Bee Backsplash

I wanted something fun for the backsplash in my kitchen. I love the look of the subway tiles in my parents’ kitchen, but just like with the floor, rectangles didn’t feel right in my octagonal room. So I found some beautiful hexagonal tiles in a shiny white, that give a similar vibe to subway tiles, but looked at home in the space.

But I couldn’t just leave them plain and be done with it. My sister and brother-in-law have been keeping bees for the last couple of years. My kitchen window faces the field by the pond where they keep their hives. Since honeycomb is hexagonal, I decided to add bees to a few of my tiles. I made a stencil with my Cricut and sprayed them with a gold paint.

It didn’t work. These tiles are super smooth, and nothing will stick. I tried three different kinds of metallic paint and they all rubbed right off. So I pulled out my Slick Stick from Dixie Belle Paint.

Luckily it was exactly the same shade of white. I brushed it onto my tiles, trying for as few brushstrokes as possible. After it dried, I repeated the process of masking and spraying gold through the stencils.

This time it worked. I used a pin to pick out the extra bits of the stencil, and sprayed the tiles with a clear gloss sealer so they would have the same sheen as the undecorated tiles, and still be easy to clean.

Next I got to mass produce enough to let them randomly flutter across my whole kitchen.

My master tile setter, AKA Dad, installed them for me.

I chose a sandy colored grout which ties the while tiles in with the ivory cabinets, and goes well with the gold bees. There is something very French about this particular version of the bee, and I think it goes beautifully with the Fleur de Lis cabinets.

I’m so pleased with the way these tiles came out. You hardly notice the bees at first, but if you look closely, they are buzzing all over the kitchen. Thirteen bees in all (my lucky number).