We did it: we tiled the entire back wall of our kitchen from counter to ceiling. We call it Project Crazy, and we survived to tell the tale.
We still need to grout, mount a large industrial range hood, and install chunky open shelves (which will be screwed through the tile using a special drill bit). Even so, when we squint we can almost picture the finished result.
Where the tile meets the ceiling there is crown molding that runs around the room; we removed some of it on the window wall and will re-install it around the entire room so the top edge of the tile looks finished once that step is done.
The black box near the range hood is the hood’s outlet and will be hidden once our hood is installed. We tiled a few inches behind the duct but left the duct in place since the industrial hood will cover that area.
When we add floating shelves along the oven wall — 12″ deep — the space on either side of the window will measure about 14″, finally bringing visual balance to that wall. I mention this in every kitchen post because I can’t wait for that moment.
The entire backsplash took roughly 14 hours of work, spread across several evenings and weekends in 2–3 hour sessions while Clara was asleep. That makes this a realistic weekend-or-evening project for anyone with a day job. Those hours include time spent learning how to cut the tile; we summarized that in a video for reference.
We also posted about prepping the room, mixing and spreading thinset, and placing penny tiles, which is useful if you’re just starting out.
To make the seams between mesh-backed sheets less obvious, we used a staggered pattern. Staggering prevents the eye from following a single seam across the entire wall and helps achieve a seamless look.
After pressing each sheet into the thinset, we nudged them left, right, up, or down until the arrangement looked visually even. Because the tiles are on mesh sheets, they were easy to manipulate to hide seams.
When we started the back wall we expected tedious work, but it turned out to be manageable. We made it all the way across without regretting the choice of penny tile — well, maybe once for a moment. Since large areas required mostly full sheets, there weren’t many cuts, which sped things up.
We worked over three days in short sessions. A helpful tip: use small glass dishes to separate full tiles, half tiles, and slivers. That makes back-filling edges fast and efficient.
In another video we demonstrate spreading thinset, placing tiles, and back-filling. We mixed enough thinset to set about four to six tiles at a time so it wouldn’t skin over before we could work with it.
John applied thinset with a putty knife and sometimes a trowel, then scraped it with a 3/16″ notched trowel to create ridges for better adhesion. Smaller ridges are recommended for penny tile because the pieces are small.
We started from the bottom left corner and worked up and out in a staggered staircase pattern. That method kept the layout level because each tile interlocked with the surrounding ones and held its position.
Day by day, we inched across the wall and finished in the final corner after moving the oven out of the way to protect it from thinset.
A few readers asked to see how the tile meets at the corner, so here are close-ups. The tiles wrap around the edge and overlap with the adjacent wall. It’s not absolutely perfect yet, but after caulking and grouting it should look very polished.
For the 14″ of exposed tile beside the window, we tried thin glass tiles but felt they competed with the penny tile. Instead, we chose very thin craft-wood strips as a simple, clean border. They’re temporarily in place and will be removed and painted white with the trim after grouting to avoid getting paint on the grout lines.
The photo below is the truest representation of our wall color: a soft avocado shade that can read differently on various screens. Once we update the lighting, add open shelves, and style the space with colorful accessories, the color will tie in nicely with the rest of the room.
We still need to grout the tile. We chose a soft creamy-gray grout that’s slightly lighter than the tile for a subtle contrast; this will help the pattern read without overwhelming the penny tile. When grouting, small differences in seam thickness can show, which is why we spent time adjusting each sheet as we installed it.
Next steps include grouting, replacing the unused ceiling fan with new lighting, adding crown molding and decorative trim to the peninsula, laying cork floors, installing the new dishwasher, and adding shoe molding. We’ll share grouting progress soon — likely within a few days — and post updates as we finish the rest.
What did you do this weekend? Did you have the day off in observance of MLK Day?
Psst — there’s a Clara vs. Santa wrestling match happening over on Young House Life.