Over the last couple of blogs, I shared where I came from and where we are going together. If you haven’t already, be sure to check those out to see why I do what I do. Now, let’s get to work creating dreams together. We’ll begin by learning how to make faux subway tiles using no tiles at all!
Mustard on My Walls 
I like mustard on my sandwich, not on my walls. When we moved into our current house, almost 22 years ago, the kitchen held a secret. The walls were painted white over an un-primed or un-prepped dull and slightly dark shade of yellow-orange panel board. Paint soon began peeling and jaundiced streaks made their way through. I painted and repainted, but the yellow monster behind the wall was relentless. I resorted to piecing together clearance p.v.c. paneling to keep everything hidden. It was a disaster. Following is the story of how I transformed this mess and how to make faux subway tiles for walls.
Ripping out the Walls
Each time I heated leftovers in the microwave or waited on my toast to pop up I couldn’t avoid my shoddy workmanship. Being the level-headed individual that I am, (cough, cough) and always thinking things through ahead of time, (rolling eyes). I began ripping the p.v.c. boards from the wall. One by one, they popped off revealing the gold and white catastrophe hiding underneath. It was well established that painting was worthless. So, I kept on ripping out wallboards. I kept it up until the entire warped explosion of mixed media lay in a heap on my back porch. I was left with paperless drywall and rusted nail heads sunk into inch-deep craters. There were large gaps between the naked sheetrock panels. OOPSY! Perhaps I acted too quickly.
Applying Lipstick to a Powdered Doughnut.
What was done was done. I couldn’t leave exposed, powder-laden walls in our kitchen. I couldn’t paint uncovered drywall. Or could I? I know for a fact that regular paint would come right off. It would be like putting lipstick on a powdered doughnut. But what if my paint wasn’t paint at all? There was a lot of damage control ahead of me. I had already planned to use leftover drywall mud from a ceiling repair to patch the holes. Next, I would need to tape and fill the gaps between boards. I discovered the drywall mud adhered and dried as hard as a rock. It essentially became one with the bare drywall. Ding, ding, ding!
Drywall Mud: A Magical Substrate 
Drywall mud is a magical substrate. The large buckets are an excellent value. Applied over stencils, you can make custom relief designs on cabinet doors. I created a gorgeous faux marble backsplash using the same technique. I think I found my solution. But I can’t simply paint drywall compound all over the kitchen. Technically I could, for a textured effect. But that wasn’t the vibe I was going for. What was I going for? It occurred to me that I had never considered what my dream kitchen would look like. I didn’t allow myself the joy of considering new walls.
Hit in the Face by Ceramic Wall Tile 
I love the look of a bright, airy, clean kitchen. Throw in a little rustic charm, but not too rustic. I do enjoy some modern touches as well. Gee, I’m not complicated at all, LOL. I visited the trusty internet for inspiration. I didn’t have to look far before tile began hitting me in the face. It is so beautiful, clean, shiny, and can be rustic or modern. It was practically perfect in every way. Except in the way of being able to afford it. Good grief, that stuff is expensive! I especially admired the look of subway tile. 
I didn’t care for the larger standard size but preferred a smaller version like this and this. Wait a minute. If I could stencil ivy and vine with drywall mud, why couldn’t I make faux subway tiles?
Making Faux Subway Tiles
You wouldn’t believe how fast I sought out and procured a very inexpensive, small-scale subway tile stencil. I measured and marked the vertical and horizontal center of the wall. Using a level, I taped up my stencil and got right to work. The mud comes ready to use, other than a good stirring with a stiff wooden stick. Taking a drywall knife, I smeared the mud over my stencil and scraped it level using the flat edge. I lifted the stencil straight off the wall and dozens of baby subway tiles were born. I giggled with glee. The rest of the job was simply lining up the stencil and repeating. I did rinse the stencil now and then to remove build-up. I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out.
Making Faux Subway Tiles Shine Like Glass
Next, to make these little gems sparkle like glass. Drywall mud dries to kind of a gray-white color. The texture can turn a little bumpy and have some areas of pitting. This is easily remedied with a very light sanding with fine-grit sandpaper You can’t press hard or your design will be erased. If that happens, you can always re-stencil that part. After lightly sanding, it is a good idea to seal everything by rolling on a coat of primer. Since I wanted white subway tiles, I used the primer as is. If you want a darker tile, you can always have your primer tinted to a similar color. 
The Secret to Realistic Faux Ceramic Tile
Now my little tiles were smooth and white. I wanted to go a bit brighter, so I rolled on a couple of coats of white satin paint. Now is when we kick up the shine factor. This is what fools your eye into seeing real tile. I had leftover water-based, high gloss polyurethane from sealing my wood floors. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way. I poured it in a plastic tub and smoothed it on using half of a painter’s pad. I applied it left to right, spanning 5 to 6 rows of tile at a time. You want to keep it thin to avoid air bubbles and dripping. It dries within 20 minutes. By the time one wall was done, it was dry enough to start another coat. I ended up applying 3-4 coats. That sounds like a lot, but the layers are thin and it takes very little product. The more layers, the more glass-like your faux subway tiles look.
How I Feel About the Finished Faux Subway Tile Walls
I am proud of my subway tile kitchen walls. It has fooled the keenest eye and the best contractor. If tile is your thing, but the price is out of reach, this is a real possibility for you Actually, they look so good and cost so little, it would be foolish to pay full price for the real thing. I believe you can do this. You can use whatever shape stencil you want for your tiles. I wouldn’t go ripping off walls. This method will work just fine on most walls, as long as the paint isn’t peeling away. I do recommend a coat of primer first. It’s also a good idea to degrease the walls before priming in a cooking area. This may be why our golden monster kept sticking its claws through the paint.
I’m so excited we are on this journey to creating the home you want together. There is so much more you can do. “Fairytales can come true, But you’ve got to make them happen, it all depends on you.”
Until next time.
Lora Lea
