Apple Giants

There was a big wind and rain storm alert for this last weekend and it didn't disappoint. I watched the trees whip the rooftops, all my sunflower stalks broke in half, and my shed roof jumped like it wanted to fly off.

  

 

I failed to remove and store my bird feeders that were displayed on the porch railing and they all ended up flying off their perches and into the bushes.

I've been avoiding apple picking because I wanted to see how big they would get especially since it's my first year getting apples. I couldn't let it go any longer knowing the winds we get here might knock the apples to the ground. Bruised and battered, they wouldn't be quite as appetizing.

Unfortunately, the critters also like incredibly ripe and sweet apple giants so I was worried they would feast before I got the chance. Still, I waited. The apples by the fence line have bird peck marks and some of the very ripe apples have what looks like little holes. Oh well. I prefer bug-bitten to pesticide-poisoned food. There is a opossum who has been eating the windfalls. Sloppy eaters, opossums. They leave what looks like little piles of applesauce all over the yard!

I've been watching this one apple every day for about three months.

Three months ago...teenager apple.

It hung out from the tree away from the fence line and branches making it not so convenient for anything to eat it. The heavier it became the further down it hung. Still, I expected some kind of insect infestation especially in the core. Every morning I ran out to make sure it didn't fall in the night and get eaten which is how so many of its siblings met their fate. I imagined some hungry opossum trying to reach up to grab it, but it was just out of reach.

It's finally nice and yellow and ready for eating. It's huge! Beautiful.

And SURPRISE! No bugs! I was expecting all kinds of critters to skitter for their lives when I cut it opened. I'm so excited.

Breakfast! So good!

Rust Removal and Storytelling

I started on my spool bed project with a basic cleaning. The finish is so old it comes off like dirt which will make the stripping go faster, but it's messy. Years in an outdoor storage shed has made the hardware rusty.

I visited my local man-worker-filled hardware store. I'm always under the assumption man-workers at a hardware store KNOW something, but in reality few do. I asked two of them how to remove rust. Both are wonderfully trained salesmen and showed me a variety of toxic chemicals designed to do just that. Expensive, toxic chemicals.

"But is there a home remedy for rust removal? Something people in the good ol' days used?"

They had no idea. Really? Free advice doesn't allow them to make any money. So when I got home I got online. I'm fairly convinced there is a natural, home remedy for anything you can do with a chemical.

Vinegar. Of course. How many thousands of uses does vinegar have? It's a miracle.

If the item you need to clean is small enough, submerse it in a container of vinegar and wait a couple hours. If you don't want to scrub, leave it 24 hours. It foams and that's a good sign.

Then rinse the objects off. Some of the rust clings so take a sponge, scrubber or rag and wipe it off.

 

 

I wish I would have taken a photo of these pieces when they were caked with rust so the difference would be obvious. Nevertheless, it's a miracle! Not only is it like magic, but I can now identify the manufacturer of these foundry pieces.

Knecht & Kempf was a foundry/iron works company in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1867 and 1872. It's my assumption based on this information the bed is from Ohio and made between these dates, but the company was still in existence after 1872 with a new partnership so I really have no idea if they went to the trouble to changed the stamp of the company name or not. For now it's my assumption the bed was made in the late 1800s.

I've also learned spool beds were made as early as the 1600s. In the 1830s, the head and foot boards were usually equal in height. Since my new acquisition has head and foot boards of different heights, it's probably later. English manufacturers decorated every inch of the design. Americans didn't. This information only supports my theory it's from the late 1800's and American.

 

This is what I love about refurbishing old furniture. It's like detective work and sometimes furniture will "talk" to you and give you clues. On other pieces I've found dates or company names embossed or stamped onto the undersides, but unfortunately, not with this one. As I'm cleaning it, I notice the marks, gouges, scrapes on the surface and wonder about its history. Most of these I will leave rather than sand them out because I think the history is important to the piece. The woman who gave it to me at the last minute felt a compulsion to grab the fourth rung from the left side and twist it. It squeaked. She smiled wistfully and said, "I love that. When I was little I used to lay in bed late at night and make it squeak." It makes me not want to paint the bed as it will stop the squeak.

I love history.

