AUBREY KINCH

Okay, you asked and here it is! I shared about a week ago we finally did the classic subway tile backsplash in our kitchen for less than $100 ($81) and people were shocked! It really was that cost effective and budget friendly so this would be best to just break down and share what we purchased for you to see from there.

As far as installation, we have our good friend, Mike who is the owner of Dec1 Designs (@dec1designs) and he always helps Andrew and I our with random projects around the house. His wife and I are good friends and our kiddos play together all the time so if you have a handy man for a friend, loop them in on helping install! You will need a tile cutter and they can be rented from Home Depot for like $20.

First off, you have to measure your square footage. Of course price will fluctuate depending on what you need to cover with space so keeping that in mind - here's our information. Also, full disclosure, the below is going to look a bit messy because it's all iPhone screen shots but this shows the product we snagged for better reference.

You may not have a Floor & Decor locally but because we do, we went there. I believe white subway tile is typically .23 cents each at Home Depot or Lowe's and Floor & Decor was .15 cents so already, way cheaper! We opted for the traditional 3x6 sizing and because of square footage we needed to buy for, we just bought 3 full boxes of tile at $12.00/box.

This is your adhesive to apply to the back of each tile to adhere to the wall. Some people had questions asking if textured walls matter and no, it doesn't. Just grab this for your project and it'll do the job seamlessly. Cost is roughly $12.00.

So the picture is not showing the color we chose because I picked something else. I ended up going with the color "Silver" which turned out to be the perfect choice for our home. Our countertops are builder grade granite with a ton of warm and cool tones so it worked perfectly. We aren't going to be changing the countertops while in this home so overall, it was a good choice. Also, make sure your snag the unsanded grout. Cost is roughly $12.00.

This is a tricky one because you'll need to take a look at your kitchen and see which areas are needing a rounded edge finish over the standard tile edging. We needed 10 total for our project so total cost came in at $7.20.

So there you have it! Those are all the items we used when working on this project and our grand total was $81.62. Insane, right?! What projects are you working on with your home? Ours is never ending but it's so fun actually getting them marked off the list!

stencil | playhouse- Amazon | doormat- Target | chair (similar)- Home Depot | lanterns- IKEA | planters- IKEA | pillow (similar)- Target

Back in August when we moved into our new home I was on the hunt for creating a patio space that was cozy, comfortable, stylish, and beautiful! I wanted the kids to be able to run outside and love the space they had while Andrew and I being able to welcome guests and entertain, because we love doing so.

I started scrolling Pinterest for ideas when we were planning out our backyard design and landscape and after all that was done, I knew I needed to snag all the goodies to just bite the bullet and paint our covered patio concrete slab to really make the space unique and inviting. Bringing a little bit of the inside, out.

I came across this tutorial from Zevy Joy and snagged the stencil in September. Then it sat for 9 months. So Spring comes around and I keep telling Andrew I need to do it and then it hits 105 and I'm like... NOW. It's happening now. So with a fire up my behind because we are planning to get all our patio furniture from At Home in the next couple months, I knew I needed to get this accomplished before I got all those homey pieces to actually style the space and make it ours.

When I purchased all the supplies, I reached out to an epoxy company, read tutorials and asked a few painters we knew and they said as long as I had a good sealer, I was A-Okay using interior paint for the coverage. We shall see in time if that's going to work or not... ;)

Behr interior flat paint in White, 2 gallons

Behr interior flat paint in Carbon, 1 gallon

9in roller paint brush + 5 foot attachment

Painter tray + liners

2in paint brush for edging

Slim 3in roller paint brush for stenciling

Blue painters tape for stenciling

Fabiola Tile Stencil, size large

I started will taking everything off the porch and power washing the area. Get all the built up dirt and grim from the space and make sure you have a clean slate. This is essentially brand new concrete so we didn't have imperfections or cracking so we didn't need to patch or add extra steps making sure the concrete itself was in good shape.

I jumped right in and started with a white coat. I trimmed the edges first and then rolled the interior of the space and did two coats this way.

Stenciling! I opted for the largest sizing available in the stencil and it was perfect. I taped 3 of the four sides when lining it up and roller the black paint with the smaller roller brush then. I didn't wait for each section to dry - I just continually went in a horizontal row all the way across then bumped back over to the next row on the bottom left, where I originally started the upper row.

Whew! I hope that makes sense.

Dry time. Let it dry about 24 hours to ensure it's good to go before adding your sealant. While I need to get back to y'all on that part, all we have applied up to this point is a spray can Outdoor Paint sealant recommended to us from an employee at Home Depot.

Again though, I'll be going back and sealing this heavily with an epoxy type clear finish.

Overall, the project took me about 4 hours on a 12' x 6' space and was so easy to do. The stencil is laid out to line up everything evenly so applying it was so simple. I didn't care for little smudges or imperfections because it's a space I'd like to have character. The whole idea of this "tile" look is rustic and very old world to me, so it's second nature to have those little areas adding character.

I looooove how it all came together and can't wait to actually get the furniture we envision in July. It's on our list to get around Andrew's birthday as a splurge!

So what do ya think? Was the DIY worth it? Or would you opt for just tiling the space and calling it good. I'm personally all into house projects lately to put our touch on the home and give it good appeal for resale so it stands out!