Tiled Niche

Cooking is my second favorite hobby next to designing, of course.  So any time I can create more storage or function in my kitchen, I jump on it.  Although this time, I let my boys have a little fun!  

Originally an exterior wall, this wall is 8″ thick.  If you live in an old farmhouse, this odd size won’t surprise you.  Since the depth was sufficient to store of a few of my countertop items, I put the boys to work.  Then my husband graciously squared everything up and framed it in (like a window).  Then I set to work drywalling.  Since this niche is between a door and a cased opening, I didn’t want to frame it with wood.  It would have been too much trim on one wall so I opted for drywall frame and floating shelves. 

 

After sanding, priming, and painting I was ready for the shelves.  Our home is rustic farmhouse so I planned to use plywood and cap it with palette wood.  I ripped the plywood down to my wall thickness minus 3/4″ to accommodate the shelf face and the tile.  Then since I wanted to put platters on the shelves, I cut a groove 3 blade widths wide about 1″ from the back. 

 

Then after a coat of stain and 3 costs of polyurethane (sand in between coats) I put the bottom shelf in place. 

  Since the bottom of this shelf wasn’t going to be seen, I didn’t need it to have a finished plywood bottom.  So I built up the bottom of the “window” with 2 x 4’s and leveled them before nailing the finished plywood and shelf face on. 

 

I am a lover of color so I look for ways to splash dramatic color into my home.  This tile is one of them.  This pattern of Ragno Eden Series is one of our top selling backsplash tiles boasting five different colors. Starting from the center, I tiled, grouted, and used sanded caulk that matched my grout around the edges to give it a crisp clean finish. 

 

 

  

The added color serves as a great jumping off point for future changes I plan to make in the kitchen and joining rooms.  The farmhouse style is still the trend but with color quickly making it’s return debut, this splash will compliment my current scheme well as well prepare the way for my changes!