Lesson Learned

I finished tiling most of the wall of my kitchen today. I still need to cut tiles to fit around my windows and outlets.

I still need to make a few tile cuts.

There are some tiles that need to be cut to fit around the windows. I got a lucky break though and don't need to cut any tiles to fit along the ceiling.

But, after a long day of work, I'm tired and think I'll wait to get out my tile saw when I'm feeling more alert. I've learned my lesson and I don't want to make any more mistakes. I'm so close to being done.

Tile Lapse

I'm not done tiling yet, but I'm getting there.

So my wall tiling isn't finished yet but it's coming along and looking good no thanks to a big snafu on my part.

I began tiling late Saturday afternoon when I was already pretty tired and I worked until 10 p.m. when I had a good 1/5 of the wall covered. The work was a struggle because I wasn't feeling up to par but I kept telling myself to keep trudging on.

Sunday morning I got right back to work and screamed in frustration when I noticed a big mistake. Midway through the bottom row, I had placed a tile in the wrong direction. The one flipped tile wasn't hugely noticeable but I would have to repeat the mistake in every row to keep the other tiles matching.

The big mistake: If you look straight down from the right side of the outlet you'll see my misplaced tile.

It needed to be fixed and ugh...I was so mad at myself for working when I wasn't alert. The mistake was a sad setback and my poor family had to watch my meltdown.

Fortunately, my husband offered the words I needed to hear— "Just do what you need to do to fix it and we'll help."

I tediously removed ten square feet of tile from the wall and my daughter Eleanor pitched in to help clean them up.

My daughter Eleanor helped clean the removed tiles. When it's time to cut tiles to fit around my windows, I'll use these.

Looking back, I am so lucky I caught the mistake when I did. It could have been much worse.  I also know that I should only work when I'm alert and always take time to step back and periodically get an overview of my work.

Leaning over a counter, placing tiles in a mosaic pattern literally inches from your face, really skews your perception.

Kitchen Wall Tile

I'm still without drywall on my kitchen walls. I'm a few days behind schedule despite working hard every day.

The work is exhausting but what keeps me going is the thought of these pretty blue mosiac tiles covering an entire wall. I purchased the ceramic tiles on overstock.com and am so pleased with them. I was hesitant to buy something not seen in person but decided to just take a chance and go for it and it paid off.

The bright blue color will be a nice complement to my cream cabinets and white walls. I also love that the blue color varies slightly from tile to tile. I think the color variation adds a lot of interest.

The tiles cost just over $13 a square foot and the shipping was free. I can't wait to have the drywall up so I can get these on the wall.