Prest-o Change-O

My house is a work in progress. It is a modular and modulars in general come with a lower price tag than stick builts, but (many times) they also come without dry wall. Instead the seams on the walls are covered with flimsy slats that scream, "I'm a modular!!!!". I hate them. From the start I've tried to find creative ways to cover, camouflage, disguise or make them less noticeable. There is no easy, effortless way to do that. But that doesn't mean I give up.

My kitchen has remained unfinished for quite a while. (Jenny, if you are reading this you can attest to how long the kitchen has remained unfinished.) Having no regular access to a handyman, my projects tend to have to be something I can accomplish by myself, or wait until my dad comes and put him to work. My woodworking/handyman skills on a scale of 1 to 10 are somewhere around a .....negative 2.

Many moons ago I found the perfect tiles to start working on the back splash area in my kitchen. I got enough for the first row, borrowed a tile cutter from a friend, and put the first row on. That is where I stopped. The first row required about one or two cuts, and never around a light socket or anything complicated. I wasn't sure how to finish it, but when I create I rarely, if ever have the whole thing planned out. I go as far as my creativity allows and wait for inspiration to strike. If it means stopping the project, so be it.

My back splash remained unfinished long enough that it was time to figure out the next step. Through the course of online wandershopping (Yes, that is a word. I do it all the time) I found wall tiles that are peel and stick. As nice as real tiles? No, probably not. Do they look like peel and stick? Up close, yes, but from far away, no. In the end does it matter? No, because it is done, and as far as I'm concerned it is pretty and now I can move on to other areas to tackle.

Here is the only true before picture I could find, and it is pretty fuzzy:



Here is evidence of just how long this project has languished. The little guy in the picture is now 10. Colby is helping organize the tiles. He used to love to put things in order. If there was a stack of anything he'd arrange it and put it in order. Once, I had him in church and he wasn't all that interested in behaving. I hadn't packed too much to occupy him because I only had to keep him busy for a short while before children's church. The more bored he became, the louder he got. I had no toys or books on me. In desperation I took out my wallet and emptied the credit cards, pictures, store loyalty cards, ect. Worked like a charm. He spent the rest of the time quietly organizing them and putting them in and out of the slots.



Here is the before from this weekend:



During...you can see the remnants of some of the cut "tiles" on the counter.



After!






There is one tiny little section that you might be able to see in the first after pic that appears to be unfinished. That is because I ran out of tiles. I got them on Ebay from a seller in the UK, so I have to order one more pack and wait until they travel across the pond to their new home in Warsaw, Indiana.