Freecycle: Changing the World One Gift at a Time

 

For anyone interested in living a more sustainable, non-materialistic lifestyle, Freecycle is the place where you can practice the three R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. It's a wonderful system where people can give their junk to people who want their junk, or for people who need something, but would rather not buy it either because they don't have the money, don't want to contribute to the over consumerism of the world, or in my case and like many of us dealing with chemical sensitivity, want items that are not treated or made with chemicals. Free is good, too!

I started using Freecycle eight years ago when I moved into this big, old house of mine. It needed a lot of repairs and I didn't want to spend lots of money on tools and supplies. I also needed some furniture since I moved from a tiny one bedroom apartment into a house. There was too much echo. And then there were the projects I needed to do to keep me busy and entertained out in the isolation of the country. I've been given solid wood antique furniture, arts and crafts supplies, office supplies, kitchen appliances, and house repair materials, just to name a few categories.

There are times I've post for something and received no response, but that's just part of the game. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. And there have been MANY times I respond to an offer and didn't get chosen as the  recipient because I'm in a long list of others who wanted it as well. Many times the giver selects the first responder rather than judge who should get it or not. I was really disappointed once not to get a wicker couch and what made it worse was the person offering it to me emailed to tell me I was the first responder, but my email ended up in his spam folder for some reason. Did he really need to tell me that? I was so disappointed.

My latest acquisition was a post entitled: "Antique Spool Bed Needs TLC". I was the first responder early one morning. Lucky timing. The woman emailed and said it was the childhood bed she received as a gift from her father around 1940 so it has a lot of sentimental value making it difficult to part with. When she received it, it was already considered antique. Although I was excited, I was also skeptical. If it's a children's bed, it might be very small, and if it's that old, what is wrong with it and why is it in her storage shed. She asked me if I was sure I wanted it because the second responder claimed to have woodworking experience. I did. I figured I could use the headboards for some project, make a bench out of it, use it for a decorative feature or railing in my future cob house. If it's a real spool bed, the carvings alone should be fun. But one never knows. She didn't have a photograph of it. The giver said it had been in storage for about 30 years, but it worked back then and she has all the parts. It fits a smaller than normal mattress, something between a twin bed and a full bed which may be problematic for most people. Old-style mattress sizing. That's fine with me as I'd never buy a new mattress and have been thinking of trying to make a mattress out of mattress pads.

Freecycle also warns people to meet strangers in public for safety reasons, so of course I go right to her house. I think with our email communications we had a good feeling about each other. Either that or we are both naïve and too trusting. Yep, probably, but strangers who share childhood memories give me a good vibe.

A second concern always is will the person I meet be wearing perfume or will the freebie stink? I carefully assess the situation one step at a time.

She opens her storage shed and there it is. It's not a children's bed and it's solid wood. It's dusty and dirty, but cleaning an antique is part of the fun. It's like bringing it back to life.




In the garage, ready for its transformation! Even the railings are wood. Love it.

She did have all the pieces including the two sculpted ends on the foot board that were removed in order to fit a full size mattress years ago. The woman kept looking like she was mourning the loss, but assured me giving it away was fine. For a moment I asked myself, Aren't you always saying you need to downsize like this woman is doing? Why do you keep gathering more STUFF? I like having projects to keep me busy. If anything, I can fix it up and sell it at my next garage sale for a huge profit.

Love the carvings.

 

 

It's really awesome. At first I thought I would paint it turquoise but I fear it won't match anything in my house except my pantry. It won't fit in the pantry, unfortunately! Too bad as it would go well in my shrine. It'll probably end up white. Maybe I should paint it wild? Oh, the decisions! So much fun.

I love antiques. This one is now on its third life, at least. Who knows, maybe it has had many more lives? I wonder what experiences it had? Where it's from? How old it is? The stories it could tell!

The Pantry Shrine

Taking a photo of my dehydrator next to the opening to my pantry reminded me to show the beaded curtain I finally finished!

 After working on making even more beads to add to my collection from last winter, I finally had enough, but barely. That door frame is very tall! It could still stand to be another foot longer, but I'm too tired of beading. Such a long process demanding much patience which I am lacking. My beaded partition is good enough for now. I'll take a break and perhaps at another time I'll attempt to make another hundred beads.

