And the tiling begins...

We did a lot of measuring, pondering, and working out layouts before finally deciding on what the counter tops should look like. We've decided to put a 3 inch row along the wall and then use two 11 inch tiles. This gives us an adequate overhang to create an edge. This happens a lot when your tiles are only 12x12 and you have a 2 foot cabinet.


Here is the first tile to go down with a thin layer of mastic. Feels good to make some progress. As you can see, we got the microwave in. It's vented straight outside. Probably the only dumb luck we've had on the kitchen was discovering the vent fit perfectly between two studs. How amazing is that?
I began the horrible job of lining the shelves and putting things away. I used a combo of clear contact paper (for light traffic) and thick, hard, clear plastic sheets (for heavier traffic). It doesn't matter how detailed you plan and think things will be great, you're never going to get it exactly right. There were things I noticed would be slightly annoying when I started putting things away. I'll get used to it. A trip to Storables might help me make more sense of things, like the spice rack and lids.

Now that's a tile saw set up. It's too bad it's upstairs, but that's the only place out of the way indoors.

Look at that! One down, 1 1/2 more to go. The tape helps keep the "self edge" from sliding down and possibly falling down to the floor. The edges look great too. All the tiles showed saw marks on them, but we used a series of sand paper to buff them out. We couldn't buff too much because we bought absolute black honed. Honed means far less sanding and no reflections.

This week we'll work on grouting and getting the sink in. The electrician comes back again Saturday to install all the outlets and finish up the under cabinet lighting. Then we have our stove, dishwasher, and garbage disposal back! We already moved the fridge back to its home. It feels good even to be this far along.
I have to work on ordering the back splash. I think we're going to do a grey, tumbled marble in subway tile. I was thinking of add a row (or random) of frosted, blue, tumbled glass. I'm not sure if they'll be 2 inch squares or little subway tiles.
One thing I didn't realize is that we are creating a lot of garbage! Not only are we throwing away cups, plates, bowls, and utensils, but also cardboard boxes, plastic sheeting, paper, and whatever demo scraps we create. The garbage man is earning his keep this month.