A few weeks ago, I got the motivation to finally work on our entrance way. I loved how the luxury vinyl tile turned our in our mini bathroom renovation HERE and decided I would do the same to our entrance. So I decided to track the process this time around on Instagram and answer any questions that people may had. I need to set the explain a few things first. So I DID put this over tile. It is not the preferred way to do things, but since this is not our forever home, I was looking for a quick fix. If I had more money I would have ripped out everything and done our whole home in a white oak flooring. Maybe in our next home (*fingers crossed). Second, I am not a professional. This is just what I did and it worked for me. 

Step one is to prep the area. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned- swept, moped, and scrubbed. You bet I did it all. Step two involves leveling and filling in the grout lines so you have a nearly perfect flat surface. I first used a ready-to-use floor patch to fill in the grout lines. I used this one HERE. After it was dry, usually between a few hours and the end of the day, I basically went back to step one. sweep and sweep and sweep. The trick is to make sure there are not major spots where it leaves the floor unleveled. Which, I had two that I completely missed. Andrew and I can spot them, but it's not that noticeable. Next, I use a floor primer to level the area. The primer will also help to get the rest of the gritty bits from the grout filler that was more hard to sweep up.

Step three is a lot of repetition, but its the part where you can finally lay down the tile! This particular tile has the option to use grout. So if you like that look, use spacers. I said in my last blog post that this tile can be problematic, so I use a commercial grade adhesive to make sure it's extra secure. Last time, I found that the adhesive wasn't very sticky. Maybe it is for a sub floor or vinyl but I did not find that was the case for tile. Step four is grouting! I was covering approximately 55 share foot of flooring which needed about 1 tub an a half of the premixed vinyl grout in Saddle Gray that I purchased from Lowe's. 

- I use a box cutter with a razor blade. When I had small cuts, I could use scissors. The floor underneath could possibly be usable again, but had it been in my budget, I would have taken out everything. 

- Hypothetically, the vinyl tile could be removed but there would need to be an extra step of removing the commercial grade adhesive that I decided to use. However, if I wanted to change my flooring completely, I would have to break up the ceramic tile underneath where I laid the vinyl tile on top. That step would have to be done regardless, putting the vinyl did not change the fact that the ceramic would eventually have to go. 

- In short, $233. That is with supplies, tile, and grout. 

  It took a while, but I finally got Frankie's room all put together. The girls were going to share the room but the clutter was driving me nuts! So I caved and just gave them separate rooms. I then started and stopped the project in-between vacation trips. I still have some touch up paint to do, but I am pretty proud of how it turned out.
  One of the pieces I am most excited about is Frankie's print of her birthday. I used Mapiful to customized my very own print for her room. The stars are what the night looked like on the day she was born. She has been such a delight in our life and this print is just a special addition in her room.