Hello!

Thank you for stopping by. If you are new here, I’m sending a big wave to you. Or maybe more of a half-hearted wave as it’s hard to raise my arms after tiling this week.

So we’ve made it to week five of the One Room Challenge. If you are unfamiliar with the ORC, it is a bi-annual design event started by Linda at calling it home. This event brings together 20 featured designers and several guest participants in a supportive, enthusiastic forum to share the process of transforming a room IN JUST SIX WEEKS! The participants then blog about their process along the way. To see our journey with our kitchen refresh so far.

WEEK 1/ WEEK 2/WEEK 3/ WEEK 4

This brings us to week five and the tile backsplash (oh, and I snuck in a concrete countertop).

I debated the backsplash for days. I wanted something that would be on-trend without being too trendy and something that would add some color/texture or interest since it is seen from all of the common areas of the Lake House. Here are the final contenders I narrowed it down to.

In the end, I choose the green glass subway tile from The Tile Shop. I loved that it would reflect the light around the kitchen. I have to say It’s perfect and I am in love with the green. After choosing the design, I then took days to decide on what pattern to lay the tile… do you see a pattern here?? Pun intended. 🙂

You can actually lay subway tile so many ways, and the only thing I was certain of was I didn’t want the traditional subway pattern; I felt that it would be too traditional and maybe a bit too busy.

I love the running bond pattern, but this was the first time my husband and I had ever laid tile, and it didn’t seem wise to go CRAZY. I wanted the tile to feel a bit more modern than cottagey, so I went with the stack bond. Here is a sneak peek.

And a sneak peek of the concrete countertop

We still have to finish the concrete and hang some lighting, but other than that, we should be ready for next week’s reveal. I’m beyond excited!!!

I want to take a moment to sincerely thank The Tile Shop for suppling the tile for this project. They were amazing to work with and so helpful for us as tile virgins.

Thank you also to Better Homes and Garden, who is the media sponsor for The Once Room Challenge.

Be sure to come back next week for the final reveal! and in the meantime pop over and see what amazing transformations are going on with the featured designers here and the guest participants here.

See you next time,

-Libbie