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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's what it looks like all finished!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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!

Recipe: Lemon 7Up Bundt Cake

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
As you may already know, we like to mix it up a little. While the majority of our posts are decor-related/DIYs, occasionally we share a favorite recipe. Which brings us to this cake, which Rhiann first enjoyed quite a few years ago at a work party. Credit goes to "Karen", and honestly we don't know where Karen got the recipe. At any rate, it's a keeper! The crust gets almost crunchy like a cookie, while the inside is moist and tender. Plus, the lovely lemon flavor. It's all good!
Now that it's feeling spring-like down here in the South, a lemony dessert seems like just the thing. So, wouldn't you know, the one ingredient Rhiann forgot to buy was the lemon extract! She only realized this after getting all the other ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. Good thing there's a grocery store about five minutes away. And on a positive note, that gave the soda time to come to room temperature, so all's well that ends well, right?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ingredients:

8 oz. whipped butter
1/2 C Crisco shortening
8 oz. 7Up (room temperature)
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
3 C flour
3 C sugar

Optional Glaze Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1 small package cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C confectioner's sugar
(Combine butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and mix in. Add confectioner's sugar, 1/4 C at a time).

Directions:

1. Combine first 6 ingredients, in order (add eggs one at a time). We used a stand mixer with the whip attachment and if we'd had a splash guard, we would have used it. Don't worry if it seems like the soda and the butter/Crisco combo will never become "one". Once you add the eggs, things start to improve (but still look pretty funky).
2. Mix sugar and flour together and then add to wet mixture in batches. Once the batter is smooth, it's ready to pour in the pan.
3. Grease a bundt pan. We used cooking spray and it didn't work 100%, so greasing might be better.
4. Cook at 300 degrees F for one hour (put cake in when the oven is cold). Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook 15 more minutes.
5. Allow to cool 15 minutes and then remove from pan.
6. Allow to cool thoroughly before glazing if you do the glaze. We sprinkled confectioner's sugar instead, which did a fairly decent job of camouflaging the spots where the cake didn't unmold perfectly.

Here's what the cake looked like when first removed from the oven.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here are a few more pix...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Would you like a slice?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We enjoyed just as much the next night! By the way, that stiped table treatment was an earlier DIY, if you want a closer look, see it here.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Isn't that rose pretty? Our rose bushes just started blooming a week or so ago.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now it's time for a cute terrier pic!

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Don't forget about #MagpieMonday on IG. Follow us here to learn more.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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!

DIY - Upcycled Fountain

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
When you spend a couple of hundred dollars on a solar-powered fountain, you kind of expect it to last more than two years. Well, at least we did. When ours stopped working at the end of last summer it was hard to determine why. Was it the pump? Was it the solar panel? Was it the wiring?

Last summer in the garden © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We used our dead fountain for Halloween. It seemed appropriate...

Macabre © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

It sat in our courtyard garden all winter, basically waiting for the upcoming neighborhood big clean up, when we planned to heave it into the dumpster. And then we had a bit of storm, and it blew over and pieces of it broke, so at that point we no longer had any guilt at all about tossing it.

Toast © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

But then Rhiann had an idea. Why not take the remaining intact pieces and use it for a container garden?
The steps were so easy it didn't even need documenting. Basically she filled the bottom with a layer of gravel, to add both weight and drainage. Next she added potting soil. Then came the plants and more soil, topped with a layer of mulch to retain moisture and keep the dirt from blowing out.
Ta-daaa! Done!

Close up © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Fountain garden © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Fountain garden © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

All's well that ends well © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Let's pretend you don't see that folded up pile of old sheets in the chair (we had a frost a week or so ago and used them to cover up our roses).
There's still the top bowl of the fountain that we might do something with too - like a succulent garden. How trendy would that be?

Here's that cute Jack Russell Terrier pic you were waiting for!

Daisy & Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram here and join us for #MagpieMonday !

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

See you around!

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!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Welcome back to Quince Cottage! Did you come because of that delicious aroma you smelled? We thought so...
Banana Bread is the go-to when those bananas you bought a few days ago have been malingering in the fruit bowl a little too long. This recipe will use up two of those dark, mushy dudes and make anyone within sampling distance pretty darn happy.
Just look at that slightly crunchy exterior and all the melty chocolate goodness inside. Yummo!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ingredients:
1/4 C butter
2/3 C white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla (real, not imitation)
8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
2 bananas, mashed
2 C flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 C milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave (you want it melted, not boiling hot).
4. Stir the sugar and then the vanilla into the melted butter.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, keep stirring so the cold eggs don't make the butter get lumpy.
6. Stir in bananas, then yogurt.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3-4 batches, stirring to moisten after each addition.
8. Pour batter into pan.
9. Cook 55-65 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick.
10. Let cool 10-15 minutes and then remove from pan.

Tempting though it will be to dive right in, you should wait a half hour or so before slicing. Otherwise you are less likely to get nice, neat slices, and more likely to get a pile of crumbs (which will be delicious, but not as pretty).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And of course, a Jack Russell pic. It wouldn't be a Quince Cottage post without one. This is Buster. I have no idea why he looks so sad - he leads a very pampered life.

