Backsplash to the Future II: Return to Never Bland

Okay, everyone, you're right! I need to keep it simple and clean and white. I'm saving those bright colors for another place, I guess. Don't be surprised if I tile my bedroom! ("Wow, Courtney, your bedroom is very...Moroccan bathhouse?!")

After reading your comments, your very correct comments, I started on my next step, which is installing the countertop. I was looking for a video of someone installing an apron sink with a wood countertop and all the precautions one needs to take. We're installing it ourselves and it seems tricky even for carpenters!

I learned that I will have to dry fit the countertop with the cut-outs and then paint six coats of varnish on the top and bottom of the countertop. And each coat must dry 24 hours before the next coat can be applied.

So I will be countertopless for about a week.

John and I talked through all the steps:

remove sink and counter
install new sink
dry fit and cut countertop
use plywood in place of counter while we:
varnish countertop

right before countertop install:
remove backsplash tiles and faucet
install counter top
install backsplash
weep into pillow

Have I mentioned that John works all the time? He works on a TV show and his hours are crazy! He may be getting a hiatus week coming up, but usually everything has to be done on a weekend.

See the sad original tile? I've bleached and bleached and it still looks like this. But look at the soap nook! And the awesome jalousie window you can kind of make out!

So, after all that, I decided on the simplest, easiest to install tile.  I need to be able to do it myself!

Mini porcelain subway tiles! Clean, white, vintage-ish, but also modern! And cheap!

You deserve something for reading all of that, so I thought I'd show you a sink of dirty dishes! In a web-world of perfect projects and lovely homes, I thought I'd tell the truth. Which is that I'm too lazy to clean out the sink before I take a picture.