Love the turquoise beads. Actually, I love all the colors. There are three different purples, four different pinks, two blues, two greens, only one, lovely turquoise color, and about ten white beads thrown in to match the white trim of the room plus the off-white bamboo tube beads that match the off-white trim of the kitchen. Close ups:

The pantry is still being used as a shrine. I have no desire to get it dirty or scratch it up. I've made art for it, in matching colors. HA! This is The Bunnysattva of Binkies:

A "binky" is what they call it when a rabbit jumps straight up in the air and twists. It's how they play when they are happy. A "half binky" is when they shake their head like a mini-twist and sometimes they will raise up a little, but they are sitting or standing still. Peter does that all the time. It means he's happy to see me, but he's too fat to jump. He didn't start doing it until I had him about six months. At first I thought something was wrong with him, like ear mites or an ear infection. I got online and discovered the world of bunny binkies. Such a happy thing. I wanted something happy in my pantry shrine.

...And something needed to hang from those pegs, but because I have such an aversion to putting anything in this room that isn't part of the color scheme and design, I decided to custom create it. I used a piece of scrap wood for the base because I didn't have any small canvases. I have lots of these little scrap wood pieces. The dimensions are 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 1 so it has a three-dimensional quality which prompted me to give the sides some design.

 

It's different, but the cool thing is it can stand up on a shelf or counter. This inspires me.

I think I just found my new winter project!

Falling Off the Wagon...Dried Asian Pears

Over the weekend I stood out in a rainstorm and picked nine bags of Asian pears from my brother's four large trees. I had planned not to be greedy and take only two bags, but he said they usually ripen, drop and go to waste so take as many as I can possibly use. We filled all the bags in his house and only stopped when we ran out. What a gift! I bought one of these Asian pears at the store a couple weeks ago. It cost $3.89 a pound! OUCH! My brother kept reminding me, perhaps hoping to get me to take more, that these Asian pears are not sprayed and wonderfully organic.

He also gave me a bottle of homemade Asian pear wine he made last year with NO sulfates. Yum! It's the only alcohol I can drink because of the missing chemicals, but it is NOT on my diet because of the sugar content. I'll save it for a special occasion.

 

OK, so what does one person do with this many Asian pears? I started snacking immediately. I kept looking around me surrounded by bags, bowls, and buckets filled with them. I sold my canning supplies in the last yard sale (oops!), but I'm not really excited about canned food since I'm supposed to be on a non-processed food diet which is what prompted the sale. Still, I'd like to use as much as I can so they don't go to waste. I asked a friend and she said DRY THEM!

 

That sounded like a great idea even though I'm not supposed to have dried fruit because it contributes to my fatigue episodes, but hey, I have willpower. Right? I'll make dried fruit and store it away for a rainy day. Unfortunately, it rains a lot here.

 

 

I cut up a batch of Asian pears and put them in the dehydrator leaving them overnight. It will hold about ten pears in one batch.

 

 

They took 12 hours to dry, and it took me about two hours to eat the whole batch! They taste so wonderful, like little potato chip-size candies, solid sugar. I ate a whole bag of chips and just kept wanting to go back for more. I feel an addiction coming on and I'm sure I'll pay for this!

Due to my incredible LACK of willpower, I plan to take at least half of my harvest to the food bank this week.

Sunflowers!

I love sunflowers. I'm sure I've expressed that enough. Although this year's batch didn't produce the giant mammoth sunflowers like last year, they are still beautiful. These in the front yard are about ten feet tall. Most of them are the Lemon Queen variety so their heads are smaller and they are more brown and orange in color.  Bees really like Lemon Queens and people who study and count bees use this variety to attract them. Peter loves to eat them. Well, the flowers, not the bees!

The last photo is the view from my bedroom and the one above it from my living room window. I love how they sway in the breeze when they are so tall. It's like they are nodding their heads in approval at me.

One of my most delicious sensual memories of all time was riding my bike in France on a little country road through a dark forest. It opened up to a blinding brightness of sun and fields of sunflowers as far as the eye could see with their heads all facing me. To this day I wish I would have taken a photo, but I was so shocked and mesmerized I forgot! Now it's like remembering a fairy tale. Did I really experience that or dream it?

I love sunflowers. Such happy flowers.

LOL Quote of the Day

"FACT: The FDA regulates birth control medications.

 

It also considers ketchup a vegetable."

