modern kitchen

So we have been using a kitchen sink without a back splash since we moved in - close to 2 years ago. Other projects have been more important and our system of placing cutting boards behind the sink has been doing a swell job of protecting the wall and preventing too much water and junk from falling between the counter top and the wall and getting into the lower cabinets. Real swell.

It took a long time to plan the back splash. First, I wanted a broken plate mosaic complete with a representation of a sunshine right above the sink - to bring me joy as I scrub dishes. Once I realized how much time that would be to plan and to install, I changed my idea to many, many small squares of shiny tile. Like in Gabby's kitchen in Desperate Housewives. Do you know how expensive those tiles are? I am still paying off school debt! Then I moved on to copper. Wouldn't presses copper look wonderful in an orange kitchen? Actually no.

Here was the final decision... what do you think?

Thank god for Ryan - the next door neighbor. I thought I had read enough articles and gotten enough information about tiling (because this was originally a Tara project, not a Kevin project), but somehow I neglected to learn about using real slate and not lovely flush tiles. Ryan straightened me out. I needed to seal the tiles before grouting them. I can only imagine what life would have been like trying to get grout off of unsealed tiles. It was not a fun time when the tiles were sealed. And actually, I did not seal the tiles, Kevin did. We were each other's support team for this project. There are many, many things to be done in a short time frame. So we tagged teamed it.

Day 1: I laid out all of the tiles (they are not the same thickness, so I arranged them from thick on the bottom to thin on the top), Kevin took the old fiber board off the wall and put up Durock.

Day 2-7: We took turns applying adhesive and laying tiles, I made sure there were plenty of tiles moved from the dining room table to the kitchen counter, Kevin sealed the tile with an itty bitty paint brush.

Day 8-14: Kevin took care of grouting and I cleaned up the tiles behind him. And then he scrubbed the heck out of the tiles and sealed them with 2 coats of the lovely sealer and he caulked the top, bottom and corners. Now that I think of it, this was really a Kevin project once again. I was just the support team.

I am going to touch up the orange paint in the kitchen, there are quite a few nicks and I have to paint some trim - actually, quite a bit of trim. All of this I will do on my own. Painting will be a Tara project. But that is not as impressive as most of the Kevin projects. I need to remember once again, marriage is not competition, it is cooperation.