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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!

DIY Ugly Duckling Swan

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
Are you on Instagram and/or Pinterest? Well, we are - find us here on Instagram and Pinterest.
Do you ever get inspired and want to recreate something you've seen? We do!
Case in point, was our choice for last week's #MagpieMonday. If you don't know what #MagpieMonday is all about - it's a showcase for collectors to share their decor treasures on IG. We never ever use the "h" word (hoarder), and we always have a lot of fun. Each co-host chooses a favorite collection to feature in their gallery and in the following week's meme. We fell in love with the lovely carved bird collection you see in this photo below.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Anyway, to make a long story short, Rhiann was out thrifting last week and came across this not-so-lovely bird. It might be wood, it's more likely plastic or some sort of resin. It was one of a pair, but she bought only the one for $10. (Sorry, lonely ugly bird still at the thrift shop).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Next she bought some basic WalMart craft paints in white and black, and then searched the interwebs for photos of swans to study the facial markings. Then she got to work. It took three coats of the white, but only one of the black to get the effect she wanted.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's the swan on the dining room buffet.
So, what do you think? What should we name him/her? Tell us your thoughts in comments.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And a little closer up...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

So, that wraps up our quick and easy DIY.
On to another topic. Do you love old houses as much as we do? Here in North Carolina we often see old homes that look abandoned (sometimes they are, other times there's actually someone living there). We weren't sure which was the case with this lovely old place in Snow Hill.
If it truly is abandoned, would you want to go inside?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

As always, we'll leave you with a photo of one of our cute Irish Jack Russell Terriers. This is Daisy. Thank you for visiting! We hope you'll come back soon.

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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!

DIY--Memory Box

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
Today we have another shadowbox DIY to share.
When his dad died a little while ago, Ron wanted to find a way to remember him that went beyond a simple framed photo. Along with Ray's golf clubs, which might or might not ever see service, Ron inherited a small collection of personal items: a tie, some photos, a couple of rollerskating medals, etc.
To keep these special mementos safe but visible, Ron created a shadowbox. The box itself he got at Michael's. Ron's dad worked at a shoe factory in Manchester, New Hampshire when he was very young, so we found a wooden shoe form at a local antique store. It's a tiny, child-sized one, just right for this purpose. A small piece of leather behind the mold reinforces the shoe-making idea and highlights the shape of the mold.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

As you can see above, Ray was an early fan of the selfie! He also enjoyed skiing in New Hampshire's spectacular White Mountains. Some of Ron's funniest stories involve family ski trips.
Ray's wristwatch is in the photo below. Despite the watch, Ray was chronically late (this might be a genetic thing, although Ron's never actually left either of our children standing lonely on a street corner waiting to be picked up). While punctuality wasn't a strong suit, Ron credits his dad with instilling an appreciation of Nature, and that's why there's a bird feather.
As you may already have noted, Ron used a variety of objects in this shadowbox, some two-dimensional and some three-dimensional. Some are black/white, others have color. There's a mix of "hard" materials (metals and wood) and softer ones (fabric and the feather). All these contrasts, along with a variety of shapes, help to give the composition visual interest.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ray met his future wife, Irene, when he was very young. In fact he was only sixteen when they got married! (She was a little bit older). They enjoyed rollerskating together and if the medals indicate anything, apparently they were pretty good at it!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ron included one of Ray's ties, and a photo of him wearing that very same tie.

© Rhiann Wynn-NOlet

Unfulfilled by his job making shoes, Ray started his own business building houses. He became well known in the area for his fine reproduction Colonials. Ron spent a few summers helping out and learning about house design and construction. With that in mind, Ron papered the back of the shadowbox with woodgrain paper and included both a compass (which had been Ray's) and a rusty old nail (near the feather).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

I apologize for the distracting reflections in the glass, try as I might I couldn't find an angle where those were not an issue. SO frustrating! But I digress...
If you're assembling a shadowbox, play around with the placement of objects before fixing any of them into permanent position. The photos in this box are straight up and down, but if you'll notice, some of the other items (tie, feather, nail) are placed at angles. Again, this is a matter of personal taste, but the idea was to make the composition less static and more dynamic - moving the viewer's gaze around. Use whatever adhesive makes sense given the materials you're using (hot glue, regular glue, etc.).
We'll close up this DIY with a picture of Ray, looking very French-Canadian (he was born in Quebec). It's nice to have these tangible reminders of a loved one and their life story, both for Ron and for our children, who knew Pepere only as an elderly man.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Tell us what you think, have you made a shadowbox before? What was its purpose? Strictly decorative or something more?
Oh, wait...we can't say farewell without a cute Irish Jack Russell pic! This was taken a week or so ago on a walk by the Neuse River. As you can see Buster (aka Pork Chop) is keenly focused on the treat in my hand. Daisy is scanning the woods beyond, ever hopeful of finding a squirrel. Preferably a fat, elderly one, with a limp and poor eyesight.

Buster & Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And one more thing! Don't forget to join us here on Instagram for our #MagpieMonday fun. If you collect decorative items of any kind, you're going to love it!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

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!