From Tile to Stone: My Kitchen Backsplash Makeover

Working on the kitchen backsplash this week! I’m so excited for this part. I actually do love the tile in here. BUT I had an area that needed to be patched anyway. I LOVEEEE a textural brick/stone look in a kitchen. So, I decided to do that instead of just buying more of the existing tile and installing that. Let’s do it!

Demo

Here’s a picture of the old tile:

I removed the tile with a hammer and my painter’s tool. It took me about 45 minutes to chip away all this tile.

Drywall

Next, I patched up my drywall to prep for tile! I cut each piece down to size and then drilled it into the studs.

Tile

Time for tile! Remember how I’m doing a textural stone look? I used brick pavers for this! The pavers were all very irregular so there was no need for spacers. All I did was back butter (use the trowel tool to spread Thinset onto the backs individually) and firmly placed them on the wall.

Grout

I used a pre-mixed grout and a piping bag. First, I piped between the pavers like icing and then smushed it out with a wet sponge. I waited a little bit for the grout to firm up before I went in with the sponge to give me my ideal texture.

When the grout started to feel a bit more firm to the touch, I went in with my wet sponge. It gives it more of an old world/aged stone look rather than having the cracks channeled out like typical, modern day brick. I wanted to get enough brick definition without digging deep into the channels.

Lime Wash

I was so excited for this part. I used Romabio Lime Wash, the same stuff I used on my fireplace years ago! It’s held up so well. You just dilute it a little bit with water, dampen your surface, and then apply with a brush. I did 2 coats!

Look how PRETTY IT IS!!!!!

The texture is perfect. It looks like old brick that’s been there for 100 years which is exactly what I was going for!!! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…the kitchen is almost done! If you need a reminder of where we’re headed, you can see my kitchen makeover plans here in this blog post!

Tools & Materials

Everything I wore working on my kitchen backsplash!