How to install peel and stick tile

Hello all! Hope your week is going SWELL. ;) I figured it was high time I finally gave the toot on how I installed the peel and stick tile in the laundry room.

First of all, let me say…I LOVE THIS STUFF!!

It’s rockin’ my world. I’m SO pleased with it.

And now I’m going to tell you how totally easy it was to install. It’s just silly really.

The peel and stick we used was the Novalis tile from Lowe’s:

You can find it online here. It’s $2 and change for each 18 by 18 tile – so I covered the whole floor in our laundry room for less than $60.

First up I had to figure out how I wanted the pattern to go. I played around with it for awhile, just laying the tiles out to see how they would look. I didn’t want to to a standard pattern with straight lines for a couple reasons – one I wanted it to have more movement to it, and two, I didn’t want to have straight lines I could mess up. ;)

I ended up with a version of a brick pattern – because the room isn’t very wide, I changed it up a bit. I stacked each one off to the side of the other, measuring three inches to the side each time.

You can see how they ended up here:

Does that make sense? I hope!

When I needed to cut a piece, I measured the size I needed, then used a level to make the straight line:

I read that you should use a razor to score and cut the tiles, but I used what I had on hand and it was WAY easier:

My trusty Open It scissors:

I use this thing all. the. time. LOVE it. It cut the tile like buttah. :)

I found them much easier to use than trying to cut straight and deep enough with a razor blade.

Each tile has a subtle flow to the design, so you’ll want to use the arrows on the back to keep the tiles consistent:

It’s so subtle I doubt you’d be able to tell if they went the wrong way, but I stuck with it just in case.

This stuff is CRAZY sticky. I know…duh. But really, it’s crazy. :)

I would peel the backing off in big pieces, then use little bits of the backing to grab the edges:

That way I could hold on to it without gluing my fingers together compromising the sticky.

I did mess up my pattern once and freaked out a bit -- but it came up fine with some muscle. (I had just laid it down a few minutes before so I think that helped.)

The directions say to use a weighted roller over the installed tiles, or if you don’t have one, to use a rolling pin. I used a rolling pin over half of it and quickly realized the pin was leaving burnish-type marks all over the tile. It’s not a big deal cause no one would notice it but me, but for the rest I just used my hands and walked on it, focusing on the edges. I figured my weight would be sufficient. ;)

Overall the tiles went together flush and you couldn’t see between them, but in a few spots you could see the plywood floor:

Those few spots drove me batty. :) So I went back to Lowe’s and got the grout (it’s grout just for this vinyl tile). I started schmearing between the tiles and then noticed it wasn’t going well.

The grout is almost too wet – so it didn’t lay in the grout lines well after I wiped it all down with a sponge. The grout would stay in some places and completely come up in others. It looked AWFUL.

I wiped it all out from between the tiles, about to give up on it, and then realized there was a teeny bit left between the tiles that looked great after it dried:

So I just started smooshing (like my technical terms?) the grout into the grooves with my finger. Then I used a rag to wipe it out, leaving the little bit at the bottom.

The pics above are the same spot before, during and after the grout. It finished it off beautifully!

Like I said, it’s holding up GREAT! A few weeks ago our humidifier in our HVAC system leaked everywhere (leaving lots of lovely water standing in the basement – yes, water is out to get us this year). The water got past the utility closet threshold to this flooring and as far as I can tell, it’s held up great. No buckling, no warping, nothing. I’m hoping the grout kept the water from getting underneath the tiles.

Best part is, if I do need to pull up one tile to replace it, I can. That is what I’m talkin’ about!

So there you go! Hope this all makes sense to those of you who are hoping to try this on your own! Lowe’s has a great selection of colors and designs, and the tiles come in 12 by 12 or this 18 by 18 size.

I love how real they look and how easy they are to clean!:

Now I just need to tackle every other surface in this room – after items 1-150 are completed on my list. ;)

One, two, three art caddy

Well HELLO! Hope you had a fantastic weekend! We finished up marching band season (for the most part – more on that soon!) and I am SO PROUD of my hubby, the staff and those kids. They are so crazy talented and they work their tails off all summer and fall.

