for the love of tile

A rough outline for a personal touch to a kitchen backsplash

For the Love of Tile

I’ve always loved tile. Ceramic tile , porcelain tile, and tile with a rough stone finish. Dull orange terra cotta floors with fat grey grout lines scream culture to me.

But I never really had the courage to think I could tile. Tilers must have a lot of skill and training to make floors, walls, and showers look that gorgeous. 

Until one day, I had a chance to watch somebody do it in person. It looked pretty easy. Very easy actually. It looked messy, and like I would need to be patient, but it looked doable. 

It would require me to not look away and hope for the best. It would require me to get close enough to the tile to actually watch grout fill the spaces between the tiles in a consistent way. It would require me to get more comfortable with myself.

When I finally found the perfect shade of burnt yellow tile (named equally intriquing ocra), I knew I had the green light.

A couple of years had passed since I watched it being done, so I loaded up on YouTube videos until there was only one thing left to do-dip my trowel in the mortar. 

When I did, every thought about anything other than tiling dissolved away. Every ounce of anxiety that moved through my body faded. Tiling was all I cared about. Nothing could pull me away from the groove of spreading mortar on the wall, sticking a tile up, cutting tiles when needed, and inserting spacers to ensure straight lines. 

As I approach a third tiling project this week, I’m going to add a few personal touches. I’ll insert bits leftover tile fragments from past projects into the pattern. It’ll take more time and effort, and it’s definitely not the easiest path, but I do trust it’ll be worth it. 

May you find something you love this much this week!