How to paint floor and wall tiles. It’s easy and budget friendly.

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Paint tiles, surely not! Yes, I painted my bathroom wall and floor tiles. I must admit, I was very uncertain about painting the floor tiles in my bathroom, but I’m so pleased with the end result.

Here’s how I did it. I decided to paint the walls prior to the floor this was the easiest part.

Off to Bunnings I went and purchased two of the Rustoleum tile painting kits. My bathroom is fairly large so one tin of paint was not going to cover all my walls.

This is what this ugly duckling bathroom looked like before.

This was the paint kit I used.

The very first point to note is to CLEAN, CLEAN and CLEAN the tiles to within an inch of their lives as the paint will not adhere to dirty tiles. The paint kit I bought had a cleaner come with it so I used that. In fact the paint kit came with everything I needed to complete the job making it super easy.

After cleaning the bathroom walls, I let it dry and masked up the tiles so I didn’t get any paint on door trims etc. Then I started to mix the paint kit. You only have 90 minutes to work with this paint as it goes rock hard after a couple hours.

Painting the tile was pretty easy and didn’t take long at all.

Here’s the end result.

I am pretty pleased with the result, however, the ugly brown floor tile that remained had to go.

I didn’t want a completely white bathroom so again off I went to Bunnings and after staring long and hard at about 50,000 different paints I decided on a Rustoleum grey chalk paint and white paving paint. I figure if the paving paint is tough enough for a car to drive over it then it should wear well on a bathroom floor. I also bought concrete and paving paint to seal the entire floor once I was happy with my design.

Finding the design I wanted to use that fit my tile was near impossible, so I ended up making it myself. I used a laminated sheet traced the design I wanted and then cut it out.

I started the floor painting by sealing the floor with this after it had been thoroughly cleaned and dry.

I brushed the sealer on the grout and rolled the rest of the tiles.

Let it dry overnight then painted two coats of the chalk paint letting each coat dry before next next coat.

After the paint had dried I started stencilling.

NOTE: Don’t start stenciling unless you have the patience, time and did I mention the patience to finish painting by hand.

The stencilling took what seemed to be at least 6 months (not really), but I kid you not, it seriously took a long time!

I don’t regret doing the stencilling as it looks awesome, however, I did underestimate the time it took to complete and the toll it took on my geriatric knees!!!

Here are some photos

I taped the stencil down each time to keep it steady and brushed over it with a roller. I cleaned the stencil each time and dried it throughly before doing another tile.

The stencil bled sometimes it didn’t other times so it was hit and miss. Once I had done all the full tiles, I then had to do the tiles that went around the toilet and closest to the wall. I ended up cutting the stencil to fit the space and on some of them I traced the design with a white pencil and hand painted them.

Here are some pics

So about 7 months later (not really), after touch ups the floor was ready to be sealed.

I used this to seal the floor.

I’ve done three coats and I’m happy with the end result.

And here it is.

Just a reminder of what it looked like before

And now

Next job is to change the doors on the vanity.

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx

Kmart Marble Side Table Hack!

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Hi there,

I have admired my marble side table I previously bought a while back from Kmart and loved the idea of nested tables in the lounge rather than a big bulky coffee table. The problem was the tables I liked didn’t fit, were too expensive or weren’t the right colours.

And that’s when it occurred to me – why not buy two of the side tables and cut the legs on one of them? So that’s what I did!

I assembled one of the tables as per the instructions, then measured approximately how much lower I wanted the other table to sit. I simply measured the legs and cut them with a grinder to the desired size. Then assembled the table.

Here’s how they look.

Pretty awesome for a ten minute job!

Thanksgiving for reading.

Jo xx

DIY Welcome Sign for our Entrance Hall.

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Hi there, for some time now I have been procrastinating about the design of our entrance foyer. I’m glad to be able to say it is complete!

While researching some decor ideas, I came across this fantastic welcome sign on the Christina’s Adventures Blog that I thought would look fantastic in this area.

I’m always up for a challenge, so let’s add this one to the list.

All the instructions on how to make this cute sign is here.

This was the process I used.

Cut the piece of timber to the size I required. Sanded the edges to make the sign neat and tidy. I chose to use an old off cut from bead board I had lying around in the garage.

I painted the background colour white.

Printed, cut and traced out the design onto the dry timber.

Then I coloured it in. You’re best to use a paint pen to do this unless you have a very steady hand.

This is my finished version.

I chose to do it on bead board which was interesting to say the least when it came to getting into the grooves, but I think it still came out looking great- if I may say so myself!

The best part of this whole project was, it didn’t cost me a cent. Everything I used was sitting in the garage left over from previous projects. Bonus!!!

Stay tuned for the full reveal of my hallway coming soon on the blog.

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx

DIY Coral, get the Hamptons look for less.

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Looking to get that “Hamptons” look for less. It’s so simple, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner!

I was searching eBay for something totally unrelated and came across this coral, an idea popped into my head and I had to do it.

I had seen some beautiful coral pieces in many homewares stores but was reluctant to pay the amount they were asking, so when I saw this, it was the perfect opportunity to get the look for less.

All I needed to do was to spray paint it white and that’s exactly what I did!

Here’s the finished product.

Not bad for $4.14 and some white spray paint that I already had in the garage.

Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx

PART TWO: Building a corner bench seat with storage

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A few weeks ago I built a corner bench seat with storage for my sons shoes and schoolbag.

As you’re probably aware I was toying with the idea of adding some panelling to the back of it just to give it that finishing touch.

