WALL TILING

Sssshh! Tiling. No questions asked. He was never here. Would you like a coffee? Nope. I guess invisible tilers don’t drink on the job unlike myself, chugging down enough tea to quell the summer drought that’s brewing after the driest spring on record.

Tea - an essential part of DIY

It’s a cash in hand job – a rarity these days but a blessing for those of us on very tight project budgets.

Having ordered more tiles than needed for our kitchen refurbishment, the spares are being used to half tile the walls of the downstairs loo. I hope we have enough because these tiles originally came from Homebase which is no longer trading so it might be a right bugger to have to source any extras if there aren’t enough.

The plan is to tile the lower walls to about 1.15 m high from the floor then wallpaper the upper half of the wall.

Before tiling

Fit skirting board

I’m topping the tiles with a black box tile trim to tone in with the darker elements of the wallpaper. I had thought of going for gold but then decided this might be too garish. Nice to have gold accents but too much ‘bling’ might not age well and that’s what you’ve got to think about. Am I still going to like this decorative scheme in 20 years’ time? ‘You might have kicked the bucket by then’ the other half chips in. True!

Square box tile trim in black colour

Tile trim purchased from CTD Tiles, Chichester

There’s a growing trend to use coloured grout that blends in with your tile colour rather than going for a contrast. As my tiles are speckled with dark blue bits then I thought a blue coloured grout might look quite nice, blending in with both tiles and the background navy blue colour of the wallpaper. However, dark blue grout is not generally available in High Street outlets so instead I’ve chosen a colour called ‘Tornado Sky’.

Tornado Sky grout - 1 bag does a small cloakroom

Tornado Sky is a dark grey grout with a blueish tinge to it. Think moody thunder clouds. It has given our tiles some contrast but the finished effect is not quite as stark as using a lighter coloured grout.

Tornado sky grouting

With the tiling complete, the next step is to wallpaper the upper half of the walls.

Wow that's a big tile cutter

Tiles on 

Getting ready to grout

Tiling finished - looks great!