We knew we intended to tile the backsplash between the island counter tops, and behind the range. I spent countless hours looking at tile, both online & in person...for months now! I (as commonly happens to me) got paralyzed by too many choices & my anxiety about making "just the right choice"....in the end, I just finally drove to Home Depot and made myself choose something!
Day 1...."the planning"
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Scott & our friend, Randy, who helped throughout this entire process- (Thank you Randy!), and my Dad...supervising the very early planning stages.
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Scheming the layout for the island tile. These tiles I bought are on mesh backing, so they come in a particular pattern, but there is room for creative genius as well!
Day 2...The Real Deal
before any tile
on goes the thin-set
first tile is up!
& off they go a tilin'!
Scott was self proclaimed, "Randy's helper"...they both worked tirelessly for 9 hours! Food & beer helped! :) (I was in charge of that, if I've learned anything over the years...if you want the men to keep "working" gotta feed 'em!)
Complete....(minus the grout!) we love it!!
Note: Work started at 10am...by 10:15 Sadie was tucked under Randy's jacket...fast asleep,
where she resided most of the day! LOL!
Behind range area...before
before tiling could start in this area, there was a wire that needed to be "fished" up to a higher hole inside range hood...seemed simple enough in the "planning" day 1 stage...however, when the guys went to do it, they quickly realized the thorough job that Up-Country did "blocking" the wall to support the range hood led to a very nearly impossible fishing experience (kind of like ice fishing for those that are familiar!) :)
So in the end, the hood needed to be removed & Scott had to stick his monkey hand inside the big vent hole and grab the lower wire... (thanks Jeff for the help!)
After replacing the hood, tiling began, thin-set on...
& more, & more....
Like frosting a cake!
Here Scott is setting the first of our "accent strip"....this was an after thought of Scott's, when he realized we would have "extra tiles" from the island project....we all agree this was an awesome addition, & ties the 2 spaces together nicely.
Any excuse for Scott to stand on the counter, he finds it! :)
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ta da...complete....(excluding grout)
We are thrilled with the results, the blues/greens soften the orange down just a bit, and add a level of character to an already awesome kitchen! We also are please Randy was kind enough to help us for a long day, it is such an honor & pleasure to have so many talented hands & minds of those we love involved in our project!
Back to work, work for a few days....
Oh! 1 more addition to the kitchen: (this one's for you Doug!)
This is the original sign on the outside of the building for the first 25yrs of business...it had since been retired & was hanging inside the SD barn on the employee side....we thought we'd give it an honorable spot on our kitchen wall- I love this sign, the wear and age it shows....and all that it stands for.
IT LOOKS AMAZING!!! It's so great to see all of the photos and artwork around the kitchen... so lived-in and home-y! And the backsplash tiling looks like it was fun... I'm kind of envious of the frosting-effect... :)
ReplyDeleteAgain with the triple WOWS! Absolutely wonderful...
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the Scoop Deck sign (which looks GREAT in it's new home), a flood of memories came back to me. So, as a postscript I must add a couple of comments of my own! Did you know that both the sign and logo were designed by Doug's sister, Brenda? Not only that, but Brenda named the shop! One autumn day before Jim and I opened the ice cream shop in the early 80's, the family was driving to our cabin in N. Georgia. (Jim, Jef, Stephanie, Katy, Brenda, Grandma Lois, and I... in the days before seat belts were required!) With plans well underway to open in the upcoming summer, we were brainstorming for suitable shop names and had exhausted ourselves going through innumerable ideas when Brenda suddenly blurted out, 'SCOOP DECK!' Stunned silence followed as we all realized THIS WAS IT! Even the kids knew we'd found it. Brenda designed her wonderful logo based on the black arched window frames against the white clapboard in the front of the barn. We hired a local man on Rt. 1 in Wells, whose name I can't think of at the moment, to make and paint the sign... and the rest is history.
(As a side note, Jim and I had been thinking about starting an ice cream shop for about 6 years! When my dad died, we realized putting it on the Maine property would be a way to enable Grandma to live in the house AND keep the house & property in the family. Sadly, we couldn't manage living in Georgia, raising a family, keeping our day jobs and running the shop for more than 2 summers, but looks like it worked out pretty well for Grandma... and Doug!)
Re: the sign...Thank you, Emily, for recognizing 'all that it represents.'
Beautiful work, you two!
Thanks for the comment & background Suzanne- I didn't know Brenda designed the sign & named it! Cool beans! Love the story behind stuff, so fun to hear. We are honored to have it in the house, and EVERYONE is lovin' it! Can't wait for you to see it all in person!
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