Tile Table Top

Months ago I remember bookmarking Kimba's fantastic tile artwork (shown here) with the idea that I would try something similar down the line.  I took my spin on her idea, and found a few money saving tips along the way!  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of my process, so check out Kimba's fab tutorial if you're a visual learner!

First, I started with a good old Ikea Lack side table, for only $7.99!  It's a bargain, but certainly looks a little plain.  I picked a color that I thought went well with my decor, and was a little more special than good old white.

$7.99 Lack Table - Ikea

Next it was off to Home Depot for the rest of the supplies.  First, I picked out tile that I thought went well with the color of the table.  I found gorgeous glass tiles, that matched perfectly, came in 12x12 squares, and were only $4.97 a piece.  Not too shabby!

Not the exact tiles I used, but pretty darn close!

Next on my list was the adhesive and grout.  This is where bargain #3 came into play.  I found a pre-mixed adhesive AND grout all rolled in to 1.  Since this was a small project and I knew I didn't need much to work with, I thought this was the best idea.  For only $8, I snatched it right up.  I chose a white color that would blend well with the color of my table and tiles.

Adhesive and Grout, all rolled in to 1!

Next up, since I was new to the whole tile business I needed all the tools.  Get ready for bargain #4!  Home Depot has this fantastic Tile Installation Kit, all the tools I needed for under $6!  I'll take it.

The "tools"

The only thing left on my list was a sponge, which is super cheap.  Overall my project cost just over $40, but if I decide to make another one I still have left over adhesive/grout, and all the tools.  Which means I would only have to purchase the table and tiles.  Not bad over all.

Now that I had all the necessary supplies it was time to get busy.

Step 1:  Clean off the surface, and make sure it is completely dry.

Step 2:  Measure out your tile.  Since my table surface was a little smaller than the 4 sheets of tile, I had to trim off some of the edges.  But these glass tiles were incredible easy to work with and I just had to cut through the netting that attached them.

Step 3:  Once you have the correct amount of tiles, it's time to lay the adhesive.  Since I was working with a relatively small surface area I didn't have to worry about my adhesive drying, so I spread on enough to cover one sheet of tiles.  I used a paint stir stick to grab some adhesive, and then used the trowel (metal thing with notches) to spread it out evenly.  I went over my patch of adhesive with the notched side to make the lines in the adhesive.

Step 4:  Next, you lay down your tile.  Make sure you press it into the adhesive so everything sticks.  Some of the adhesive came up in between my tiles, you can wipe this off with a wet paper towel, but in my case since my grout was the same as the adhesive, I just left it.

Step 5:  One you have attached the first set of tiles, spread more adhesive and keep applying tiles until you have covered the whole surface area.  Because my surface area was so small I eyeballed everything, but if you are laying tile in a large area, invest in spacers, they will help keep everything evenly spaced and neat looking.

*One thing to look out for is tile hanging over the edge.  Because my table size was a little different than the tiles, I did end up with a little over hang of tile, avoid this if possible, especially with a table, because you don't want the end tiles to get knocked off. oops!

oops, try not to let your tile overhang the edge

Step 6: Next, follow the directions on your adhesive about drying time.  I let mine dry overnight just to be sure!

Step 7:  Now its time to grout.  I again used the paint stir stick to glop on a large amount of grout onto my tiles and then used the float (the rubber tool) to squish the grout in between all the cracks.  Try to spread it out evenly across your whole surface.  Don't worry about the grout on top of the tile, that will get cleaned up later.  Just make sure you get it in between each tile.

Step 8:  Once you have covered the whole surface with grout, allow it to dry.  I gave mine a few hours.

Step 9:  It's time to clean up the surface.  Take a bucket of clean water and your sponge and start wiping off the surface of the tiles.  I had to use a little extra elbow grease, but was able to wash off the tiles without any of the set grout (in the cracks) coming off.

Here's what my surface ended up looking like!  I think this would look pretty even as a wall hanging.

finished table top

I then allowed it to dry again over night, just to make sure everything would properly stay in place.

As with any piece of furniture from Ikea, the table comes unassembled.  You get the table top, 4 legs, and 4 double sided screws.

I found it easiest to put the table surface upside-down on the floor, twist the screw a few times into the surface, and then balance the leg on top of the screw.

Flip the table upside-down, and screw in the leg

Next just keep twisting.  The screw will twist into the leg and the table at the same time, and having the gravity from being above the table helped a lot.  Do this with all four legs....and then turn it over!

tada!

Here's a look at my finished table, in the daylight up close:

And here's it's permanent home....for now!

 I love how the candle's reflect the tiles on the wall.  I think the simple, and cheap, change made a huge difference with this table!  I'm pretty pleased with the outcome!

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