Fixing up the tiles, or lack thereof
I have been so aggravated lately about two tiles which had come off my floor. The concrete under the tiles is what caused them to come up- it's bumpy and the tile can't stick to it because it's not flat enough. I tried putting the tiles back down over and over, and it's pointless. The concrete underneath was ugly and brown and just made the whole kitchen look bad. I tried buying rugs to cover it up, since I had no replacement tiles...but they kept slipping off the missing tiles, and it still looked terrible.
Then I thought, why not try to paint fake tiles there instead? It took me a while, but I was able to match my paint with the "white" color on the tiles. It may look white, but it's really a mixture of white, black, blue, and yellow. I finally had it right, and then I painted the white color directly on the tiles.... here's what it looked like at this time:
Then, I matched the border color, which was not gray, as it appears...it had a greenish tint to it that was almost invisible. I was able to match the color, and then I used a ruler to draw lines and get the pattern all laid out...then used black for the diamonds.. Here is the result:
Now, the ones that are painted are the right two in the middle. You will notice that the shapes don't look perfect and they aren't...but they are also distorted a little bit by the shape of the concrete, which is very bumpy. But! All in all, it is very deceiving to the eyes, and when I come in, I don't see that hideous brown color anymore....I see tiles, glorious tiles, everywhere. It looks soooooo much better! Hurray!
Then I thought, why not try to paint fake tiles there instead? It took me a while, but I was able to match my paint with the "white" color on the tiles. It may look white, but it's really a mixture of white, black, blue, and yellow. I finally had it right, and then I painted the white color directly on the tiles.... here's what it looked like at this time:
Then, I matched the border color, which was not gray, as it appears...it had a greenish tint to it that was almost invisible. I was able to match the color, and then I used a ruler to draw lines and get the pattern all laid out...then used black for the diamonds.. Here is the result:
Now, the ones that are painted are the right two in the middle. You will notice that the shapes don't look perfect and they aren't...but they are also distorted a little bit by the shape of the concrete, which is very bumpy. But! All in all, it is very deceiving to the eyes, and when I come in, I don't see that hideous brown color anymore....I see tiles, glorious tiles, everywhere. It looks soooooo much better! Hurray!
Can you come over to my house to do the same with 1/2 of the kitchen floor that has tile comming off or cracked? Whoever put the tile down (was there when we moved in) didn't sand down the concrete in any part of the room to make it smooth.
I tried the rug things too...didn't work with me either....
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What a creative solution!
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What a neat solution to your dilemma.
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You are so talented and creative! What a great solution. I guarantee that no one would ever be able to tell the difference if you didn't tell them.
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That looks great! I would love to be able to do that where my tiles are coming up, too. You are so talented.
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Thank you!!
Oh and Valerie, anytime! I'd love to.
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I have never posted anything on the computer before, but I have been reading your site for 3 hrs and I am totally impressed. I wish I had 1/2 your enery, organization, and motivation. What other kind of cleaning, organizational tips tricks can you share. We are cleaning, redoing a home right now and could use any ideas you have. Thanks again!
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Bethany, what an ingenious solution! You are so clever.
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Melissa, thank you so much for your comments. I would love to help you in any way I can. Do you have any specific questions that I could answer...for instance, removing wallpaper, or something like that? I wish you the best of luck in getting your house remodeled! It's a lot of work, I know, but it will be worth it in the end!
Vicky, thanks!!
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You did a great job!! Great idea. YOu are so clever
Hugs and blessings.
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We are removing carpet and putting down laminate wood flooring, removing walpaper and paneling(what a mess it left on the wall), repairing drywall then painting. I love the way you mop, anything to make cleaning easier and more fun and faster is good in my book. Thanks for your response!
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One thing that helps me to work quickly is to put on some music on that is lively, and set a timer for myself. You can get a free stopwatch timer at http://www.online-stopwatch.com/. I use this all the time, and it does help me, because I am very distractable (VERY!), and if I don't have something to keep my mind on something I can go back and forth all day getting nothing accomplished!
