How to paint a backsplash.

I always wanted to have a baksplash in my kitchen but it seemed a bit costly for us at this time and I was desperate for change. 

One day it hit me! what if I paint the backsplash on? how would that look? 

After some online research I came across this website Sawdust and Embryos they had great ideas and just what I was looking for. Here are some pictures of what I did.

The first 3 pictures are what are kitchen looked like before. 

I did like the green walls but it was time for a change.

Here is what I did and what you will need:

white primer

regular painters tape 

1/4″ painters tape for tile

ruler

acrylic paints of your choice (5-6 colors at best)

1" sponge brushes for each color you choose

protective sealer 

and some yoga stretches for those hard to reach places (LOL)

Total cost for all came out to be about $30 (I used coupons at Michaels for the Acrylics.)

That price was definitely more cost effective for me 

then few hundred dollars for a real backsplash.

First off I I needed to prime the green and waited a full week before taping.

Once it was all dry and ready I started of with a 1/4″ painters tape from Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/PAINTERS-MATE-GREEN-TAPE-Wide/dp/B0006ITPMK

I copied the measurements from Sawdust and Embryos 

the tape was spaced about .875 inches or 22 mm away. 

As you can see I taped it around the ruler for a quick guide.

Then every time I taped the wall I just rested the bottom of the ruler on the small backspalsh and moved the ruler with the tape.

It was hard to tape in places that were hard to reach, especially when the walls met and I had to get under the cabinets to tape. At that time I think I invented some new yoga poses bc it felt like I had to bend in all sorts of directions to get to the wall.

It was a little time consuming but not to bad.

The vertical lines were then placed randomly. 

 Now it was time to paint.

These were my color choices.

At first I got really scared that everything is blending 

and it didn't look as what I imagined it to be.

however, as soon as the tape came off I was in love

I recommend taking the tape off as soon as you are done painting a section, 

the longer you wait the bigger chances you have for the paint to peel off.

Once everything was done I sealed it with only one coat of Minwax Polycrylic Protective finish

I choose clear gloss, I wish I would have chosen a semi-gloss maybe? 

bc it seemed that the tiles looked to shiny, at least they did to me. 

You don't need to sand or reapply, 

I sanded just a bit (very lightly) to take that "shininess" away.

This is the finished look.

Now it was time to paint the green walls.

  

My wall color choice was Surfer Blue from Sherwin-Williams 

it matched one of the tile colors perfectly.

My second room was painted Dorian Gray also from Sherwin-Williams

Before                                              After

 

Please let me know what you guys think or if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Spring Steam Cleaning

Dust Mites are disgusting and they live in our pillows and blankets by the millions. 

They feed on our dead skin and poop in our comforters, 

beds and pillows and then they die there.

Did I grossed you out yet? 

Yes it is truly an eye opener. BLEHHHHH

This is what I did to help the problem that all of us have.

OK so here it goes,

 since I have a king size comforter filled with down feathers

 I could not put it in my washing machine for a nice hot wash, 

therefore I decided to put my steamer (that I got from my hubby, thank you :))

to good use and steam each and ever square on both sides, to kill whatever was inside.

After about 2 hrs of on and off steaming my comforter became fluffier and fluffier 

and the finished result, was very nice. One big fluffy cloud.

Pillows on the other hand were a little easier, 

I put both in the wash on hot and extra rinse to make sure that everything gets washed away. 

Since my pillows are also stuffed with feathers they took a bit longer to dry.

I had to put then on LOW for few good hours

with 3 tennis balls which help them to get nice and fluffy. 

In between the hour drying times I had to take them out and give them a nice fluff 

as well as using my hands to separate the clusters of feathers.

Results, again nice and fluffy.

I also steamed my bed and my drapes and gave my bedroom a nice scrub down for dust including a  thorough carpet vacuuming, 

I guess I can call this my Spring Steam Cleaning.

The info definitely woke me up and to think that we sleep with dust mites everyday.

Hope that this will get many of you out there to steam clean your beds

and wash your pillows and comforters or blankets.

For more info about dust mites go here

HAPPY STEAM CLEANING!!!

I hate laundry

 I hate laundry, clean or dirty,

no matter how much I try it's still there and it hunts me everyday.

This is the dreadful "clean" pile that has been move around 

so many times from one area to another I just lost hope. 

Oh, at times I just dress my family directly from it.

This is my husbands master piece, gotta love it 

I think he missed the laundry basket by a few feet.

OK "kids please take your pajamas to the laundry basket when you get dress", 

I think this one missed the basket by about 15 feet total.

This believe it or not is my living room area, kids and hubby, 

around the corner is the laundry room so that gets more points then the pics above

 b/c its closer then the rest.

I am sure that all this would take me probably 10-15 minutes in total, b/c I would have to fold the dreadful pile, but sometimes it just seems that there is no time for anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I could skip writing this post and fold the laundry but hey you wouldn't be able to read it.