Faux Antique Tin Tile Backsplash Tutorial and Some History

We purchased our house 9 years ago and it needed a lot of work.  The first thing we did was rip out the entire kitchen.  When I say the entire kitchen, I mean down to the sub floor, which we also replaced.   To be clear when I say "we" I literally mean Bobby and I!  We installed new walls, floors, ceiling, electric, plumbing, and windows, THE WORKS!  We even took down a wall.  This was extreme but a must.  It really helped to open up the kitchen.  There was a closet that was in the dining room, but the back of it was sticking out into the kitchen, making for very awkward space in the kitchen.  I dreamed of having people over and I knew I would be in the kitchen a lot and with only a 24" door from the kitchen to dining room, I would never see anyone.  Bobby wasn't at all excited about this.  It was a load baring wall and you must know he was not skilled in any of these areas.  He is a software engineer that has been self taught, and been helped and taught by reliable friends.  We were in a little over our heads.  In the end I was able to make him see it my way..ha!  Best decision ever!!!  Made the biggest difference and we are both so thankful today for that choice. 

Taking down the wall and closet between the dining room and kitchen

There goes the ceiling!

View from kitchen into the dining room

We were both working full time and working full time on the house after work and into the wee hours of the morning.  It took us a full year to finish the kitchen.  Having been married only a year and just buying our first home, we had limited funds.   This ment we did all the work ourselves.  I designed and Bobby implemented.  We were a great team. 

 We Still Are!

Notice there is no glass in the cabinets.  We did not have the glass cut for almost 3 years.  When we finally did, it only cost $50.00 for all of them.  It is so funny the amount of times we say, "Why didn't we do that sooner?"

As you can see our first counter tops were not granite.  Bobby actually made then with linoleum.  He did a great job.  If you look at the picture below, you can see how he trimmed it out.

I loved these counters.  They looked really custom.  If we did not get a steal on our granite counters, I would not have changed them.

We lived in only 2 bedrooms upstairs for 2 years while we gutted and refinished the main rooms downstairs.  The additional rooms we left for later.  Now that you know the history I can begin with the back splash.  We invested all of our funds in buying beautiful quality cabinets.  I decision that I would not have changed.  This left slim funds for all the rest (sink, lights, counters, back splash..).  I have always loved french country decor and had already picked out my dinning room color.  With the help of my aunt and interior decorator Tracy Froment, I decided on this paintable wallpaper.  I then painted it the same cranberry color that I had picked out for the dinning room.

I kept it this way for many years.  I didn't love it, but it worked and I wasn't sure what I wanted.  Also, there were other more important things to work on like finishing the dining room and living room, so that we could use our downstairs.  And a bathroom and bathtub to bath  2 year old son.  It has been quite a journey.  Basically we have let the house guide us.  Whatever the most important need was at the time, was what we worked on next.  We have finally reached a point that we can now pick and choose what we want to work on or update.

Two years ago I took both the boys to FL for a week and Bobby stayed home.  While we were gone he refinished the dining room.  This was its second make over.  I loved the blues and reds that I had in the house, but it felt too much for me to live with daily.  I have been slowly going more neutral through the house. When it was time for the dining room I said good bye to cranberry walls and went neutral.  Little by little all but little accents of red in the house had disappeared, really making the back splash stand out like a sore thumb.  It was time for a change.  I had wanted to do this for a while but with two little boys, a newborn, and school it was going to have to wait.  Finally this past fall I had a chance to implement.  So here we go!!

If you notice the paintable wallpaper that I had chose 9 years ago resembles tin tiles.  I love antique tin tiles.  I did not have the money or the desire to install actual antique tiles.  This was a project that Bobby wasn't interested in helping with at the time.  So I needed to do something easy.  Well how easy is paint?!  Over the past 9 years I have developed a decent ability for painting and refinishing things.  This includes faux finishes.  I must admit still I was a little intimidated.  I didn't read a blog or follow a book, I just went with what I know and had on hand.

So again, I started with this wall paper already on the wall.  It is a paintable wallpaper that looks like antique tin tiles.  It is nice because it is slightly raised.  I recommend starting with a primer, however, for this project I did not prime.  I didn't have much time and needed to get the job done.  It took me about 2 hours on 2 different days.  First I taped off the edge of the counters and cabinets.  This was the only way Bobby would agree to let me do it.  I can get a bit messy.  Then I rolled on 2 coats of RustOleum Silver Metallic paint in a can.  I only used the really small size for my whole back splash.  It looked like stainless steal.  I left it like that for a day to let it dry through. Bobby does not like a modern look and was so scared when he saw it like this.  I promised him it would not look like this when I was finished.  I had hoped not, I was a little scared too.

 The next day I got back to work.  I created a glaze with regular black acrylic paint and painters glaze from Benjamin Moore.  I am not even too sure on the amount I mixed but it was something like a 1/2 cup of glaze to 1-2 T of paint.  You can play with it.  After I mixed it I just started to work in small areas at a time.  I worked left to right.  First I applied the glaze with foam brush.  I made sure to really get it into the cracks and let it sit for a couple minutes. 

 

I then began to wipe if off in gently circular motions with a lint free rag.  This is where it began to get a little tricky.  If you press to hard you will wipe too much off.  I actually did two rounds of this.  To get the look I wanted.  It is really up to you to decide how much or little you want the aging to look.  I really wanted to be able to see it so I went a little heavier with it. Can you see how I wiped more off the top and left more in the background.  I think it gives it a more authentic look.

  

After it dried I went over some areas that I thought were lacking.  I really loved how it turned out.  So did Bobby, which is a success in my book!

 Over the next 6 months we plan on making some some improvements to the kitchen.  One of the options was to finally put in a real back splash, whatever, I wanted.  I decided that for now I love the back splash just the way it is!

If you are wondering where we ate when were living in only 2 rooms upstairs, we had set up a little kitchen in the living room and literally used a work bench for a table!!

What you can do when you're young!