How Not to Tile Your Backsplash

I have to preface this post with a very clear message:
I have a wonderful husband. I mean he is truly, on so many levels, so much more than I will ever deserve. He takes wonderful care of me, but I have this issue. It is a complex of sorts, I hate, I really mean hate being told I can’t do something.
Even if it is true!
I think to myself, “how do you know I can’t do that?”
“You clearly don’t understand what I am capable of!”

That is how this whole journey of tiling our backsplash began. It all started with a little off handed comment, I said “I bet I could do that!” While looking at a completely perfect, unachievable master tiling job in a gorgeous kitchen that probably belonged in a mansion. He looked at the photo, then looked at me, and with a little smile said, “yeah honey..sure”.

That was all it took, it lit a fire within me that I can’t explain. What was that smile about anyway? I could do that! It is just tile….on a wall. I mean people do this on HGTV all the time, right? Keep in mind I have never, ever tiled anything in my whole life. Or watched anyone tile anything. I had no idea how you even got tile to stick to the floor…or wall…or whatever you were doing!

He was right to smile, I was clueless.

It didn’t matter though…because I had already made up my mind.
He didn’t think I could do it, I will show him.
Challenge Accepted.

A couple weeks later I woke up on a Saturday morning alone. Mr. Maebell had to work the entire weekend, so I got up and piddled around a bit then headed off to Lowes. I didn’t go with any particular project in mind, I just went because I didn’t have anything else to do. I wandered around until I got to the tile section and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I HAD to do it. I had to do it, right then. So I grabbed a buggy and combed through the stacks of tile until I found what I wanted. I didn’t know how much I needed because I hadn’t even measured my backsplash (are you noticing a theme here.) I put 10 square feet of beautiful mosaic tile in my cart and left. While stacking the tile in my car I was beaming with pride. “Can’t do this! What is he thinking! That wasn’t hard at all!” Then I realized that wasn’t anything….that was just purchasing a product, I hadn’t even bought whatever you need to secure it to the wall itself…or the grout, isn’t that right, grout Is the right word? I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought I had heard the term before. So, since I just marched out of Lowe’s with such confidence I couldn’t bare to go back in and let on that I had no freaking clue what I was doing. Instead, I went to Home Depot. I purchased the Simple Mat to secure the tile, biscuit colored grout, a flouter, bucket, tile spacers….all because I googled “tiling for dummies.”

I headed home, cleared the counter tops off and was ready to get down to business. I had the supplies, a venti Iced Caramel Machiato and season 6 of Private Practice on Netflix, it was noon and my husband would be home in 8 hours.
Game on.

To be Continued.

For the rest of the story check out Part II: How Not to Tile Your Backsplash!