Our first project of 2022 was such a fun one! We have lived here for two years and I have wanted a backsplash since we moved in, but we just haven’t had the time or budget for it. I was initially wanting skinny stacked tile, but we couldn’t justify the price, knowing that this isn’t our forever home.
One day I randomly searched for tile on Facebook Marketplace and saw that so many people were selling leftovers from their tiling projects, and 90% of the listings were for plain white subway tile. After calculating our square footage I was ready to purchase some and happened to mention this to my friend Mel @Melmakesamess and it turned out that she also had a bunch of leftover tiles, and decided to give them to us for free! 💛
We decided to go with a stacked pattern because we like the modern look of it, and it seemed like a pretty easy pattern to pull off. This was my first time tiling, so I was super happy to have my mother-in-law here to help and teach me how to tile. She has lots of tiling experience and two tile saws, so having here here was the best!
We decided to use taupe grout in ‘biscuit’ and normal tiling adhesive. The spacers we used were 1/16”. We didn’t actually have to make too many cuts, as we got really lucky with placement. So it was really nice that we didn’t have to waste too much tile with intricate cuts.
Tiling tips from my first backsplash project:
1. Pick an easy pattern! I felt pretty confident after laying the first few tiles, because the pattern was so easy! You do need to be precise, but it’s really easy to see if any of the tiles are off in any way.
2. Thrift your tiles if you’re not picky about the style and want to save money! This was the best decision and I would totally do it again. It felt great to reuse, and made the project super low cost!
3. Do your research ahead of time! Or get help from someone who knows their stuff! There are tons of tiling articles and videos that you can watch to prepare for your specific tile/pattern, but it’s also helpful if you can have someone with you who has done it before, and it’s also a bonus if they have a tile saw too!
Overall I love how the stacked pattern looks, and it matches our style so well! And I also had such a fun time tiling and can’t wait for our next project!
Cheers!
Julie
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