Hearts, Roses and a Hardware Store

From my Front Gate to Yours
( well if I had one *giggle*) 

So how did you spend your Valentines day? Was it full of hearts, roses, perhaps chocolate ? Mine was, but it was also filled with a visit to Home Depot. My day began with hubby sneaking out early and going to our favorite bagel shop to grab sourdough bagels, and he came home as well with one of my favorite color of roses, in his hand.... perfect way to start the day in my mind. 

The red heart is a candy bowl/box I made for my Grandma
when I was a child ..it has a surface crack I need to glue,
but it has survived all these years and always means love to me. 

Once we had finished our tasty bagels, and I had a couple cups of hot tea, it was time to get to work on the days projects.... hubby was to finish up our new tile entrance and begin on another tile project that I shall get to later.  We knew from day one that we wanted to put in an entrance, like the concrete driveway that we KNEW had to go in right away, and did within two weeks of living here, an entrance way was very important towards saving the life of the newly installed carpet that was here when we moved in.  Choosing a tile was rather hard. I wanted something that had a cottage feel to it, something that would go with the carpet and something hopefully neutral enough that it would go with any tweaks that may come as we renovate and decorate this little cottage on a busy corner.  Finally, I decided on a tile that looked like old pavers or perhaps cobble stones.. have yet to decide yet. I liked it  enough we are going to carry it onto the fireplace when that project begins.. and maybe even the steps right out side the front door.  Tile chosen, it was time to prep the area.... this was actually done on Sunday, hey tiling jobs do not happen all in one day... there is time periods between steps, and then the loads of precise tile cutting... you have to be patient. 

First it was time to cut away the carpet and padding.

We knew there was a previous entry under the carpet,
we can feel it when we walked on the carpet, there is an
un-eveness to it , apparently they did not even remove the
trim before carpeting over the floor!  This is the same
flooring we have in the kitchen and dining room.

Backer board, and MANY screws are the next step. 

Checking for placement.... and then making a few tile
cuts out in the garage.....

the mastic goes down...

and before I know it , we have an entrance!

Hubby trimmed the carpet and we waited the time
period required before grouting....that brings us to
yesterday, Valentines day. 

Adding a trim to the edges.. not liking the options the
hardware store had to offer, we choose a tiny trim piece,
NOT in the flooring section,  bought a sample pot
of paint to make it blend, and hubby nailed it in
place.

Extra padding cut away, hubby finished the
nailing of the trim to the edges to secure
the carpet... He is loving his new nail gun!

Grout time. We picked a very dark gray, black not being avaliable and when wet ,
it matched... sadly this morning when I woke I discovered it
dried too light.. might have to buy a grout pen to deepen the color.
Live and learn. 

The final result... trim and grout, even if a bit too light,
and we can mark this project done (almost once I touch up the
grout). 

Close up.. you can see the lighter grout line. That won't last too long,
I will figure out a fix!

Over all, I am quite pleased with my Valentines day gift. Right now far better than jewelry or a day/evening out and fancy meals, this makes me happy. Progress is slow on the projects that we can accomplish, especially after the cost of the driveway we put in. The colors of the tile are NOT the direction I was originally going, I did not wish to pull in terra cotta's and too much gray, we had all those colors in the house we had to give up, our dream, forever cottage, so was not looking to repeat the color wave. The beige and browns were alright since we plan to keep the "mushroom" colored carpet, and one day will also deepen the wood floors in the kitchen to balance out the light and bright colors we are using on the walls , to keep things looking warm and cozy with all the white furniture we have; that being said, I do not mind them and as mentioned will be using the same tile again.  The one thing that this tile is doing, is pushing me towards a little more of a French rustic touch ... now instead of knowing I will indeed use white subway tiles in the kitchen when the time comes, I just might use tumbled marble, something with more texture. Allowing the house to guide me, each individual choice to influence the next , eventually and hopefully creating a comprehensive cottage look that works. Something we can live with for some time to come and not grow tired of... hard for this fickle decorator that loves so many different looks and feels to a space.... so wish me luck with that! 

The Next Project...

The Fireplace when we moved in....

the doors open, the flash light trying see HOW the
ugly things are connected so they can be removed so we
can begin replacing the tile, to make it match the entry.

The adventure has begun , see what 

the next steps are in a post next week.