are two views of our kitchen's off-white cabinetry...

And one showing our charcoal gray island...

Yes, that brick backsplash/wall isn't quite complete, it needs mortaring, but when it's done, we'll blog all about it!

And in case you were missing the doggies, here they are taking a break from supervising the neighborhood...

Thank you for stopping by, we hope you'll come again soon!

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is simple - make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful,

and as though it wasn't born yesterday.

Friday, March 13, 2015

First Peek Inside!

While progress was being made on the exterior of Quince Cottage, THINGS were also happening inside! There didn't seem to be much point in sharing photos of framing, they don't translate well and usually resemble a hodgepodge of giant Popsicle sticks.

This past week our kitchen cabinets were installed, some trim was added to various rooms, tile went into laundry and baths--it's really starting to look amazing!

Here's a shot of the family room, with gas fireplace.

And here's one looking from the kitchen into the morning/dining room. Those French doors lead out to the screen porch.

Finally here's one of the kitchen. Isn't it GORGEOUS? We were absolutely thrilled when we saw it...
Our current kitchen is very roomy and modern, with super dark cabinets, modern brushed nickel pulls and a standard beige tile backsplash. Wonderful, IF that's your style. It's not ours, but we were severely limited by both that builder's design choices and our budget. The cabinets in our new home are an upgrade, but we think they're really worth it. Capitol City Homes offers WAY more choices for cabinets and granite than our previous construction company. That's one of the reasons we chose Capitol City to build our new home.

We've ordered all the cabinet hardware (for both kitchen and baths). Seemingly simple features, like knobs and pulls, can add lots of personality. If design is important to you, t's definitely worth the trouble to find something special.

We'll show you those knobs and pulls in an upcoming post. Sorry, hate to tease, but...

Now how about you? What would your dream kitchen look like? Painted cabinets or stained? Traditional or modern? All one color or mix it up? Tell us in Comments!

Quince Cottage believes in creating a beautiful, comfortable home that reflects the unique taste and personality of its owner. In our own place, rustic and opulent rub shoulders.

Think gilded mirror against a ship-lap wall.

Quince Cottage

Design. Create. Decorate.