Don't try this at home...at least the first part

I'm the eldest of four girls and every time I or one of my sisters forgot to call home to let mom know that we'd be late, she would say to us, "I thought you were chopped up in a plastic bag at the side of the road!" (Yes, I know. My mother's not what you might call subtle.) A couple of weeks ago my mom's words came back to me full force. I found myself driving to the wrong side of the tracks to meet a man at a storage locker to look at some tiles. I found the guy on Craigslist. He said that he had left over stock and was trying to get rid of it so that he could make room for some new product. I pulled up to the parking lot and found it empty except for one navy mini van. You know, the kind with the sliding side doors that kidnappers use to drag people from the sidewalk into vehicles? To make matters worse, it was parked behind a gate that could only be opened and closed with an electronic code. Once inside the storage centre I would have no way of getting out on my own. Against my better judgement (sorry mom and everyone with common sense), the lure of cheap tile got the best of me and I left the safety of my vehicle to meet the mystery man.

Luckily Collin turned out to be like a caffeinated version of Brendon - super friendly, energetic and incredibly personable. He and a partner started up Cove Finishings - an online company selling high end glass tiles to designers and private homeowners. By avoiding having a storefront (hence the storage locker) they saved the costs of rent and instead could sell a great product for a very competitive price.  After a few visits to his 'display case' we settled on some beautiful mosaic tiles for our kitchen backsplash. 

Brendon and Roger are now pros at putting up tiles and were able to get them installed over Easter weekend. They are pretty spectacular and look really beautiful in the space. Take a look at some of pictures Brendon captured along the way. 

One tip they've discovered in their vast experience: kitchen spatulas are the perfect tool to get grout in small hard to access spaces.