Over My Head In Tin Ceiling Tiles

 photo from the web

    

     I am in over my head with tin ceiling tiles. The thought of a cottage with a tin kitchen ceiling makes me swoon. The truth is I probably would not like it for my kitchen ceiling. But that hasn't stopped me from thinking of how I could use the look on something else. A trip to Home Depot got me in trouble. Then a few minutes on Ebay got me in more.

     Yesterday, I ran in Home Depot to look for a florescent light fixture. The one under my counter had finally called it quits. A new bulb did not help, the fixture had died. As I zipped up one aisle trying to find my target purchase, I was side tracked. A bin of faux tin tiles stopped me dead in my tracks. My brain went into overdrive as I reached for the flyer and, afraid someone would come up and take the remaining tiles while I was reading about the product, I grabbed them all and plopped them in my cart. Then I took a close look at everything.

One of the sheets after I aged it.

     The faux tiles are thin plastic sheets that can be applied to walls either with adhesive or double sided tape. I put the sheets back, all except two, reached for a roll of tape and, in my excitement to pay for these items and get home, forgot to buy my light! It's fine. I am going back today for more faux tiles.

     Up on the wall, as a back splash behind my stove, they look like the real thing. Made by Fasade, the thin sheets are 24” x 18”.  You can cut the sheets with scissors to the size you need. I am toying with my two sheets to decide how far I want to go with this look. Behind the stove may be enough. I may want more on the opposite wall by my sink. Right now I am in the planning stages and we'll see how much trouble this leads too. Each panel costs $19.95.

     Below are photos of my stove before and after. The after is not final, but close to it. The panels look great, but they seemed too bright, too new for me. So I grabbed my paints, Patio Paint, Old Brick Red, an acrylic paint with a color that makes me think rust. If you like things worn and weathered like I do, rust is good! I won't buy metal patio furniture, unless it looks like it is caked in a fine rusty crust over the old paint. Fellow antique dealers, you understand my thought process.

Before

After

Getting ready to muck it up with paint.

    Using my fingers, I rubbed some of the paint gently over the faux tin tiles. Not everywhere, but in places to kill back the shine and make it looked weathered. I think it worked. Can't age plastic by leaving it out in the rain, so paint was my answer.

    One thing lead to another and I decided to look at old antique ceiling tins on Ebay. The first picture was of a 12” x 12” ceiling tin with old pink paint. Doesn't get any better than pink in my book! And that is the color in my bedroom. I purchased ten different pink tiles and should have them the end of next week.  I wonder how these tiles will fit in? Trust me, my brain is already at work and I have a few great answers. Stay tuned.

Sample of the old pink tin ceiling tiles purchased on Ebay!

     I jump from one project to another, without total completion of any! Fragmented. It's how I live and how I work. But things are happening and moving forward. My ranch is in transformation, ready to blossom out of its shell into the cottage in my mind. Just you wait and see!