 

 

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

 

 

RelaxShacks

I just discovered Derek Diedricksen and his blog Relax Shacks. He has been building tiny houses, cabins, tree houses and shacks in his backyard since he was a kid and uses all found objects! Freebies! Windows made from old washing machine doors, bottles as door knobs, doors made from old radiator parts or cupboards pieced together, walls constructed with old doors. He's a speaker for the Tumbleweed Tiny Home conferences and gives workshops. He's incredibly artistic, joyful, and fun to watch. Here's a video on Derek talking about his process:

 

 

I love how he names all his little shelters cute names. It's more like art than construction for him. I think I might need to buy his book for its art value!

 

Be sure to check out his blog. His posts not only cover his art creations, but also feature tiny homes others have built.

 

Very inspiring. For my next project, I'm going to need some pallet boards to make some outdoor lounge chairs!

"Hank Bought a Bus"

I just found a great tiny home website called Tiny House Design while searching for information and workshops on cob house construction. On it I came across this great post called "Hank Bought a Bus" about an architecture graduate student who converted an old bus into a tiny home for his thesis. Awesome!

For another article featuring Hank's bus with more photos and details on the interior, click HERE.  I love the module concept where seating changes to tables and beds change from twin to double, etc. This website is called Tiny House Swoon and it features tiny house plans submitted by people who have built them. It has examples of other bus conversion designs as well.

Of course, his design doesn't consider chemical sensitivity and due to the limited amount of time he had to complete the project, he constructed the whole interior with plywood (Whew! That ought to stink!), but it's a wonderful idea.

In August 2013 he tested it by driving it around the country, picking up and dropping off friends as he toured. Here is his blog describing his adventures: Hank Bought a Bus.

The mileage for the bus is 10.

Surface Protector and Bling

I decided to coat my newly painted pantry with an acrylic protective coating. I heard there is a paint especially made for pantries, but the paint I used was free so not quite as durable. I really wanted the shelves and drawers to be able to withstand all kinds of abuse since it was so much work to get them to look nice. I use Miniwax Polycrylic Protective Finish on all the furniture I paint with low VOC paint and it seems to work very well.

It goes on smelly, REALLY smelly, so for those who are extra sensitive this might not work for you or you might need to get someone else to do it. Within a couple hours, however, I find the smell is totally gone.

I decided to do some tests to see if this extra work, extra expense, and extra toxicity would be worth it. I painted half of this wood piece with turquoise and the other half with white. I used white as the trim in the pantry and I wanted to make sure the polycrylic wouldn't turn yellow which happens with so many products. It hasn't turned my furniture yellow, but this was a different kind of paint so I felt safer doing tests. In the middle I coated both colors with the polycrylic leaving the ends untreated and let it cure for about a week...

 

 

 

...then I took a hammer to it! I wasn't dainty with the swinging either!  You can see on the top of the white and the bottom of the turquoise the marks and discoloration caused by the hammer. In the middle where the polycrylic was used, the blows left indentations, but didn't affect the paint job. Excellent! In addition to protecting the paint, I was hoping this finish would also seal the toxic paint and get it to stop offgassing. It stunk.

 

I used the polycrylic on the shelves, drawers, cupboard doors, walls, and ceiling. I didn't use it on the white window frame nor some of the white trim around the upper shelves. I waited a few hours and did a cautious sniff test. It took a lot of the stink away, but not all. I was hoping it would miraculously seal it. Oh well!

 

BLING! 

 

I love shiny!



What Makes You Happy?

 

I just watched a very thought-provoking documentary called Happy about what makes people happy, what doesn't make people happy, who isn't happy, where they are happy, and other happiness factors. See trailer:

 

It was very interesting although most of the points were fairly common sense. Naturally, I kept comparing myself and my life to their data. Yep, so glad money doesn't make a person happy or I'd be really unhappy.

The point they made about money is there is a huge difference between the happiness level of someone who makes $5,000 a year and someone who makes $50,000 a year, but once your basic needs are met, there isn't much difference between $50,000 and $50,000,000. In terms of happiness, that is. I would really be happy with $50,000, but I disagree, I'd be twice as happy with $50,000,000!

Then the film got to the part about human connection and how our social lives affect happiness. This got me thinking about those of us who are forced to isolate ourselves to avoid being poisoned as I know I am definitely lacking in human contact. Oh, how I would love a community of like-minded people, a tribe to call my own. I agree it would make me happier to have more human connection and I suppose this is the reason I'm trying to find a MCS community. WHERE are my people? But I am still asking myself, would other MCSers make me happy or just irritable? Will they positively contribute to my level of happiness or annoy the hell out of me?

