Faux Stone Tile Painted Backsplash In The Kitchen

I needed a backsplash update in my kitchen.  Last year we got new countertops, and I knew I wanted to do something different to the walls and backsplash area as well.  I was hoping to get stacked stone or stone mosaic tile, but it didn't work out.  Next, I looked into using tin ceiling panels, an idea I had seen online.  At the same time I had begun to experiment with faux painting, and while searching for more backsplash ideas, I found a couple of blogs where people had painted their backsplashes to look like stone.  During Spring Break I decided to try mine.

I used a stencil to help with mine, though many people just tape off the area with painter's tape.  I looked this morning to find the website and stencil I used to share with you, and can't find it.  It was a tile stencil, and it had large diamonds on one overlay, with smaller ones to fill in the empty spaces in between on the top overlay.  I ended up doing only the large diamond shapes.

For paint I used my trusty Lowe's and Home Depot paint samples.  I LOVE those things.  I have so many of them I'd be ashamed to admit the number.  You see I am addicted to paint and paint colors. Really!  And spray paint. 

I wasn't doing any blogging yet so only have a few before and afters to share.  I took these to share with my husband who was away on the tug at the time.

Step 1:  Taping off the top of the countertop and the bottom of the cabinets.

Step 2:  Measuring and Getting Started.  I wanted a full design at the end of the counter next to the fridge, so I started there and worked backwards to the window over the sink.  This picture is after it was dry and I was cleaning up, but you get the idea.  On the other end of this wall I started with a full design starting at the corner and traveling toward the sink.  This worked out well for me.  In the picture you can see my stencil, the natural sea sponges I used to do the painting, and some of my little sample pots.  I used 6 different colors layered on top of each other for this faux granite effect.  The colors were a light cream, beige, medium tan, two different browns, and black.  I used the beige as the base, then the tan, then the browns, and highlighted with the cream and black.  It matched up really great with my countertops.

Step 3:  Getting in the groove.  In the corner on the oven wall, I started with another full design and worked to the left.   Please ignore the mess and dirty dishes in the sink.  Let me warn you if you decide to try this - it IS NOT a quick project.  This took me all of one day and evening (with breaks for paint drying time) and a little bit the next morning.

Step 4:  This summer I decided to change out my hardware to copper and add copper accents.  This project was one of my first blog posts.

Remember the light I got and didn't like the color of, so decided to add more copper accents.  Here is what it looks like now.

Now that I have lived with it a while, I am considering going back and doing the second overlay to add the accent "diamonds".  If I do, I am thinking to do them in a darker black based shade to help tie in the black appliances.  (like this combo I did on my scarred up living room end table top). What do you think?

Fall For Your Walls... Beautiful Autumn Paint Colors

I love to paint.  Several of my walls have had about 4 different colors in the past 18 years since we built our house, and my poor front door about 18 of them.  LOL.  

In the past few years I have started getting up the nerve to paint darker, bolder colors - but I have never tried a red or orange shade.  I love fall colors, so maybe after looking at these inspiration pictures I might have try one.  I think a bathroom with spice colored walls and white trim and vanity cabinets would be nice.  Too bad I just painted mine pewter gray and N.'s sage green last year.  I don't think the hubby is up for another bathroom paint job just yet.  Sounds like a next year's school summer vacation project to me.

Here are some very pretty "fall colored" rooms I found on the internet:

But first, let me share this paint palette grouping from Behr. If these colors don't say Fall when you look at them together I am not sure what does!

and here is a small grouping from Sherwin Williams.  Most of the colors in my house are either Behr or Sherwin Williams (along with some Pittsburgh Paint because that is what the closest hardware store in Crisfield sells).

Some Fall themed Behr colors used in various rooms:  (you can click the individual pictures to make them larger)

Behr Antique Copper

Behr Bolero

Behr Falling Leaves

Behr Pumpkin Patch

Behr Glazed Pot

And some from Sherwin Williams:

SW Spiced Cider

SW Copper Mountain

SW Earthen Jug

SW Brandywine

SW Eastlake Gold

SW Tiger Eye

I am liking the looks of that Glazed Pot and also SW Earthen Jug and Tiger Eye!  What do you think?  

Well just a short post today, but I do want to share one more thing, a recipe I happened to see while I was Googling (is that a word?  It should be!) that fit right in with our Fall theme. It got 5 stars from Taste of Home so it can't be bad.  It did make me laugh though that it called for fat free caramel topping - like that is somehow going to control the calories in this.

