It’s week 4 of the One Room Challenge which means that I only have 2 weeks left to finish my laundry room! I’m half stressing out and half excited. I think I’m on track but it will definitely be down to the wire on this project. For my One Room Challenge week 4 progress update I am sharing my mosaic wall tile. I partnered with The Tile Shop for this project and couldn’t be happier with the final product.

Wall Tile Selection

I’m all about white and gray so I knew that I wanted to go with a white/gray marble for the wall behind my utility sink. I was originally thinking of using a simple marble subway tile or chevron design. However, after I had the walls painted and floor laid I thought that the room needed something a little more interesting. It was a lot of white. Even for me! I headed to The Tile Shop to look through their selection and fell in love with the Victoria Grey collection. They have so many beautiful mosaic patterns to choose from. In the end I selected the Archer with white marble tile. Here is what it looks like on their website.

What I love about this tile is that it isn’t symmetric. It has a lovely mix of white, light gray and dark gray marble tiles and was inspired by the fletching of an arrow. I totally see that! The associate at the store told me that their designer hand sketches the designs and then they use a water jet to cut the tiles. how cool is that?

Tile Trim

Since I was installing the tile on the bottom half of the wall I needed a solid baseboard and also trim for the top. To bring in more of the gray colors I went with gray skirting and wall tile trim. I didn’t want an awkward transition of marble skirting and wood base boards so I carried the marble skirting around all of the walls even if they weren’t going to be tiled. The wall tile trim provides the perfect break between the tile and the painted wall above it.

Installation Process

Marble Skirting

I picked up all of my material from the Tile Shop on Saturday and spent the afternoon on Saturday installing the marble skirting. All in all I spent about 3 hours installing the skirting. Since it was my first time it took me longer than it should have to figure out how to make a bevel cut on the tile saw for the corners. The gray skirting/baseboards provide a nice contrast between the floor and the walls on the walls that weren’t tiled. I love it!

Mosaic Tile & Wall Tile Trim

Installing the mosaic wall tile and trim took way longer than I had expected. The Mosaic tile comes in a roughly 9″ x 12″ piece with mesh on the back so I figured it would go up in 2 – 3 hours. 7 hours later I finally finished it! I’d attribute the lengthy process to me being a newbie and a perfectionist. Also, my laundry room is on the second floor so it was a long way to go out to the garage every time I needed to make a cut. I wish I would’ve had my smart watch on to capture the flights of stairs that I did. I’d guess it was over 50. Now, I wouldn’t say that it was difficult to lay the mosaic tile. Just that it’s a bit tedious. I’d totally do it again. I mean, look at how pretty it is!

Grout

I used the same color grout for my wall tile that I used for the floor tile. It’s called frost. The only difference is that I used unsanded grout on the walls. From the research that I did, unsanded grout is better for thin joints and natural stone. Sanded grout can scratch the marble tiles. I started grouting the tile on Monday night. I didn’t quite have enough to finish so I had to make a second trip to Lowes and wrap it up on Tuesday.

Wins for the week

I’m so happy with how the wall tile came out. it’s so interesting and adds the perfect touch to my laundry room. I’m so thankful to be working with The Tile Shop on this project. They have the best selection and definitely helped me make my design dreams come true. The other win for this week was that I could finally move my washer and dryer back into my laundry room. It had been 3 weeks since I did laundry and I had a mountain of clothes that needed cleaned.

Plan for Week 5

I absolutely love all of the tile in my room but I won’t lie, I’m happy to have that behind me. Next week I’m back to my comfort zone in my wood shop. This next week is going to be all about woodworking. I’ll be designing and building a utility sink base and I may also have time to make a ironing board hanger. I also need to make a storage cubby for in between my washer and dryer. Whatever I don’t get to this next week will have to wait for the final week. I’ll also need to do some paint touch up, hang the shelves and put the outlet covers back on.

If you would like to look back at my original design plan or previous progress posts click the links below.

You can also visit the One Room Challenge blog to see room transformations from several bloggers. They have featured and guest participants. I’ve had a blast following all of the other designers progress and I can’t wait to see the finished rooms.