In the meantime, I've been brainstorming things that make me happy:

1.) money (I don't care what they say, the more the better. Less stress in life makes me very happy. Being able to do what I want to do without worrying about my finances would make me very happy. Enough security to not have to worry about being homeless would make me happy. It doesn't necessarily mean I'll spend a lot of money non-stop, I just want to know it's there if I need it.)
2.)  creative projects/painting
3.)  gardening and nature
4.)  helping people and hearing about others helping people
5.)  good people who get me and like me anyway
6.)  watching flash mob videos
7.)  good TV, movies and books
8.)  good music
9.)  having garage sales
10.) good health

What makes you happy?

Summer Project, or What Was I Thinking?

I had a nightmare the last room to be remodeled was peeling toxic, lead paint! As much as I dreaded diving into another poisonous project, I do want the house to look somewhat nice when I sell it. This room, the pantry, is the only one left with old "granny green" on the walls.

 

 

 

 

I left it for last because if I want to change the color, I'll also need to replace the old tiles on the counter. Although I've cleaned them thoroughly, the grout is stained and some of the backsplash tiles are loose.

No, I don't want to strip old paint, scrape and sand, chisel tiles, add new tiles with glues and grout, prime the walls with stinky primer, and paint with high VOC paint. This tiny room has eight shelving layers, six drawers, two cupboards, a counter and a window. It totally rivals all other rooms in the house. LOTS OF WORK. I'm so tired of all these toxic projects, but I don't want a prospective buyer to take one look at that room and think LEAD PAINT: DANGER! and walk away from the sale thinking the whole house is poisonous. This is the LAST room in the house to be done!

Lead paint. Oh, great. If it's lead paint, how am I going to sand and scrape off the old paint? I started researching safe methods. I kept thinking it would be so much easier if it wasn't lead, but the house was built in 1922 and this paint is old. It has to be lead.

I found a store that sold lead tests. I made a decision if it was lead, I'd leave it alone and not worry about it. (That nightmare prompted me to remove everything out of the pantry!) If by slim chance it wasn't lead paint, I'd re-do the whole room.

It was NOT lead! I tried the test several times, on different surfaces, even testing the paint underneath the green layer. NO LEAD! Even with this good news I keep thinking, maybe the paint is lead and the test is faulty! There was a tester in the packet to check to see if it was working correctly, but one can never be too trusting. Others reassuring told me if lead paint was really that toxic, many generations of professional painters would be dying from it. Supposedly it only makes children brain dead, not adults. I don't know if that's true, but it gave me courage.

I threw all caution to the wind, as I tend to do, and jumped right in. I used plastic to cover the floors and seal off the entrance. With gloves, goggles, mask and apron, I started by cleaning everything, then removing the tiles. Not fun. I can't imagine people who do this professionally every day.

It involves using a sharp tool and pounding it with the hammer until the tiles pry loose. Dust, bits of wood, cement and old grout flying in my face. I did a little each day. This wasn't as bad as re-roofing my garage, but close in terms of physical labor. I can't imagine removing a whole floor or wall of tiles!

 

I filled in holes where the backsplash tiles were with wood filler and smoothed the surface. Unfortunately, the backsplash was right under the window ledge so getting it smooth was a challenge.

 

The first photo above makes the room look like it's in fairly good shape, but
you really need to look closely. Evidence of years of wear. There are
even markers on the archway left by former tenants where they measured
the height of their little boys every few years!
 

Then I stripped, sanded and scraped the old paint off the removable pieces until the surfaces were paintable. I did this in the garage. For the permanent shelving and places difficult to reach, I used a deglosser as a liquid sander. That stuff is nasty toxic!

Then I primed everything.

 

I used the very toxic Zinsser Primer because it's the best. It covers and seals any surface and is much stronger than other brands. Unfortunately, even with a mask on it had a strong ammonia smell and in that tiny room I was quite worried about adequate ventilation especially while I was working up by the ceiling. The fan was running constantly pointing out the window. Again, I did just a little each day so as not to over expose myself.

Besides air quality issues, priming such a small space and a ceiling is really difficult as there is no place to stand so you aren't directly under the dripping paint. The bright light at the ceiling made it difficult to see as well. I constantly asked myself, What were you thinking? and promised, yet again, to never do another one of these poisonous projects.