But I am glad to have my hubby back – for a few weeks anyway. ;)

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working like a mad woman trying to get the office redo completed.

YEAH. That one. The one I started (early) last year. I’m so incredibly efficient, it’s just shocking. :)

My to-do list is dwindling though, and this project was so easy and fast! I just love how it turned out – couldn’t wait to show you!

It all started with my sister, and the Pottery Barn gift card she gave me for my birthday. She knows just what I love! (OK, she asked where I wanted a gift card and I told her Pottery Barn, but still. She’s awesome.)

I went to spend my free moolah (the best kind!) and of course…couldn’t find a THING. Gah – that is so frustrating! You walk in with a gift card and find nothing, and the next time you have two cents to your name and find EVERYTHING.

Can I get an AMEN?

:)

I went to another store at the fancy mall, then went back to PB – I was determined. I walked around so long the staff was giving me the stink eye.

Finally I found something I thought I could use:

It was filled with towels and I loved that, but we don’t have a great spot for it in our bathroom and besides that, I wanted to have it out where it would be seen.

The nice little surprise was that it ran up on major sale – I think I paid $30-something for it? Rock. on.

Anyhoo, I came up with a great use for it in the office! But the wood tone, although lovely, wasn’t doing much for it.

So I painted it. :) Oh yes. I did.

I started by spray priming it in my workshop spray paint station on a sheet on the floor in the garage:

At least I covered the snow blower. ;)

Then I finished it up with a coat of Rustoleum flat white:

 

Remember when spray painting:  shake the can really well before and during, use a mask or spray outside (or both!), and use small, short bursts – not big long ones. (DRIPS!) Oh, and numerous light coats are better than fewer thick coats!

I didn’t even sand it down, because the outside of it really won’t get much wear and tear. I did, however, use my sanding block to distress the edges up a bit:

I just sanded down parts that would show wear…if there was going to be wear. Which there won’t. But whatever:

I planned to use the caddy for the Bub’s markers and crayons and stuff, so I wanted to dress up the front with something kinda cute and fun.

I got the Silhouette machine out and cut number stencils out of vinyl and put them on the front of each shelf:

If you’re real good you’ll measure them out and place them just right. I just eyeballed it and was real lucky they weren’t wonky. :)

I used the extra blue green color I had leftover from the book nook to paint in the letters, (I believe it’s called Lake from Valspar?) then took off the vinyl.

I LOVE how it turned out!:

I loved the wood, but the white pops against the floors and the black dresser!:

    

And dang…it’s CUTE!!

The top shelf holds crayons, the middle is markers and the bottom is filled with paints:

It’s super easy for the Bub to get to everything and super easy for him to put everything away. (Ding! Ding! Ding!)

I love that blue color – it’s a perfect match to the Target lamps on the Craigslist dresser:

And the whole thing was free (for me) – I used paint and spray paint I already had. Love when that happens!

One more project down – WHOOHOO!

The next time you see this room, it will be D.O.N.E. Geez Louise, that took forever. Anyone else taken 18 months do redo a space? No? Just me? :)

November Before and After: New Knobs

Hey there! It’s time to party down at this month’s Before and After Party! Whoo HOO!

This month I’m sharing a really simple update I’ve talked about a few times – but it makes such a BIG difference (I think anyway).

Earlier this year I showed you the Craigslist dresser I got for the office:

I’ve purchased a few things from this Craigslist seller, and she always uses those basic wood knobs on all of her pieces. They were on the buffet in the foyer as well (before on left, after right):

You can see more about those glass knobs here.

Because I love the look of those on the black furniture so much, I decided to check out Hob Lob during the half off knobs week (the most magical week of the month baby!) last month.

They didn’t have the look I was going for, but I LOVE what I ended up with! First, I had to get those dang wood jobbies off – which isn’t as easy as it sounds. These are always stuck on GOOD – I think she puts them on immediately after painting, so they stick and end up curing on there.

To get them off, I used a razor to score around the knob, then hit a putty knife with a hammer to get them to pop off:

Of course you’ll want to unscrew them first. Cause if you forget that step, you may keep banging on the knob wondering WHY IN THE WORLD IT WON’T COME OFF:

Yeah.

