Bathroom Cabinet - a diamond in the ruff

Sometimes a project that starts as an eye sore can become a diamond in the ruff. Several years ago we were having a garage sale when our neighbor who was moving showed up with an armful of items. He did not want to purchase our junk, I mean treasures, he was bringing his own. He had a pile that was destined for the Goodwill truck but he decided to bring it down the street instead. In that pile were several items that went straight into my house.

I was thrilled when he brought down the small green cabinet that is now in my kid’s bathroom. I had been looking for a small narrow cabinet to use for extra towel storage. The cabinet was not anything to write home about just a simple inexpensive green cabinet. My husband at first did not want to keep it because it was not “real wood”. I said that would be perfect for a kid’s bathroom because if it fell apart it would be easy to get rid of. So, in the bathroom it went.

For several months I kept looking at the top which had seen better days thinking there has to be a way to make it look better. I loved the color of the cabinet since green is my favorite color, so I did not want to repaint the cabinet. Then one day at the hardware store I came across a clearance rack of small glass tiles. The packages were marked 25 cents each. I could not believe it when I started digging and found the perfect green and pearl tiles. Well, the Pink Lemonade Idea burst out with excitement. The tiles would dress up the top of the small cabinet and not cost a fortune.

From drab to Fab!

 

I brought the tiles home and started playing around with designs. My first thought was to do a simple checkerboard pattern but the space did not break evenly. My husband suggested what was finally agreed upon, alternating squares and then the last group being a section of 6 tiles. This made an augmented checkerboard that was staggered. (Say that 3 times fast) When we laid out the groups it worked out flawlessly.

On one side the 6 tiles are green and on the other they are the pearl.

Now onto grout. I kept looking at the tiles thinking to myself that a bright white grout was going to detract from the green and pearl colors. So, to the computer I went to do some research. Did you know you can color grout with paint? I did not. I found several good tutorials on how to color grout. This is one from YouTube Mixing and Coloring Grout for a Hand Mirror.

My grout is a very pale green.

 

Now I had a plan. The tiles were left attached to the mesh backing as much as possible. We used tile mastic to glue the tiles to the top. I mixed my grout and began to fill in the spaces. The final result was BEAUTIFUL.

It turned out soooo much better than I thought it would. Sometimes I am a little nervous to try things because it “might not turn out right”. My prevailing thought while working on this project was “If it doesn’t look good you can always tear it off and paint the cabinet.” I wish I had taken a picture of the top before the tile was applied.

The next time you are looking at something in your home that needs a little fix up don’t be afraid to give any idea a try.

Danna