I don’t know if you all remember, but a couple weeks after I bought the house last August I picked up a ton of antique tiles that I wanted to use for my backsplash in the kitchen. They sat in a box in the basement for a year, and yesterday and today my dad installed it. I provided moral support and not even that because as he left he yelled at me for not even having the decency to come look when he yelled (I didn’t hear him, the washer was running and I had music playing while I worked upstairs.
At any rate, it was kind of difficult because the area he was putting the tiles was the chimney behind the stove, and it was not even, and the tiles themselves are all different sizes, but I think it turned out pretty good. I think I actually kind of like that it is all not perfectly symmetrical, because none of the rest of the house is:
We’re going to do above the counters this week. Also, ABC and I picked out curtains months ago, and we never got around to hanging them and they have basically been in a pile in the foyer for six months, so Gerald came over and did the honors. Here is my home office:
And we put this valence up (it was like 10 bucks at Boscovs) in the kitchen. I’m not totally sold on it but the important part was just getting the damned rod up:
There is just soo much to do- it never stops. I have, and this is no exaggeration, 65 photos and paintings that need to be hung. The only room where there is anything hung is in the dining room and two items in my office. And I still have more shit I bought sitting around waiting to be dealt with- I bought the stuff because I wanted to use it, but I never got around to dealing with it.
Do we have any updates from Betty Cracker?
Jerzy Russian
You mean “my dad is going to do above the counters this week.”
SiubhanDuinne
TaMara’s “Irma Open Thread,” two down. Dog photo and weather map.
Jerzy Russian
It seems she is on Twitter (see a few threads down). She is apparently heading inland. I imagine cell service will be spotty at times, and maybe even not there for extended periods of time.
John Cole
@Jerzy Russian: It’s a royal we.
SiubhanDuinne
The tiles look wonderful, John! As do the curtains. I love seeing your beautiful house come together.
debbie
Your dad does great tiling!
Jerzy Russian
They do look nice, although I to my eye they all look to be the same size (apart from the edges). When we remodeled the second bathroom, the contractor pointed out that we could use the large porcelain tiles used on kitchen floors (either 12 by 12 inches or 16 by 16 inches). That increased the options. We ended up using 12 by 12 inch tiles for the wall, which leaves fewer grout lines.
bemused
Back splash look great and fits your house.
Cheryl Rofer
eclare
Love the tiles!
Cheryl Rofer
The tiles look great, John!
Aleta
Love the tile work and the tiles. To my mind, this perfect symmetry idea (in general) isn’t the same as art, or craft … older quilting vs new ones for example, or older stone walls or wooden floors or furniture.
CaseyL
The backsplash looks great, and IMO symmetrical.
Wait – didn’t your Dad lose all or most of one of his thumbs a few years ago? That makes your Dad, and the tiling work, even more terrific.
PhoenixRising
If I put him up, come get him and return him from a college town about 4 hrs away in Ohio…can your dad do my old house’s kitchen backsplash?
I bought the tile but I’m scared to try putting it up. Like everything else, it’ll be crooked at the end, so the trick is making it slope the same as the floor does at that spot.
MazeDancer
Excellent tiles – a little Dutch, a little French, a little Mexican. And Mr. Cole, Sr, does great work.
VOR
Those tiles look awesome.
JPL
Wow! What a beautiful job.
TaMara (HFG)
Your dad is awesome. We need to clone him.
I hate curtains – I mean, I like the look, but with the critter, I hate how they collect hair. So I stuck with 2″ blinds in all the rooms. Still have to dust them, but works for us.
Snarki, child of Loki
I’d say that’s a +3 valence, but what do I know? I’m unionized.
debit
John, I’ve been in my house for a little over a year now and my to do list is five pages long. I don’t see it ever getting smaller, as each project uncovers or complicates a new one. Do what you can, when you can and don’t sweat it. Example.
mikefromArlington
Why is all I read was “Also, ABC and I picked out curtains months ago, and we?” I probably missed it but ru all a thing? :P
rikyrah
The tiles look fabulous, Cole!