No fear – if the new hardware will cover your little freak out, you’re good. ;)

The middle of the top drawer had smaller knobs, and of course those left the biggest mess when I took them off:

Because I was installing smaller hardware there, I needed to fix them up a bit.

I just sanded them down and then used my own black paint to touch it all up. You can’t even tell:

You can close up, but like always…anyone that would notice that would get a cookie. And no one has gotten a cookie yet. Well…they have, but not for noticing my imperfect projects. :)

So here’s a couple before and afters -- the blah wood knobs on the left and the new-but-look-old on the right:

 

I LOVE them against the black! The white ceramic looks fantastic with the white board and batten behind it. And they make opening the drawers SO much easier – they are much deeper so it’s easier to get a hold of them. Bonus!

Here’s a before shot of the whole dresser:

And the after!:

Excuse the horrible night shot – the good photos may be lost forever because of daylight savings time. ;)

Alrighty – it’s time to see what you’ve been up to! I’m hoping to see some Christmas goodness here and there! I know you won’t disappoint! ;)

I would love it if you would link back to this post -- you’re welcome to include my beauty of a button as well:

Have fun and link it up baby!

My Top Ten Tools

Hey all! How are ya? Hope you had a wonderful weekend my peeps!

We stayed with my sis this weekend cause the FLOORS ARE DONE!

I was pleasantly surprised late late week when our flooring guy said he would work through the weekend to get them finished up.

To say I’m thrilled is the understatement of the century. :) Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow the baseboards will be painted, the quarter round will be installed and our furniture will be moved back in! After that I will share many pics, don’t you worry.

I’m just smitten.

I still need to clean the entire house. ;) The dust was WAY better than we expected – we actually had more dust with the removal of the old floors and the install then we did the sanding. Crazy! But everything is just covered – I have a ton of cleaning ahead of me but I couldn’t be happier about it. :)

Anyhoo, I’m so excited to show you and will do so ASAP!

During the flooring madness this week, I did some reorganizing (I tend to do that when I feel like things are out of my control). I moved my tools from the basement to a couple different spots – mainly because the top of our basement stairs is ALWAYS piled high:

I told you about my piling problem here. It has not been cured quite yet. I feel it may be a lifelong affliction. ;)

Because I’m in perpetual project mode around here, and because immediately after I’m in project mode, I’m in l.a.z.y. mode – the tools sit at the top of the of the stairs forever and a DAY.

MANY days. (Plural. Times ten. Plus infinity.)

I could just be less lazy and walk them down the stairs to put them away, but no. I told you I’m a piler.

So I moved some of the tools to the cabinets in the garage:

And some to the Craigslist dresser in the foyer:

Odd place for the tools, I know. But I’ve had a few in there for  a while now and it’s worked out great. I didn’t use that space for much else, so it’s now filled with gadgets and painting stuff. I LOVE IT.

While moving everything, I came across quite a few tools I know I couldn’t live without and I thought it was high time I shared my top ten tool list with you. These aren’t heavy duty power tools – just the basics. But they are the basics I use almost daily.

With these you can hang pictures (straight), install a light fixture, do some minor fixes around the house or even install molding on your walls.

In no particular order (because I can’t play favorites with my precious tools), here is my go-to list…

1. Screwdriver set.

There are two types of screwdrivers, and all you really need for the most basic of projects is a Phillips and a flathead:

 

(source)

You can see by those pics that the Phillips has a “star” kind of shape to it, and the flathead is…well…flat. ;)

You’ll want a variety of sizes of both – but to get by, one of each will do. The Phillips version is for the most basic screws, and the flathead isn’t used quite as much. At least I don’t use it often – but it’s useful for the screws you find on outlet covers and the such. (Yes, I just said “and the such.” Wordsmith, I tell ya.)

The flathead is also good for opening paint cans. ;)

2. Hammer and nail set.

OK, talk about basic. If you don’t have a hammer, well – HOW DO YOU SURVIVE???

Kidding. (Sort of.)

The hammer is pretty self explanatory. The nail set is a must have for anyone who wants to try their hand at installing molding:

When you install trim by hand (with a hammer and nails – which I used to do!) you’ll want to use this to get the nails deep in the wood, so you can cover them with putty.