Below is a picture of what the bench seat look like without the panelling.

It seemed okay, however, something was lacking. We have panelling under the island in the kitchen and in the dining room, so we thought we could add some more panelling to tie this area together with the rest of the house.

So here’s what we did.

We measured and cut the panelling to size and glued them into place. Painted the panels, then cut and painted some trim to finish it off neatly.

I also decided it was time to finish off another project while I had the paint out. The panelling under the island had been attached but unpainted for a few months, so I thought while I was down there I would give that a lick of paint as well.

That makes it two projects ticked off my list. Don’t stop me know, I’m on a roll.

As you can see I didn’t have a drop sheet handy, so I used an old roll of wrapping paper I had lying around from Christmas as a drop sheet.

After what felt like 500 coats of paint here is the finished product.

I found this great free printable art on Pinterest by Madeinaday.com. It fit perfectly into this area with my new fiddle leaf plant.

This is my favourite new spot in the house. I just love it.

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx

Building a Corner Bench Seat with Storage

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Our home has an ‘area’ in the middle of it, just outside the laundry and guest toilet. It serves no purpose. It’s just an ‘area’.

For months I’ve thrown ideas around, all but one was rejected by my husband. It was a corner bench seat that had storage for school bags and shoes. A mud room/drop off zone for my sons assortment of school/sports/extra curricular ‘stuff’.

I also desperately wanted to hide the internet cables that were hanging down from the kitchen bench. These had to go!

In true Jo fashion, off I went to Ikea for inspiration. It wasn’t long before I found a combination of kitchen cabinets that would work in the space I had. An added bonus was that they matched our current kitchen.

I bought two of the metod cabinets with shaker doors. These were the perfect height for what I had in mind.

Now to start the base. I made the base the exact same size I wanted the bench to be, by doing this I can nail the skirting to it easily at the end.

I had to find the right combination of timbers to be the same height as my skirting board. Then it was as simple as cutting the timbers to make the L-shape and screwing them together. Just remember if you are making a long bench you’ll need to add supports in between to properly support your cabinets.

You’ll then need to assemble the cabinets. After assembling 26 while doing my kitchen, this was the easiest part. I had a power point I needed to access, so while assembling my cabinet I had to cut an access hole for this. Just remember that the cabinet will sit on the frame so when you are marking out the hole be sure to have it sitting on the frame to get the correct position.

Once that was done I placed the cabinets on the frame and marked out where my cover panel needed to go. I attached the cover panel and place the cabinet back onto the frame. I checked the levels to ensure the cabinets were sitting straight and the attached the cabinets to the frame and to each other.

I did this by screwing from inside the cabinet into the frame at numerous points in the cabinet. Then I attached the cabinets to the wall, again by screwing from the inside of the cabinet into the wall. I also attached the end panel to each side of the cabinets.

Now that the bench was in place. It was time for the finishing touches. I cut the skirting board to fit around the bottom of the bench seat and then attached it with glue and nails. Then gave it a couple coats of paint.

I went to Clarke Rubber where they cut a piece of foam to the size I needed and then off to Spotlight to buy fabric to make a cover.

And here’s the final product. It’s exactly what I had in my mind and works so well.

UPDATE: I made some additions to this seat. Read Part Two here.

Thanks for reading.

Jo

The Laundry/ Butlers Pantry Reveal

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I’m so excited to show you the laundry and butlers pantry.  The old laundry was closed off from the kitchen, dark and small.  The first decision made was to knock the wall down between the kitchen and laundry and make a laundry space as well as a butlers pantry.

I’ve always liked the idea of having my kitchen bench clear of clutter. This is easy to say, but hard to do when the kitchen is the heart of the home. So keeping the appliances in the butlers pantry was the perfect place for all the clutter. It will all be tucked away nicely so no one can see.

Here are the pictures of the laundry before.

This is the wall between the kitchen and laundry that we took down. Notice the lovely arch!

This is the demolition of the laundry.

Plumbing for the laundry. I absolutely loved the shiplap ceilings but as we were installing downlights, it had to be removed.

Gyprock then plumbing and electrical.

Tiling then painting.

Cabinet installation

Caesarstone and sink installation.

It gets to this point where my excitement peaks. Time for the finishing touches and appliances to go in.

So, here is the final product. It’s better than I thought it would be, and we don’t have any appliances on the bench tops in the kitchen. We used the same Caesarstone in the kitchen so the flow of both areas is seamless and the pantry has more than enough storage. We even integrated our laundry basket in the pull out drawer under the sink. I actually love doing my laundry, sad but true.

I printed out some cute free printables from postcardsfromtheridge.com and hung them up. I would like a shelf above the art I have hung but I’m waiting to find the right one. Take a look at the pics below and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx

How to make salt dough ornaments

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Yesterday, I shared a photo of my Christmas tree on instagram explaining how I made most of my ornaments. For many years I have been making salt dough ornaments with my son. It’s easy, cheap and fun to make.

Here’s just how easy it is to make.

RECIPE

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup of salt

1 cup of water

That’s it! Mix all three ingredients together. Roll your dough out to a thickness of around 3-4mm and then cut the shapes you want with a cookie cutter. Place the shapes onto baking paper to air dry.

Once dried you can decorate them any way you like. You can paint them, stamp them but remember to make a tiny hole in the ornaments before they dry, ( I use a straw), so you can hang them with string once you have finished decorating them.

Here are some photos of ones I have made:

Thanks for reading.

Jo xx