simply shocked

We tiled our kitchen back splash this last weekend and because it made the walls thicker, we had to adjust the outlets and switches by putting spacers in.  I figured while they were out, I'd just replace them all.  They were the contractor cream color, which I do not like and they were all nasty and full of paint and dirt, so out they came and I replaced them with white.  This part of the project was "shocking" to say the least.

I cannot stress to you enough that as a do-it-yourselfer, it is essential that you turn off the electricity to the outlets and switches you are working on.  I've been a little lazy in the past few endeavors of electrical projects, so I start out with the power on; let me tell you that working with live wires definitely keeps me on my toes!  After about 20 minutes of fighting with insanely thick wires for a 15 amp outlet, I finally got a jolt and decided it was time to work without the shocking live wires, so off went circuit breaker and down went my stress level.  Yes, I'm an idiot, but it's always fun to have my whole family come running when I let out a scream.  I do so love extra attention!

(with the electricity off, finally)

close-up of the neon spacers used to extend the switch depth

The tile turned out nicer than I expected.  It took about 6 hours to do the actual tiling, and the next day it took about 3 to grout.

I shopped at nearly every tile store in the Twin Cities and finally found a stunning tile that I loved more than all the others.  I didn't get it because it was over $100 per square foot.  My second best choice was from Lowes which sold the only gray-theme glass tile option I found that had no black tiles and no bluish hue to it.  And it was only $12 per square foot, so instead of spending $3500 on my tile (over twice the cost of the countertops), I only spent $350.

Anyway, I took pictures of the finished kitchen so far.  Isn't it amazing that a little thing like changing the counter tops sets off a spiral of even more projects?  Just when I think I'm done, I have 12 more projects I want to do.  Now the floors don't match and the wood trim clashes, the yellow paint is not right...all in good time, I suppose.  It took us 8 years to get our first home perfect, I'm pretty sure this one will take 15.