 

I've never tiled in my life, but did that scare me? Well, yeah! I was terrified. It took me weeks of planning, preparing, ordering supplies before I was brave enough to venture forth. I survived. I've written a separate post on tile work for those of you who want detailed instructions.

 

Painting! Oh, I couldn't wait to get to this part! I wanted a cheerful color to match the blue kitchen. For the last eight years I've had a Claude Monet poster from Giverny, France hanging in the pantry to cover up the scrapes and gouges in the wall. I decided to use that color scheme as my source.

 

 

Love the colors!

 

The blue matches the kitchen so I went with a same blue, turquoise, and white trim.  I really, really wanted turquoise on my walls!

 

 

 

I got some free sample paints from the local hardware store. Unfortunately, they don't give out free low VOC paints so they are incredibly toxic. Still, I needed the heavy-duty chemical paints for the shelves so the surface would be rock hard and durable. Low VOC paint is NOT recommended on horizontal surfaces as anything you place on top of it will stick and pull away the paint. I learned this the hard way. The samples were for a flat finish which I find difficult to clean so I got a darker turquoise and mixed it with white glossy paint. It's more of an aqua color with the white added which is closer to the poster's color.

 

The toxic paint was awesome. It went on so smoothly and only required one coat, unlike low VOC which can require multiple coats just to cover the surface adequately. But SMELLY!  Eeewww! I used an air purifier working full time and a fan pointed out the open window. 

 

Voila!

 

I got a little crazy with the ceiling. I think Monet would have liked sunflowers:

 

 

 

 

The sunflowers are in bloom so I couldn't help myself, however, I did the ceiling first because I didn't want paint dripping down on the new countertop. If I would have saved it for last after I painted the walls I might have painted bright, tropical fish instead. The colors feel very aquatic.

 

For such a tiny room, it was hell. A quarter of the size of any other room in my house and it took four times the effort. Many times I considered hiring someone to finish it for me, but Yatna, my menopausal alter ego, would scream, "OH, NO YOU DON'T! NO BAD MEN ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE! WE CAN DO THIS ALL BY OURSELVES."

 

Even with all the protective gear I wore, I have only so much time before the chemical exposures start affecting me. First sign it's getting to be too much are the weird dreams, then inability to sleep, and pain in neck and joints followed by sinus congestion, headaches, sore throat, and lung pain. I know it's time to stop.

 

With all that toxic high VOC paint, it may take months to offgas. It took nine months for my upstairs floors to offgas fresh paint and during that time I lived in the downstairs rooms. That's OK. I'm so enjoying the new colors I think I'd rather use it as some kind of shrine. Maybe I'll put some religious paraphernalia in there and use it only for display. For now the fan is running constantly and I still have it sealed off. I'm considering covering everything with an acrylic coat to protect the paint from scratches, but that will have to wait.

 

I'm so glad it's finished. It's the satisfaction of completion and gazing upon those lovely colors that makes it all worthwhile.

 

 

 





How to Tile a Countertop

I'm writing this post for instructions on how to tile a countertop because I couldn't find much online with basic instructions. I am courageously remodeling the pantry and wanted to do something simple and less expensive for the small countertop. As you read this you'll probably thing she doesn't know what she's doing and you would be right!


Supplies:

Goggles, gloves, apron
Plastic to cover and protect area
Hammer
Screwdriver or paint scrapper
Wood piece for under front edge (optional)
Tape
Vacuum

Tiles
Ceramic Tile Acrylic Adhesive
Notched Spreader
Rags for clean up
Sponge or damp rag for adhesive clean up

Grout
Spatula
Grout Floater
Sponge
Buckets of Water
Dry Rag

Grout Sealer
Dry Rag


Step one: Figure out the plan.

In my kitchen pantry I have a small counter just under 10 square feet in size (5 feet x 1 1/2 feet with some edging). The original tiles were one inch square covering the total surface and facing edge in multiple colors of green with old, discolored grout. Who ever set those must have had a whole lot of patience!

Most stores had only the glossy white tiles available and sold per tile or per case. This would have saved me money, but then someone told me glossy scratches easy and with all the abuse a counter would get moving boxes across it or banging jars on it, matte would be more durable. I did want them to match the floor which is a matte white. My floor tiles are 12 x 12, but that size is too big for this little counter.

