We recently completed our installation of Inhabit Living Wall Flats and we are in love with the impact it has made. “The Wall”, as it affectionately became known as during this installation, was definitely a labor of love. It was labor intensive, messy, tiring, but ultimately entirely worth it. Here is how we did it in 7 steps:
- Get everything on the shopping list.
- Figure out your layout. The installation instructions recommend starting in the most noticeable corner and working across the wall so the cut tiles are not as obvious. We decided to avoid all tile cutting. Our wall was 9′4″ wide, so we put 6 tiles across with about a 2″ border on each side. We worked from the ceiling down. The wall is 12′ high so we did 7 tiles down. There was room for one more tile, but we have two electrical outlets in this wall and wanted to avoid cutting so we stopped just above the outlets.
- Apply thin set to wall with the v-notch trowel (see directions on thin set for proper application) and set each tile into place. Since we wanted to center our tiles on the wall we first measured to the center of the wall and placed out first tile to one side of the center mark. We applied the rest of the tiles in the top row using 1/8″ tile spacers between each tile. Then we simply worked down the wall.
TIP: If you have to stop and take a break be sure to scrape any excess thin set off the wall so it does not set. You should not get the tiles wet, but you can use a damp rag to wipe off any excess thin set. Allow thin set to dry for 24-36 hours. - Remove tile spacers and “grout” the tiles. To conceal the seams between the tiles the installation instructions recommended either paintable caulk or joint compound. We first tried using caulk since it was easier to apply, but it did not adequately fill the seams. Also caulk is not sandable so you have to be sure no excess ends up on the tiles. Where it did and we tried to remove it the paper face of the tile peeled off. During round 2 of trying to conceal the seams we used Dry Dex Spackle. I actually found it in tube form at Target. It goes on pink and dries white. It was easy to apply. Since it could be sanded after drying we overfilled the seams a bit and then sanded them smooth.
TIP: With 3-dimensional Wall Flats it can be tricky to get to the seams to remove excess spackle and sand. My husband got creative and cut up pieces of the cardboard packaging to help smooth the spackle into the seams and scrape off any extra. This proved much easier and less messy than using your fingers. We then cut the sandpaper into small strips to sand the seams. Each cardboard/sandpaper strip was the width of a finger and about 3 inches long. - Mask the area around the wall for finishing. We used kraft paper and wide painters tape to mask off the floor, ceiling, and adjacent walls to prep for paint spraying. NOTE: If you are using a paint sprayer DO NOT use plastic sheeting which can cause static electricity and sparks in conjunction with the paint sprayer.
- Prime the wall. We applied a primer using a Ryobi Paint Sprayer. Allow primer to dry according to directions.
- Paint the wall. Again we used the paint sprayer to get a quick and even finish. With the primer underneath we found we only needed one topcoat of paint. We chose a satin finish to give the wall a little bit of sheen.
The 7 steps above probably seem easy and for the most part they are once you get the hang of it, but don’t underestimate the amount of work this project takes. The total duration for our installation was 4 days. Total working time within that 4 days was about 12-15 hours. Our living/kitchen/dining area was pretty much unusable during that time due to sanding dust and all the tools laying out. This is harder than putting up wallpaper. This is harder than regular tiling (you can’t smear grout all over the tiles and wipe it off with a wet sponge). The up side is the Wall Flats look way cooler than your average wallpaper or tile. We love “The Wall”!
7 responses so far ↓
1 erin pearce // Jun 17, 2009 at 11:46 am
this looks awesome! i have been waiting to see a post on installing these somewhere. theres a few places in my home i would love to use these. do you know if they are safe for a fireplace?
2 C M // Jun 17, 2009 at 12:37 pm
You should have put in the effort to cut the outlet holes for bottom tiles. Looks unfinished.
3 Jackie // Jun 17, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I love that people feel free to speak their mind on blogs, but I took a little offense to this comment. Perhaps it is because we are still recovering from the 4 days it took to install this amazing wall. Perhaps it is because I forgot to mention we did this entire installation during our toddlers nap times and did not think it was worth another entire day of naps to cut around outlets. We chose not to finish around the outlets for a few reasons. First, you can’t simply cut around the outlets. You have to get outlet extenders (that we could not find at our home center) to extend the outlets out so the 3d tiles butt up to the extender. Second, we knew we eventually wanted to put a large buffet along this wall and if we do you will never even see the bottom of the wall, so it was again not worth the extra effort. But thanks for sharing your thoughts and I am sorry you did not like our installation.
4 Jennae @ Green Your Decor // Jun 17, 2009 at 9:12 pm
People will always find something to nitpick about, Jackie. Don’t let them bother you. I personally think it’s absolutely gorgeous! I’ve been wanting some of these, and I thought they’d be pretty easy to install. Glad to see they will take some elbow grease and preparation.
5 Bruin // Jun 22, 2009 at 4:38 am
Whenever posting anything in a public space, be prepared for criticism. It’s not all about heaps of praise.
6 ModFruGal // Jun 23, 2009 at 8:10 am
Nice job….most valuable tip may be the spackle in a tube…thanks as we’d have reached for the caulk first I’m sure! Thanks for the post and don’t let the haters get you down!
7 Buckley // Aug 29, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Thanks for the step-by step I’m about to do 6 boxes worth on a long wall in my condo.. Wish me luck!
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