About Home Renovations received an e-mail from Laurel K. Lewis of
Columbus, Ohio, who tells the story of usual homeowner "issues" with her kitchen backsplashes and the most creative, interesting way she solved them! I particularly like Laurel's story because there is so much pressure in the world of home renovation to demo and replace, demo and replace. Techniques like Laurel's save money, reduce mess, preserve original materials, and are "greener" and more eco-friendly.
And a note on terminology: yes, modge-podge or mod-podge are actual terms that relate to decoupage. We have added the headings, but otherwise this is Laurel's own delightful story:
I bought my house about a year ago and am slowly re-doing the kitchen and main bathroom. It's a nice three-bedroom, two-bath one-story with finished basement. The previous owners are a lovely older couple I keep in touch with. He had a construction business and, although he did some great things in remodeling the home, nothing in the house seemed to match.
Laurel Tries in Vain to Determine House's Style
It was hard to figure out what 'style' the house was because there were several different styles in each room. It wasn't an eclectic-type of taste,...just a mishmash of things they liked. In talking with the previous owners, it sounded as if he had a lot of "extra stuff" from his business that he decided to use in the home.
The kitchen and main bathroom were stuck in the 70s with dark cabinetry -- and backsplashes that both had white 4x4 inch tiles with a brown and blue decorative wheat/flower/basket designs etched into the tiles. The etched tiles were randomly spaced over both backsplashes. I wanted to change them badly -- but didn't want to rip out any tiles. I read in one of the About.com articles on-line about painting and modge-podge-ing on tiles and decided to give it a try.
Matching Paint Colors
I matched the color of the tiles to
paint samples and then had enamel
paint mixed at my local hardware store. I carefully painted over the
tiles that had any of the decorative wheat/flower/basket designs. When the paint dried, I could hardly tell the difference between an original one and a just-painted one. You can see which tile was painted in the roosters picture because of the lighting and the camera flash. Otherwise, it's difficult to tell -- and that thrilled me!
Cutting the Modge-Podge Roosters
I got pictures of roosters on white backgrounds off the internet and
printed them so they would fit onto a 4x4 inch tile. For several nights, I meticulously cut out about 60 different roosters. Then I modge-podged the roosters in a single row across the kitchen tiles. After the modge-podge dried, I applied a thin coat of polyurethane.
End Result: "...Fantastic."
Wow! I was thrilled with the results -- the tiles look fantastic. Several people who have visited wanted to know where I got the gorgeous tiles! So unique. Painting the walls and either painting or re-staining the cabinets is the next step in the kitchen. I haven't quite decided yet what to do with the bathroom tiles, but the etching has been painted over. Even plain, they look so much better. It won't be long before I'll be done with both the kitchen and bathroom.
