Grrrrout

I promised grout and I have delivered!

On Tuesday my mom and I went to pick out the grout. I knew we were going to go with a dark grout but I was torn between a very dark brown and a light black. I had already been to Lowe's and their selection of unsanded grout colors was less than extensive so we went to The Home Depot and though they had the Charcoal Gray I wanted they didn't have the caulking to match. Bummer.

So we went back to the specialty tile store (I say store but it's more like a warehouse in the middle of nowhere) where we got the Quick Pitch and natch, they had every color under the sun along with the matching grout. I picked charcoal and we drove back to our house fully intending to put the grout off til' Saturday.

My mom took one look at the tiny shower floor and said, "We can do this tonight." I looked at her with one of those "Can we...really?" looks and she said, "Let's do this. You want to do this?" I said okay and just as quickly we were changing into work clothes and getting started. Here's how it went down:

I know I already addressed this step and it seems kind of obvious but I thought I would show you our grout box in all of its milk carton-y glory. Cute, huh?

Next thing you want to do is pour a little of your grout and a little water into a bucket and start mixing until it has the consistency of cake batter. You'll have to add a little, mix a little, add a little, mix a little...you get the idea. When that has set up for 15 minutes you can apply it with your handy dandy grout float. We got ours at Ace Hardware for $5.

Holding your float at a 45 degree angle, you drop a dollop of grout mixture on the tile then smooth it back and forth, making sure you come at each section from different directions. Get that grout good and in there. It's going to look pretty messy, especially if you use a dark grout but don't fret, it all comes out in the wash, so to speak!

After that has set for about a half an hour you go back with a sponge (that is just barely, barely damp) and wipe up the excess. This will take a while but be patient and before you know it...

It'll be time to grab an old t-shirt or soft rag and buff the remaining grout off of the tiles. I waited about three or four hours before I did this final step.

The result was beautiful and I couldn't be happier with it. And after seeing the way the light from the window comes in the shower in the morning I cannot wait to take a nice morning rinse in there!

 Next up? We tile the shower wall this weekend so we're going to get our subway tile tonight. Wish us luck!