I received my tile from Orchid Ceramics.

This did not begin as a complete room makeover. I went to our back lanai and was cleaning. I hated the carpet, it was just smelly. We have had a lot of rain and I wanted it gone. In the middle of ripping up the old indoor/outdoor carpet that the previous owners had installed–GAG!!!–my son said “Mom, did you take any before pictures for your blog?”

Next step– I power washed the entire room down.

We have a problem Houston– the water was not draining. We have a hurricane shutter system, so I drilled a few tiny little holes for the water to escape. I used my dremel and in no time it was all gone.

If you love the color orange, close your eyes–I worn you now-it is bright. Look at those orange walls. Can you say Trick or Treat. It had to be a trick.–Mythic Paint to the rescue

I needed to paint the ceiling but I was not going to have enough paint so I mixed my can of Milk Paint from Rockler and a little white from my DecoArt Stencil paint and painted the ceiling. It is just a little lighter than the walls.

Another MUST be “fixed”–

To tile you will need:

Tiles (order some extras for breakage)

(possibly a leveling agent to level the floor)

glue

grout

a big bucket

if you have an electric drill, a mixing attachment makes it so much easier

a square is helpful

a scraper

a notched trowel

a rubber trowel

(a rubber mallet may be helpful)

spacers

Sealer

tile nippers

rent or purchase an electric tile saw

a tape measure

a couple of tiling sponges

I measured the room’s length and width to find the center of the room.

We decided to lay the tiles diagonally.

After dry fitting some, we mixed the glue. You want it thick, smooth and moist, like a super thick batter or frosting–I think of it like CREAM CHEESE frosting–stiffer than normal frosting but still moist and smooth.

We put all of our center tiles down and then went and rented the tile cutter for 24 hours and my hubby was so sweet to take a day off of studying to help me cut those tiles. We work together so well as a team. He would cut and I would get them down.

We chose a small spacer so the grout line would be small. Cutting around objects is a little tricky .

FYI–those are not my hands in that picture. I love that man’s hands but they wouldn’t look too feminine on me.

Once all the tile is down you have to let it dry for 24 hours. You don’t want to walk on it or your tiles can shift.

Make sure you clean out your bucket and clean all of your tools up , even though you are tired. You want those tools to be ready to use for the grouting process.

You want about the same consistency for your grout. It will dry a lot lighter than it looks when it is wet.

Tile people will tell you that the color of the powder is about the color that the grout will be when it is dry but I think it always dries lighter than that.

You need a rubber trowel to spread your grout. Keep as much off the tile as possible. I like darker grout–just because it is harder to keep light grout clean.

Let it dry.

Clean the floor with fresh clean water, with each swipe of the sponge. It seems time consuming but in the long run it goes quicker–that is why we used 2 sponges. I would have the kids wash and ring one of them out while I cleaned a couple of swipes, with my bucket of clean water, and as soon as I had my new sponge we switched off and did it again and again and again. Then after about 10 times, I mopped it about 5 or 6 times.

We are in Florida and due to hurricane season there are some different building practices here, than in the Midwest. The lanai is built lower than the living room and it is slanted so in the event of a hurricane, the water is running away from the house.

For the “step” we decided to go with the 2 inch messed squares. We cut them and laid them on the ledge and I purposely laid them at an angle. (The water thing.)

We added a rounded piece to the front and back to give a bull nose.

We used a longer metallic tile, for the facing.

I spray painted the ceiling fan. (We are still looking for the right light cover.)

We sealed twice and it was done.
(I recommend the little bottle with the grout runner guide for applying the sealer. It will prevent you from wasting too much sealer and it keeps you from more cleaning of the tiles.

What a difference. I really like it so much better than that indoor/outdoor carpet. What were they thinking?