I didn't want to rent a tile cutter which was quite big, heavy and expensive, so I opted for 4 x 4 tiles. I ordered the minimum which was a case for $24.50. Initially the sales woman told me after doing the math there were 50 in a case. When the case arrived I realized there were 100 in a case.

I measured the space and realized unless I had very wide grout lines, I would need a smaller size tile somewhere in the design. I also tried to find small trim for the edge, but what was available was too wide. I considered letting the trim pieces overlap but with cupboards and drawers under this counter, I was afraid of snagging the edge and ripping off the tiles. I could have ordered a case of small size tiles or edging, but minimum case orders are costly when I only needed a small amount. I bought sheets of hexagon designs with little one inch squares so I could use the one inch squares.

The individual pieces come apart.

 

 

Using one inch squares is a little weird I know, but I figured if the old design can use them, why not? I was trying to keep the project simple, easy, and cheap.

 

Once I figured out the most efficient option and gathered the supplies, I was ready to dive in!

 



Step Two: Remove the old tiles.

 

First, cover all other surfaces and floors and wear gloves and goggles. I used a hammer and a metal paint scraper. I started with a screwdriver but the scraper was wider and remove more faster. This is messy work with glass-like chips, wood splinters, dust and dirt flying everywhere.

 

 

 

 

It's important to get as much grout, tile and glue off so the surface is smooth, clean and level.

 

 

After scraping, I used a electric sander but it didn't make much difference. I was told adhesive for tiles is like cement. Sanding doesn't affect it. I used a paint scraper to make it as smooth as possible.

 

I attached a piece of wood under the counter in the front to hold up those edge tiles.

 

 

 

I saw this on an online video, but I think this is only necessary for larger, heavier tiles. I added a piece of paint tape because I kept thinking if the adhesive sticks to the wood piece, when I remove this wood, half the tiles will be yanked off. I think the wood piece was more hassle than necessary. If you have big facing tiles you'd need it.

 



Step Three: Lay out the tiles and figure out the design.

 

I did this about five times! Trying to figure out how to space them seems like it would be easy, but I was worried about the adhesive. It is highly suggested to use spacers in between the tiles and you can buy a whole bag of 500. I didn't want this extra expense and with such a small, strangely shaped space, I didn't think they'd help. You can't be wasting time trying to figure out spacing and getting all the lines straight and the spacers inserted when the adhesive is drying. I think if I were to do a large space like a floor and in sections, using spacers would be an advantage. I decided to just eye it.

 

 

As you can see the counter is mostly 4 x 4 tiles with the little 1 x 1 tiles at the back to take up room and at the front for the edge. There are some 1 x 1 tiles at the side where the counter fits around some architecture. Not a great design, but it works. I was going to have to eye it so I practiced laying them out. Five times. I wanted to make sure before doing anything permanent with glue or grout.



 

 

Step Four: Stick 'em on.

 

I used a small container of Ceramic Tile Adhesive. The instructions say it will cover ten to fifteen square feet and since I had a little less than 10 square feet I hoped this would work. Directions say to spread it thin, but not too thin, then "score" it with a notched spreader or trowel.

 

 

I bought one of the smaller sized notched spreader tools for only 79 cents instead of a trowel since I was doing a small space. I used the flat edge to spread the adhesive on the surface. I was told to use the large jagged teeth, but I think it depends on the thickness of the adhesive and the size of the tiles. In hindsight I should have used the medium teeth for the four inch tiles and the small teeth for the one inch tiles.

 

It was difficult trying to figure out how thick to lay the adhesive. I knew I needed to use the whole container, so I used that as a guide, but it seemed too thin to me. I'm not sure how that container would have covered "up to 15 square feet". It barely covered less than 10.

 

Laying out the tiles was scary. You have to work fast, but still get them straight and spaced evenly. The 1 x 1 inch tiles were difficult to handle because the adhesive was sticky and slippery especially wearing plastic gloves. I worked up one side at the left then across the front so I could judge the 90 degree angles. I'm sure there are more professional ways to do this line laying plumb lines, but this was a small space so I figured I could eye it. Again, the 1 x 1 tiles were the problem. I set them out too far apart and ended up with left over tiles! So I adjusted some which hopefully isn't a huge faux pas in technique. More difficult to judge than I anticipated especially when one is nervous. The edge tiles didn't want to stick so much and they kept wanting to slide down slightly so in a way I was glad I had the wood piece attachment to support their positions until I could shove them securely into the adhesive. Once I got them all in place I twisted them into the adhesive tightly. I still don't think for smaller tiles one needs the wood piece.