Even when I use the nail gun, I have to pull out my nail set pretty much every time:

(No, not my hairy arm. Source here.)

Sometimes the nails just don’t go in quite right and this helps to drive them in. (Especially when they hit a stud and they won’t budge with the hammer!)

3. Tape measure.

Again, a basic:

But go for the good one when you get one. I like the longer lengths – they come in 12 or 25 feet (or higher), and I’d always go for the 25 feet. You think you’ll never need it that long…and then you do. ;)

And I love the ones that you can pull out and they stay put. The most basic tape measures retract unless you lock them manually. My faves lock by themselves, and then retract when you push a button.

And if you’re like me…you’ll lose them like you lose socks. For real…I’ve probably purchased 25 tape measures in the past five years. I have absolutely no clue where they go.

It drives me a teensy bit crazy. I have visions of them all hiding away, snickering at me every time I need one.

4.  Level.

I use a level ALL THE TIME. I use it when installing board and batten, beadboard or wainscoting. I use it when I hang pretty much anything, even curtain rods. I have a two foot level:

But they come in a ton of sizes. I also have a small one (about five inches) that I use for little projects, and a teensy one (about a inch wide), for checking pictures and art for level. I couldn’t live without them!

OK, I totally could, but everything hanging in our house would be wonky if I had to.

They tell you if something is straight across or straight up and down, based on the bubble:

(source)

When it’s right in the middle like that, you’re golden. ;)

5. Pry bar.

If you are going to remove baseboards, this is your tool:

Our baseboards are CRAZY hard to get off the walls, and I couldn’t do it without this one.

I used the pry bar when I pulled up the laminate in our laundry room a couple weeks ago – you can get it into tight spaces by tapping an end with a hammer and wedging it underneath. It’s the power you need to deconstruct. FUN!

6. Wire cutter.

This one is a must have if you plan to change out a light fixture:

Which, by the way, isn’t hard – at all. I know it’s intimidating, but the basics of changing out a light are very simple. Someday I’ll do a post about it. When I can find a third hand to take pictures. ;)

This tool can cut through all kinds of tough stuff – I use it on much more than wires.

7. Miter box and hand saw.

This little box has transformed my home:

(source)

This and a hammer and nails or glue is all you need to install molding throughout your home. For years this is all I used. With thicker wood it can be a workout, but it’s certainly doable.

You can do mitered (angled) cuts with it – it sets up the perfect angle for you. Listen carefully -- you do NOT need a compound miter saw and nail gun to install molding! It just takes a little more time and muscle with the miter box and hand saw. But muscles are good for you. ;)

8. Wrench set.

These come in handy all the time as well – when you need them it’s hard to find something else that will work just right:

(source)

Of course they are helpful for tightening things – but mostly use them when I’m trying to pry something apart or put it back together. So with wrenches, I recommend having at least two – they usually come in a set like you see here.

Finally, my two biggies! Hold on to your seats. It’s exciting. WHOO!!

9. Drill bits. and 10. Drill.

Told  you –- crazy exciting!

Drill bits are used in the drill, and I explained about the different types of bits here:

For the most projects you’ll just need a basic drill bit set. It will drill holes into drywall and wood easily. I seem to use my bits and drill at least once a week, if not more.

I explained more about the differences between cordless and plug in drills in that post as well. I have both, but nine times out of ten, I use my cordless drill:

It’s all you need most of the time. I only pull out the cordless when I’m drilling holes or screwing into something really thick, like a door or dense wood. The cordless is just easy to use – no need to worry about an outlet or extension cord when you need it.

So there. you. go. My top ten tools for any DIYer – beginner or otherwise! With the screwdriver and wire cutter, you can change out a light or install a dimmer switch. With the miter box and hand saw you can make your own vintage-looking trough thing. And with the pry bar and a wrench, you can rip the carpet and tack strips off your stairs. ;)

So did I miss any must have tools? Is there one you can’t live without? I’ll do a post on the bad boys (the power tools) sometime soon – they deserve their own individual posts. They are just that cool. :)

P.S. You can see some of my other tool-related posts here:

I’ll be back soon with some flooring pics!! Have a wonderful Monday!