River Pebble Tile Installation from StrataStones

The type of backsplash you choose for your kitchen remodel makes a huge difference in the final look and feel.  My whole project so far has been one of sleek lines recessed lines, stainless steel, and modern lighting.  Wanting to achieve some balance, I chose something of the earth itself for my backsplash- River Pebble Tiles from StrataStones.net.

One thing at a time- Backsplash Installation has come!

StrataStones offers a truly unique offering of pebble tiles all pulled from river beds and put together in 12×12 tiles in Bali.  How awesome is that?

Taken from StrataStone website

First off, every color they offer is completely natural and earthy- obviously.  But their color selection spans the spectrum from cool blues and greens, to blacks, to whites, and mixtures.  Their variety of sizes, orientations, and elevations  allowed us to pick the one that felt best to us- a polished, natural mix.  See it on their store page here.

Applying Thin Set Mortar for Tile

The tile came delivered by our lovely postal carrier lady.  Let’s just say Matt went out to her truck to unload it for her.  She is NOT built to carry 3 boxes of, well, rocks up to our garage.  We want her on our good side!

Anyway once we checked out the boxes, we brought out a container of prepared Thin Set Mortar and a Mortar spreader with 1/4″ teeth.  One small section at a time, we didn’t cover the granite (brave) and started slapping it on the wall.  No real rhyme or reason- just enough to closely match a 12″ x 12″ square.

Adding Thin Set Mortar to a wall

Installing River Pebble Tile

What is nice about the StataStone Pebble Tile is that its not a box of rocks, but a box of rocks adhered to a sturdy mesh backing just like other small tiles you might see at the big box retailer or tile store.  With the very first tile, we were cutting out stones that would be in the way of the outlets, switches, covers, and against our kitchen cabinetry.

Installing Strata Stone in 12x12 tiles

Below is a bad picture of me holding up a 3-up set of pebbles that we will install as necessary around the outlet covers and switches.

These Stones have been cut from the 12x12 backing with scissors

Because river pebbles don’t come in predefined sizes (go figure) piecing them together around the objects and fitting them up against the cabinets and down against the countertop is a creative undertaking.  Because everything is so natural, there is great room for uneven stones, extra space where grout will be added, and problem areas- which have so far all looked totally natural.

Installing Strata Stone Pebbles on a kitchen backsplash

The next steps involved with finishing this river pebble tile backsplash is grouting.  That will be in another post coming up within the next week- sorry we won’t show it here- you’ll have to come back!  The final reveal will be presented as the culmination of all the efforts so far- can’t wait to share with all of you!

This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to StrataStones who provided the product for review.