DIY Mosaic Backsplash

So, this is the story of how I pieced together a unique back splash with a little something something, without spending a fortune.

It took me a while to decide on tile for my kitchen back splash.  I wanted something interesting, but still light and bright and neutral enough without being totally boring.  This design kind evolved.  I searched the home improvement stores and none of the tile options jumped out at me.  At one I saw some penny tile in white that was interesting but the plain matte white just didn't do it for me. I decided to venture out to some of the fancier tile showrooms to see what was out there and to see if I might be lucky enough to happen upon a clearance room with something amazing that didn't cost a fortune.

I discovered a local tile company called Pratt & Larson here in Portland, OR.  I walked into their showroom and it kind of blew my mind.  It felt more like an art gallery than a tile store.  They hand make and hand paint their tile and they are truly works of art.  So, imagine my shear joy when I spotted a sign with an arrow and the words "clearance".  I was conflicted, I couldn't wait to go see what wonders the clearance room back in the warehouse held for me, yet I didn't want to leave the serenity of their beautiful showroom.

Low and behold I did find some wonderful treasures in the clearance room, but not enough of any one design to cover my entire back splash.  Even if I had found enough of the same tile, even at the clearance price, it would have been more than I wanted to spend.  So when I found a tile that seemed like it was made with my exact kitchen in mind I bought all of them.  There weren't a lot of them, but there were just enough for a feature inset right above my kitchen sink.  It was clear at this point that these tiles were in the drivers seat and they would be dictating the rest of the design for my back splash.  The tiles in the clearance area were not priced per tile or even per square foot, they were a flat price per pound.  By my usual standards it was still spendy at the clearance price but what I paid was a fraction of their usual retail price.

                                                     (mine is the color in the middle)

I went back to Home Depot to give their tile selection another look.  As I held my fancy tile up to various tiles in shades of white like the fancy tile background the transition seemed awkward.  I decided that the fancy tile needed some kind of frame around it.  I found a square glass tile in a gray/blue/green color that provided a nice compliment to my fancy tile.  So, now that we had our fancy feature, and a frame for it, we needed something very neutral that was worthy of the fancy tile yet wouldn't compete too much with it for attention.  My mind kept going back to the round penny tile, but I didn't like the starkness of the matte white.  The store clerk told me they had additional color choices online.  Bingo, found it!  They had the same round penny tile available in a mixed finish mosaic of matte, gloss, and iridescent glazes.  This mixture of finishes gave the plain penny tile pizzazzle while warming it up.  It was as though the penny tile was echoing the round center of the flower design on the fancy tile.  This tile was worthy!  Our design was complete.

Ad Hoc DIY Chicken Coop

I am very late in posting about my chicken coop project.  I built my coop last Summer using a mix of new and salvage materials. I have no building experience, so if I can do it, anyone can do it.  The only thing I knew about framing a wall was what I could recall from one Spring Break youth group mission trip to Mexico in the 80's where I helped frame a couple of walls to an edition on a missionary's house.  That was a very long time ago, so I referred to my brains reference of many HGTV viewing hours and You Tube videos to fill in any blanks.  I did not draw up formal plans.  Like most of my projects, I just kind of winged it.

I started with two pallets for the foundation and framed them with 2 x 4's.

I based my overall dimensions on he footprint that the pallets provided and a height that would accommodate a salvage French door I picked up.  I framed the sides and then attached to the floor base.  Instead of pre-framing the front and back wall and then assembling, I built them in place.  Starting with the floor, sides, then top of wall.  Please forgive my lack of correct technical terms, again, I am winging it here.

As for design, I simply knew that I wanted to install my salvage window overlooking the garden and that the roost would be positioned at window height so the girls could see out.  I also knew that I wanted the door in front facing the yard and the chicken run would be to the rear of the coop, so I needed an opening a floor level on the rear wall.  

If years of watching DIY shows has taught me anything, it is that plumb and level matter.  I used my level to check that as I went along everything was plumb and level.

Using the window dimensions, I planned he vertical and horizontal framing so that the window had something to attach to.  I mostly just used common sense here and used a vertical stud to support a horizontal stud which then supported the window frame.  I used the same kind of structure above the window and then flanked the window frame with vertical studs.

I framed the front wall by spacing vertical studs to accommodate the door and then added horizontal bracing studs for rigidity.  For the far side wall I simply added one vertical stud in the center and then a few horizontal studs for structure.  The rear wall was framed much the same way to accommodate a small square opening at floor level.

While all of the 2 x 4 framing was new wood, I used salvage cedar deck boards from the deck we just removed for the flooring and siding, as well as the roof.

I wanted to keep things light and bright inside the coop so I painted the interior white.

When the girls first moved in they were quite young and not yet in need of nesting boxes.  I will add pictures later to show the phase two additions of large feeders and nesting area.

I painted the exterior to match our house and added trim.  The roof was built to allow front and back vents.  The vents were covered with machine cloth.  The roof boards were then covered in new shingles.  I also used white flashing along all of the edges for functionality and a more finished look.

And what cute little cottage would be complete without a flower box?

I debated whether I wanted to frame a run at coop height out of wood and chicken wire, but decided to go with a pre-fab steel kennel kit from Home Depot.  It assembled quickly and we anchored it to the back wall of the coop.  We get some predators in our yard so we stretched and secured steel wire fencing all across the top of the run.

I know a real builder would probably look at this and cringe as I am sure I didn't do everything up to code.  It is, after all, a backyard chicken coop and I'm pretty sure my chickens have no complaints.  I think the thing I enjoy most about winging it on projects like this is that I always learn something new through the trial and error process and then the next project turns out a little better than the one before it.

Accent Table Makeover

I picked up this cute little accent table at a garage sale for $5.  I liked the unique shape of it and knew I would eventually have a special purpose for it.

I decided to use the table in my living room, but knew I needed to lighten it up a bit because we have a little too much brown going on in there right now.  I decided to do a paint treatment just to the table top and leave the base alone.  I started by doing a light sanding of the top finish to the table top.

Since I am doing a letter project with paint and wood grain I wanted to put a coat of fresh stain on the top to achieve a nice contrast.

Once the stain was dry I placed my letters.  I used alphabet stickers from the craft store $1.99 a pack. I bought two packs but still needed more of certain letters such as "e" and "a" but I didn't want to purchase several more sticker packets resulting in a lot of waste.  I traced the letters I still needed on contact paper then cut them out with a craft blade.

Once my letters were set, I painted one coat of paint.  I used some leftover wall paint that I had on hand.  Once the paint was very dry I scored the edges of the letters with a craft blade before removing the stickers.

Next I lightly sanded the paint to give it a lightly distressed appearance.

I wiped on, then immediately wiped off gel stain in walnut to highlight the distressed marks and give the paint an aged look.

Lastly, when the stain is dry I painted on a coat of clear water based poly in a satin finish.

This was a very quick and very frugal little project.  The table was $5, the stickers were less than $4 and I used leftover paint, stain and poly that I had in the garage.

The best thing about a project like this is if you mess it up, just sand it back to the original wood again and re-stain it.  No harm.  I am happy with the result.