Not much doing today. Hung out at Home Depot for about two hours, looking at tile. Picked up some paint samples. Brought back a few pieces of floor tiles for my husband to look at tomorrow. Did get three 20 A circuit breakers and got to talk to an electrician who gave me some good info on running cable and installing boxes in exterior walls.
I never had to deal with running cable in an exterior wall like this before. The exterior walls in the kitchen are cinderblock (load bearing) with brick exterior. There are 1x3's on top the cinderblock, and there is currently plaster on top of those. Replacing plaster with half-inch drywall. Anyway, he told me that to fit a full size box into the wall, just chisel out the cinderblock. This completely makes sense, becuase there are two GFCI's on the exterior wall behind the sink currently, and I couldn't figure out how they got the boxes flush with the hardboard backsplash.
Which brings me to the tile. I want to do a nice 1x1 mosaic tile backsplash. I'm thinking a mix of muted tones with some blue highlights. There was a piece of flooring at Home Depot with blue highlights in it, and I instantly thought to incorporate some blue in the backsplash tile. The cabinets are white (Lidingo from IKEA), with the solid oak countertops, stainless steel sink and bisque appliances. Yellow paint on the walls, and a faux-stone floor. I think it will be very nice. I hope.
Just need to calculate how many 12x12 pieces of tile are needed for the backsplash, and I'll pick them up tomorrow. I can't believe how expensive they are, but I think it will make a nice feature in the kitchen. Plus, it will be easier to cut the tiles apart to fit them than having to nibble down or scribe and snap ceramic. I figure it's going to be about $5 per square foot. There is 10 linear feet of counter top across the back, 5 on one side, and 7 on the other - and I'd like to run the tile up the wall behind the stove. So that's 10 + 5 + 7, 25 square feet minimum 25 x 5 - that's 125. Plus a bit to run up behind the stove - 2.5 feet by 1.5 feet - so add another 4 square feet - and since there's 1.5 feet above the counter, then add a half a foot all around - let's say 13 more square feet. Let's see, that makes 25 +13 + 4, or 25 + 17, for a total of 42 square feet - which is 42 x 5, or 210. I guess that's not too bad. Of course, I'll have to check my plans to be certain of the square footage.
More tomorrow. If anyone has insights on working with 1x1 mosaic glass tile, please let me know. Also if anyone has ever had to make a choice between ceramic, porcelain, or vinyl floor tiling, what did you go with and why? The ceramic and porcelain are way less than the vinyl......
Update: I got the tile at Lowe's. It's blue-toned 1 inch glass mosaic tile that comes in one-foot square sheets. Should look nice with the yellow walls. Going for a French-country theme.
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