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Link

White Kitchen Obsession

Just a short post today.  I have family coming in on the tour boat from Crisfield to spend today and tomorrow with us!

The other day when I posted about my favorite reality TV personalities, I posted a picture of a kitchen Nicole Curtis had done on Rehab Addict on HGTV.  Under the picture I commented on how much I love white kitchens.  Especially all white kitchens.  It's true, after years of disliking white cabinets and countertops and turning up my nose, I have in the past year developed...

WHITE KITCHEN OBSESSION!

The perfect Kitchen by Stonecroft Homes via Pinterest
all white - check
rustic wood floor - not white but that's OK
old fashioned bin pulls on cabinets - check
giant clock - check
humongous in size - check

And the bigger and whiter the kitchen the better, like the one above.  Seriously, that kitchen is the bomb.  I always look on Pinterest and Houzz at white kitchen pictures - and am immediately drawn to them when I see a picture of one on facebook or on TV.  Now do I think an all white kitchen is all that practical?  Probably not.  Would an all white kitchen suit our family? Ummm, we're sort of dirty, sooooo.  Can I afford to rip out my kitchen and turn it all white?  Sadly no. But I can dream.....

Let's all sing together now....I'm Dreaming of a White Kit - chen.

from HGTV

from Google Image Search

from the Centsational Girl blog
A slightly more do-able version.  I would like a white marble counter top, but still the bomb!
Love that island end - and of course the bin pulls on the drawers.

Google Image from Decorating Files

from Kitchen Design Ideas
different kind of layout but I like it!

May your days be merry and bright, 
And may someday Hope's kit - chen be white.

Thrift Store Finds / Old Recipes

Have You Heard The Term Up-Cycling?

Somewhere, sometime, in the fixer-upper DIY blog world someone came up with the term "up-cycle".  It's a play on the word recycle.  To upcycle is to take some thing old and trashy and repurpose it into something new and fabulous.  I think "upcycled" is the new "shabby chic".  LOL

Upcycling - If Only This Kind Of Cycling Could Help You Lose Weight

On Thursday while I was off the island for our school system's opening convocation on the mainland, I was lucky enough to grab a few minutes to go in the Hospice Thrift Store in Onancock.  I was looking for some items I might be able to use in future projects.  And hey come to think of it, I skipped lunch to go there - so maybe there is a way upcycling can help you lose weight!  Here is what I came home with for about $18 (which goes to a great cause!)

So, What Am I Going To Do With Them?

Umm, I haven't got a clue.  Yet.  

I am pretty sure that metal pitcher is going to get some copper accents and go in my breakfast room, as well as the little scroll double candle holder.  Those trays I am still trying to decide on, but when I saw a bunch of them laying there for about $2 each, I picked them up on a whim.  My original thoughts were to spray paint them and use them for things like candle pans, and jewelry trays.  We shall see.  


I love going in thrift stores and looking at things.  This summer I was able to go in the Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters CHKD Thrift Shop in Chesapeake, just outside Virginia Beach.  I got some amazing picture frames, wall art, and a sweet little Tommy Hilfiger purse.  I am afraid if I lived in a larger area I would be penniless from thrift stores and yard sales (oh, and Hobby Lobby).

Now how could I resist a purse with a little anchor???

And Now Some More Great Tangier Recipes To Share

Need an idea for something delicious this weekend?  Here are some more recipes from the "old" church cookbook "Food For My Household".  Starting with Joy's macaroni salad.  Joy taught school with me at Tangier Combined for only a few years before she passed away from cancer.  This was her "famous" recipe:

and some more of my favorites, starting with one from our school cafeteria manager Jody.
  
PS:  Jody, please make this more often...

Hope you enjoy!

I'll Take Door #1 ...Make Over Projects For Old Doors

Projects I Love Using Old Doors

Today I wanted to share with you some projects done by others that I love and hope someday to be able to try.   This post will focus on some ideas for using old doors.

But first an update.  This will be just a short post tonight.  Today was our Opening Day Convocation for the 2014/2015 school year for Accomack County Schools.  This required us to be gone over on the eastern shore for the day.  It's a tiring but worthwhile day for my fellow Tangier teachers and me.  I got challenged by one of my students from last year to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  I will be donating to find a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) because you have 24 hours from the challenge to complete the task, and dumping a bucket of ice water over my head at this point just may finish me off.

