Tile backsplash

It has taken 3 years of thinking about doing a tile back splash to go with the granite.. I just  had not seen anything that really called to me.. I didn't want natural stone, I thought spatters would stick to it..and I normally do not like subway style stone.. But  Lowes had this tile installed at a kitchen display in our local store.. and I bought one tile and looked at it for several weeks.then we left for the winter for Florida...came home and saw the tile next to the gold painted anaglypta paper I had put up in Dec... to see if I wanted a tile look..and was 100% sold on the tile.. We bought a thinner tile and used it for a border, and then use the larger to fill in. We also used a product that is a super sticky paper.. almost like thin foam with sticky on both sides..Its by Muscle Bound, and sadly Lowe's is not carrying it for much longer..but we did  find some in Fort Smith.. you can order it on Amazon. We used this sticky mat in our condo in Florida to do counters and back splash..NO MASTIC MESS.. we loved it.. and then we had left over tiles from the condo, and I hated the way my marble tile counter in the upstairs bath had worn, so we added the  aqua green tile in there..with the Muscle Bound... For this project we used Kera Color usanded grout in Bisquit. For some odd reason I didn't take photos of all the steps.. I normally do.  We have nothing but good things to say about the Muscle Bound mat.You can take your time setting tile.. no worrying about the mastic setting up.. so you can stop and rest for a bit.. or pick up the next day..and not having it squish thru the grout lines, and have to be scraped out when dry before grouting.. Also, the tile is thicker than the wall now, you will need to add some spacers to your outlets so they will be the same depth..and we also had to use a dremel with a diamond  bit to notch a couple places where the screws go into the outlet to screw it back into the wall.. it worked great... We bought the smaller  diamond bit, and it took a little longer than it would have if we would have got the larger one.. Our grout will set for  several more days then I will seal it with a spray on sealer. You will be working under the cabinets, so you will have to take breaks, due to the twisting and bending to do the work..again, the Muscle Bound came in handy, NO wet mastic, so we could take a break when ever our old backs needed. DOn said the hardest part is cutting tile for around outlets.. you just have to measure and cut and think before you cut...

Super Sea Horse 1958

This metal Super Seahorse logo is off of a 1958  Johnson Outboard motor.. I just was drawn to them in an old thrift store. I didn't buy them... and weeks later I kept thinking of them... went back to the store..and there they were.. MINE now.. They did have some turquise paint on them, but I added more. This one looks great in the master bath where you can see the seahorse stained glass too. The other one is on a wreath I made.

It was time for a fresh mailbox. The big fish had to go to the fish pond in the sky..but I am happy with this one. I painted it sky blue, and then pt some palm trees, pink flamingos...and THE Happy Shack on it too..

Happy Shack Eye Candy

There is always upkeep, and changes to the lake house.. I painted the door pink, and you can see all the pink,blue, yellow, green in the trim work and shutters.. We added a larger  deck on the lower level, The  front porch, we have a  little spot to sit and have a meal, and you can see the round lounger with the  mosquito netting, so I can lay out and read.. I like the netting just for the feel, and in case some random bug thinks it needs to find me.. The lower deck we have added another  lounger, and a chiminea to make s'mores, and take away the fall chill... If your new to the blog, you will see a 10ft. long board surfboard that a freind brought back from Hawaii so many years ago, and I got it for $20, and did a mosaic on both sides, duck behind that and have a nice shower once you get out of the lake.  Come sit on the porch with me, have a big glass of sweet tea, it is the "house wine" of the south, and lets watch a sunset !