One of my favorite parts of my kitchen remodel is my subway tile back splash. It is so bright and timeless, which was the goal of my kitchen remodel. The other benefit to subway tile is that it is really cheap– I got my tile on sale for $0.17 a tile! The entire backsplash cost less than $60.
The backsplash is also relatively easy to do yourself. You will need a tile saw, and maybe someone with experience using one, but the rest even a novice can do themselves!
One of the hardest parts of maintaining an older home is keeping up with parts of the home that are going to naturally age. All of the wood trim in my home is original to the house, but over the course of 65+ years, some of it is starting to show its age.
One of the first projects I did after purchasing my home was to refinish the bathroom tile. I don’t think I’ve ever written about this, but it was a pretty involved project that might be beyond your typical DIY.
My bathroom had lovely 1950’s green and yellow tile, that I just couldn’t live with. The tile itself was in great condition so it would’ve been a shame to just rip it all out because of the color. We found a Rustoleum tub and tile refinisher that was only $25 and decided to give it a try.
Continue reading “Refinishing a Bathroom with Rustoleum Tub and Tile Paint”
I’ve been busy working on my next home project, which has been scraping the popcorn texture off the ceilings in my house. Its always a messy project, but we try to use as much plastic as possible to cover every surface and just throw it away after. If you are interested in how this is done, the full tutorial is located here!
Choosing paint colors can be an overwhelming task and a really big commitment if you end up not liking how the color turns out. In my time as a product designer and DIY-loving homeowner, I’ve learned a few things about color that can make a big difference when choosing the right color for a room.
When choosing a color hue, think about the furniture and accents that you currently have. Will they still look good with a new color or will you have to replace everything? Its also important to think about the other paint colors in your house. Will this color be a sharp contrast? The trick I use for my house is to keep all of the colors at a similar saturation level. Even though my rooms vary from mint green, to purple, to periwinkle, they all have a similar pastel level and gray tone to them which makes them feel consistent. I also balance out the different colors by having a gray living room and hallway that anchors it all.
Once you decide the type of color you want, I suggest going to the paint store and taking color swatches in a range of that color. I literally take every possible shade and even similar colors, even if I don’t think they are quite right. The way color reads is very dependent on light and what other colors are around it, so you shouldn’t make a choice based on the colors in the store.
Bring the swatches into the room you want to paint and see how they look against the floor and trim in the room. My house has a lot of oak wood that reads more yellow. The current peach that I have in my bedroom looked really pretty on a swatch, but looks so yellow in the room, so my goal is to go with a bluer pink to cool it down.
As I mentioned before, the way color reads is very dependent on light, and what is around it. The top color on this swatch looks super light when looking at it, but look how different it reads against my wall. If I just chose the color in the store, it would have looked way darker than I wanted when it was on my wall. This is why its helpful to grab a range of swatches, even if you don’t think they look right in the store.
After looking at swatches in the room lighting, I narrow to the few that I like best and then tape them individually to the wall. Color can look different when the room light is on vs. daylight or even at different times of the day, so I keep them up for a few days to note the changes in appearance. Some people even buy samples of paint colors and paint them on the wall to help make this choice because it is hard to visualize with a small swatch.
After looking at these swatches for a few days, I actually decided that they were reading too pink for what I wanted, so I’m going to do more of a gray tone with just a hint of pink. I’m going to custom make my color based on what I’m looking for because I always have to be super high maintenance! I’m also scraping the popcorn texture off the ceiling in this room, so I will be sure to update with before and after photos when I’m finished!
Hopefully this helps minimize any future color nightmares!
I recently came across a really pretty pressed flower artwork on pinterest. I loved the simplicity but color pops of the flowers, and I’m always looking for ways to bring real artwork into my home. I thought it would be a fun project to do myself!
styleandthesuburbs.wordpress.com 