My school year is now off to a fast start while my free time is slowing down.  I was able to grab a few minutes today to go to the Hospice Thrift Store and look around.  I tried to look for things today I could use for future projects.  I came home with a few items (sadly, no old doors) and two or three ideas, we'll have to see how these play out.

And Now For Those Old Door Projects

I am still new to blogging so I hope I am doing this right.  I want to give credit where credit is due and highlight ideas from other bloggers and crafters I have seen.  Please know that none of these are my original work, and I have tried to post the source I got them from so if you see something you like you can go check it out.

Hall Trees Made From Old Doors...

Google Image from 4theloveofwood.com

from BayouRedoux on etsy

Pinterest Via Elizabeth Pinney Morgan

Google Image from queenofiwasgonna.com

Google Image from etsy

From myrepurposedlife.blogspot.com

Picture Frames / Chalkboards Made From Old Doors...

From photogmommy

Google Image via Pinterest

From teasleyphotography

Google Image via Pinterest

From Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Don't you love these?   Got a project or idea of your own you want to share.  Please leave a comment.

Painted Faux Granite Top on a Laminate Cabinet

By Now You Know I Love A Paint Project

Have you tried faux painting?  It's a great little technique to have in your painting "bag of tricks". There are several different styles of faux painting such as wood look, denim, leather, faux marble, and stone. But the one I find the easiest and have used the most is "stone" - particularly granite.

Faux Wood Painting
Google Image from onebowlparenting.com

Leather Look Paint Technique
Google Image from favecrafts.com

Faux Marble Countertop Project
from one of my favorite blogs remodelaholic.com

Faux Granite Paint
Google Image by todayshomeowner.com

     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

What can you paint with the faux stone technique?  The possibilities are endless.  I've done flowerpots, and hanging light fixtures, and few more things I want to share with you in another post.  But yesterday I decided to try and paint the top of a laminate cabinet we use as an end table in our den.

The cabinet was actually a re-purposed TV cart.  I like to re-purpose furniture.  It's a very cheap way to redecorate and change the look of your house.  The cabinet was starting to look a little worse for wear because it had some damage to the laminate wood top.  My first attempt to "spruce it up" was to mask off and spray the top with some left over Rust-oleum primer, then a coat of Rust-oleum "American Accents" stone paint I had left from a flower pot project.   It hid the damage pretty well but just wasn't the look I wanted.

And once again I forgot to take before pictures.  Well I didn't really forget completely, I got working on the first step, remembered to take pictures, then got worried that it totally wasn't going to turn out, and didn't do it.  Yeah, I know bad Hope...

A-hah, I looked back through some old pics and found one where you can just see a little of it in this pic I took when our recliner we ordered came wrong (but that's another story).  So here you go...before...

and after...

Here is a close up of the paint job, I was going for a dark black and brown granite mix.

It was a rainy day yesterday, so I have not yet put on it's poly sealer top coat.  This really brings it out to look like stone.  But had a few minutes after school today ( 1 day down - yay! ) so I decided to post now.

Here is a look at my tools.  This is why I say it's a cheap and easy fix.  All the paints I used are $2 samples from Lowes and Home Depot.  And my applicator for this particular project was a kitchen scrubby sponge. Yes, I have those expensive natural sea sponges made just for this, and they do a great job, but I couldn't lay my hands on one last night when I got a bee in my bonnet to do this, so kitchen scrubby it was.  And my palette was an impressive foam plate.  LOL

The key to the faux granite look is sponging on many layers of paint.  I started with the brown spray paint stone base which was slightly textured, then I covered it almost completely with black.  They I started layering on dark brown, reddish brown, golden tan, cream, then a little more dark brown and black over the top til I got it like I wanted it.  Just dab your slightly damp sponge in the paint, dab off the excess on the plate, and pounce it where you want it on your surface to paint.  Use a dry end of the sponge to take paint back off here and there.  Sometimes dab your sponge into more than one color at once.  You really can't mess it up.

When you make long "runs" of a certain color you do want them to go in the same general direction as some granite has a grain and "drifts".  

I worked diagonally from top right to bottom left on this project.  Then I changed out the bright copper knobs to antiqued copper pulls.  Not bad!  All it needs now is the top sealed and shined (but not too shiny - some people do a high gloss finish on their faux stone - I prefer satin or semi gloss).

So there's my last project of my summer vacation.  From now on I'll be a weekend warrior.  Have you done any faux painting projects?  If so I'd love to see them.  Please post in the comments section.  The sun is shining today and it's a pretty evening so I think I hear my deck calling my name....