Cook your Dad a fabulous meal to thank him :)
Casa Cole has turned out beautiful.
HILFY
Where are you all seeing unsymmetrical in these tiles? The body of the work looks perfect to me. The border is aligned and cleverly done. ???
NotMax
Fully realize that the clutter is after the fact, but at first look the tile photo makes it look as if you didn’t bother to clear the stove top before Dad began. :)
Do strongly recommend using a clear sealer on the stove backsplash now. Primarily to seal and protect the grout from staining and darkening due to cooking grease, sauce splashes, etc. Cover the stove top well with a towel or similar when applying the sealer, otherwise it is a pain to remove drips or spills of sealer from the stove top.
Seem to recall you had installed a longer (angled extension?) desk.
dexwood
Nothing works in an old house like you.
karen marie
Wow, it looks like a real house! Nice job, Messrs. Cole!
P.S. Went back and looked at the pictures again. Why is there such a tiny desk? I thought you were doing a wraparound desk with lots of space?
SiubhanDuinne
@karen marie:
So he can listen to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, silly.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@SiubhanDuinne: They are terrific concerts, though I listen to them at a merely small desk….
Juju
The tile work looks great. I love blue and white. I’m also a big fan of the grommeted curtains. In general I hate froufrou curtains in the kitchen. They block natural light, trap cooking smells, dust and dog hair and you have the blinds for privacy, and the blinds alone probably looked great, so the valences seem superfluous to me, but whatever floats your boat. I live in a secluded area and have no kitchen curtains at all, so I may not be the best person to give an opinion in that regard.
You are so lucky to have your dad around and especially to help you with your house. He is a treasure.
opiejeanne
@Snarki, child of Loki: To you and to John Cole, “valance” is the word John is looking for, and I suspect you know that. Cute joke.
The only time I ever used the word “valence” was in chemistry and other science classes. I sometimes hear “decorators” (I use the scare quotes advisedly here) pronouncing valance as valence and it cracks me up.
Gravenstone
@Snarki, child of Loki: And a twofer on the bad chemistry jokes.
opiejeanne
@HILFY: That was my impression, too.
John Cole, your dad did a great job with that tile. I can’t tell that the original surface was uneven.
opiejeanne
@Gravenstone: Ha! I figured someone else would see that.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
Speaking of, I just came back from a wonderful morning concert. Crys Matthews is a great folk singer (Inwish you could hear her voice in person). A group of us went out to lunch after to celebrate her wife’s birthday.
This is one of her songs from her tiny desk entry. battle hymn for an army of lovers
My youngest son is trying to convince her to move to Maine so we can all hang out together.
Patricia Kayden
@HILFY: I don’t see anything out of place with those tiles either. They look magnificent. Mr. Kayden and I put down tiles in a spare bedroom many moons ago and it was back breaking work and I’m sure more than one tile is set crookedly. They look alright though so I’m pleased with that job.
satby
Looks great John!
I moved roughly when you did, and my counter backsplash, most of my curtains, and aImost all my art and pictures are still not up. The windows all had blinds, which I despise because they’re just dust magnets and hard to clean, but I need more than an hour here or there to do projects like that.
And I don’t live near anyone I’m really friends with, so I have to hire help if I can’t do it. But, I still like what I’ve been able to get done, and really love my undone house anyway.
Ohio Mom
@mikefromArlington: yes, you have missed quite a few episodes of the John Cole show. Where have you been for the past few months?
WaterGirl
@mikefromArlington: If you click on the linked portion of “This post is in John Cole Presents “This Fucking Old House”” you will find the whole series – it’s more than about the house – as far as I can tell, all the posts about him and ABC are all under that heading, too.
Edit: that’s the last line before the comments start.
mai naem mobile
The tile fits the house.to a tee. I second whoever said to seal it. Id.you haven’t fot.the grout already you can get the more resistant grout which is worth it around akitchen.It’s a little on the pricey side but you shouldn’t be using a whole lot anyway.