 

Then I took a large piece of 2 x 4 board, set it on top of the tiles to make sure they were level with one another. Tapped lightly with a hammer. You are also supposed to use a level to make sure the whole surface is level. I wasn't going to buy a fancy level and if it showed that the surface was not level, what was I supposed to do? It didn't make sense for such a small surface.

 

 

 

Step Five: Clean up and finish.

 

With a damp cloth (or sponge), carefully clean off as much adhesive as possible before it dries on the tiles. If you don't get it all, don't worry. The great thing about ceramic is it's like glass. Any adhesive residue comes off easy with a flat edge exacto knife blade.

 

After an hour of letting it all sit I removed the wood piece. The edge tiles didn't slip off and were stuck securely.

 

Directions on the container say to wait 48 to 72 hours for drying time before adding grout. Don't mess with them until then.

 

Oddly enough, it doesn't smell. You would think adhesive would be deadly, but even when I had professional flooring people do my kitchen floors they didn't stink. I love ceramic tile!

 

THREE DAYS LATER...

 

I crossed my fingers and lightly touched the corners of the tiles to see if they were secure. They were! Even the little tiles on the facing edge. You can't imagine how relieved I was!!!

 

Step Six: Grout

 

I bought a small container of Pre-Mixed Grout which comes white only. If you need colored grout you'd need to mix it yourself. So glad I needed white! I like an easy project.

 

Wear a mask, gloves and apron. This step is messy!

 

I scooped it using a plastic paint scraper so I could use the sharp edge to get it into the corners. Then I spread it into the lines using a rubber Grout Floater tool. I was told the rubber ones are better than the latex. All the instructions I read said to spread it at a 90 degree angle...I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I figured that out while doing the actual spreading and trying to fill all the little lines completely - run the spreader against the lines not along the lines, so if the lines are vertical, spread horizontal across them that way the grout scrapes off the edge of the tool and compacts into the hole. That probably isn't any clearer! Well, do whatever you can to make sure the grout is packed into the lines and no air bubbles are left. Using the floater, remove as much excess grout off the tile tops as possible.

 

Because I opted not to use fancy edging, I needed to put grout between the two rows of tiles at the front edge and try to make it look as pretty as possible. I used my fingers and packed the grout in. This was SO MESSY with sandy-textured white mud dripping on the floor and down the plastic-covered walls. Once I got the grout packed in these small spaces, I carefully used the float to smooth it out and make it even praying those little tiles wouldn't pop off. I was told to make this edge diagonal rather than a sharp corner so it wouldn't chip off easily. I'm surprised it worked so well. I was worried about how the edge would end up looking since it's not a professionally-bought option. Not bad!

 

Close up of edge and one inch square facing tiles.

 

 

With a damp sponge and a bucket of water, I cleaned the excess grout off the tiles using diagonal wipes, rinsing the sponge often. This was really messy. I tried getting the extra grout off the walls and all I could do was smear it all over. I kept rinsing the sponge and wiping it off repeatedly! Eventually it looked even and clean.

 

Grout smells a little like paint, not as strong, but a distinct chemical smell.

 

Dump the bucket of grouty water somewhere outside far enough away from curious bunnies.

 

If a filmy haze is left, they say don't worry about it. According to the grout container instructions, it should be dry in about four hours. At that time use a dry, soft, cloth to remove the haze by "polishing" the tiles. If the haze still exists after 24 hours, it can be removed with Grout and Tile Cleaner. I didn't want to buy another toxic product so I used an exacto knife blade and scraped off any excess residue.

 

TWO DAYS LATER...

 

Step Seven: Sealer

 

This will seal the grout so it's stain-proof. Sealer can be bought in a plain bottle, squeeze bottle, or spray bottle. I got the squeeze bottle with the brush on the end. Apply it to the grout, wait 10 - 15 minutes, and wipe the excess off the tiles. I did this for my floors so I can confidently say I am experienced at the sealing step!

 

Done! Hooray!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the whole pantry is finished, I'll post the process with more photos.