Kitchen Backsplash: Check

Everyone has them. To do lists. Some lists consist of "things to do this week" and others are, "things to do before the year 2050." This project that we tackled today was one from the latter list. Ever since we remodeled our kitchen about a year ago, we've had tiles sitting in our garage to complete the backsplash. We were really excited about finishing the kitchen back then...unfortunately it fell into the "one of these days..." category.

Well, the day came today. It was a spur of the moment decision. We drove to Lowe's, bought "mud" for tiles, rented a wet saw, and proceeded to tackle the backsplash. Here is the before, (the part we are tiling is circled by a lovely shade of green). In addition to mudding, setting, and artistically designing the wall, we had to chase this...

and 2 others just like her. Between getting hot dogs ready for lunch with tile mud on my hands, refilling drinks, popping in Toy Story 2, and making sure the kids didn't kill themselves throughout the morning, we ended up finishing the wall. Well, we almost finished. We had to return the saw at 2:30 but we hadn't done under the window ledge so we're borrowing Jacob's saw (thanks, Jake!) to finish it up tomorrow. Then all we have to do is the grout.

Here's the finished product. I think it looks pretty good, if I say so myself. The darker tiles were chosen because they fit the exact gap of the light tiles without cutting them in half. The darker tiles also match our countertop perfectly.

Here it is:

Here's the side by the fridge.

and a close-up.

Ah, it feels good to finish something on your to do list. I need to do this more often.