Kitchen Tiles Upcycle

I have been having a lovely time being off work but yesterday decided it was time to get on with some of the jobs I have around the place which need doing.  I posted a while ago about changing the handles on my kitchen cupboards, well another thing that has bothered me for a while is the colour and pattern of the kitchen tiles.  When we have moved into a house in the past I have changed as much as I can almost immediately, when we moved here 6 years ago everything had been freshly done so while we did put our stamp on it, it would have been foolish and wasteful to change everything.  I have lived with the tiles which wouldn't have been my choice but now it was time for a change.
 I thought about re-tiling but that would create mess and a lot of expense.  The main thing I don't like is the beige colour so I looked at tile paint, now I have done this before with an undercoat and top coat at the old house but to be honest I didn't think the finish was that good up close.   We had a look when we were out at the weekend and found this...

You don't need to undercoat first just give your tiles a really good clean with bleach to remove any dirt or grease.  I have to say if you are going to use this cover everything including your mouth, have every window and door open!  It is really high in fumes and I had to keep doing a bit then going to the back door to breath.

I covered everything with newspaper and masking tape and still found a coating of the dust on the floor behind me nowhere near where I was spraying, so like I said cover your mouth. 

 I also had the annoying matter of running out halfway through, I bought two cans which my husband said would be enough, wrong! It took three so I had to pop out for more, I was glad of the breather though.

This is the before picture, the border tile all the way along is beige that doesn't show clearly in this image. 

Despite the fumes I am really happy with the way they turned out.

I think it has transformed the look and the room looks much brighter, it is not a very quick job as you have to spray it on evenly in a fine mist then re-coat at 15 minute intervals, if you try and get complete coverage all at once you will get runs in it.  I found this out the hard way and had to wipe it quick, and I mean quick as it dries fast.  The coverage is much better than the old paint it on method as you can get right up to it and it is completely smooth.

Today I will paint the remaining untiled walls in the kitchen pale blue, they are a dark red at the moment, I did this room a few years ago and they are ready for a freshen up now.

I had a nice surprise brought home for me yesterday, someone at my husbands work was selling her set of Game of Thrones books so my husband bought them for me at £5 for all of them! I have been watching the show but thought I would like to read the books as they often miss out things in the adaptations for the screen. 

They should keep me busy for a while!

I am also reading another book which is actually about not worrying about stuff, now I have to say I don't really worry that much, (I suppose we all do sometimes) but it was recommended and I have read some of his other books so I thought I would give it a try.

A lot of it is common sense, the things we worry about often don't ever happen, or worrying about them will not make them not happen so what is the point.  Also giving thanks for what you have, there is always someone worse off. 

 The most relevant points I found were about keeping busy and helping someone else, they key thing being don't allow yourself to sit and wallow about things go and do something and really throw yourself into it, that way you will be too pre occupied to think about worries.  Also find some way to help someone else as people who help others are not so inward looking as to be concerned with their own troubles all the time.

Some of the writing is a little dated but the message is good, anyone who has a problem with this ought to take a look.