Now, you said you would be taking down wallpaper...you may have already gotten rid of it all, but have you heard that Windex actually removes the gluey stuff behind the wallpaper? Try it, it really works! It will save you a LOT of fingernail woe, from peeling. I used to peel wallpaper all day long until I learned this method. Steaming also works great, but a steamer is sometimes expensive, and windex is cheap!
When you are deep cleaning out a room, one thing that is really helpful is to sweep EVERYTHING from around the room into a huge pile..that goes for trash, clothes, toys, everything.... dump everything off the surfaces, make sure everything from around the room is in the center of the room...then from there, sort the things out. Have a bucket or a bag to put all the things you want to keep and put away.....for all the things you want to throw away, and for all the things that you want to give away. Put the giveaway bucket or box or bag in the car, so you'll be able to take it the next time you go somewhere....put the garbage in the garbage can, and sort through the things you want to keep, and put them in their proper places. Try to set new records for yourself with the timer. If you are usually able to do this kind of job in an hour, set the timer to 45 minutes, and see if you can beat that time!
I will be sure to post again if I think of any more tips...be sure to check back!
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Thanks for the Windex tip, I did not know that. I am sure it will come in handy. Any ideas for removing paneling glue or tips on reparing the damaged drywall that gets tore off when removing paneling? Also I was wondering if you had any organizational tips as for as the kitchen or bathroom? They seem to be very cluttered and no organization or reason to them. Thanks again for all your great ideas and you are very thoughtful to take your time and share all your great ideas with others! I hope your cleaning list is going well!
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I wish I had some great tips for that, but actually, our walls are pretty uneven from the paneling underneath, and the way I have "solved" the problem is very similar to the way I solved the tile problem. I painted murals over those walls! LOL
It does help to mask the fact that the walls are not smooth. lol
For the bathroom, I would take a garbage bag in there, and throw away ANYTHING that I have not used in the last 6 months to a year- no exceptions..no matter how much I want it... if I've not been using it, I get rid of it.
The next thing I do is sweep the floor and get rid of all that is on the floor. I do the towel mopping and get it clean. Then, I usually use that toilet cleaner that you buy and just put all around the inside and let it soak. The next time you flush, the inside will be very nice. Use comet or something else to clean the sink with... set a timer, and using a brillo pad, scrub the bathtub...the brillo pad (for me) works SO much better than a scrub brush, and much faster. Sometimes I save time by doing my bathtub cleaning while I am taking a shower. lol
I don't know if this is any help or not, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Here is a list of things to do in the kitchen...the list I use is similar to this....I do this when I want to deep clean it:
Kitchen Cleaning To-Do List
When cleaning the kitchen always start with the sink. "Keep it empty and shining," says Marla Cilley, author of Sink Reflections (Bantam, $15) and creator of www.FlyLady.net, a housekeeping website.
A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen's benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.
Every Day
# Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
# Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
# Wipe down the counters (one minute).
# Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).
Every Week
# Mop the floor (five minutes).
# Wipe the cabinets, backsplashes, and appliances (10 minutes).
# Wash the dish rack (four minutes).
# Wipe the switch plates and phone (one minute).
# Wipe the inside of the garbage can (one minute).
Every Season
# Empty and scrub down the inside of the refrigerator (30 minutes).
# Empty and clean the insides of the utensil drawers (15 minutes).
# Scrub down the cupboard exteriors (30 minutes).
# Clean the stove-hood filter (10 minutes).
# Perform "Shiny Sink 101"
I got this from http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1086310,00.html
Hope this is helpful!
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I love your trompe l'oeil! Great solution.
It's neat to see that you have taken tips from flylady.net as well. Eventually I'll have to check out all the other organizational tip sites you have posted. I know that I don't actually need more tips; I just need to plug away daily, 15 minutes at a time, without getting discouraged or sidetracked.
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Thanks, Sarah! And that's how it is for me too, just have to take it little by little. I love flylady!
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