Design Spotlight Kitchen Backsplash & Range Hood by Chris Loves Julia

Home improvement DIYers Chris and Julia Marcum tackle home projects and renovations in their own fixer-upper home and share the daily details of their feats and failures in their award-winning blog chrislovesjulia.com.  This talented, DIY-driven couple recently took over their close friends' kitchen remodel. Read on to see how Chris and Julia turned a nice kitchen into one that is outstanding. This project really stands out for us because of their amazing skill to design a custom range hood - all tiled in our best-selling ceramic tile Cloe.

"Our friends, the Fullmers were already in the process of starting a kitchen remodel at their home when we asked if we could hijack it. A few years ago, they bought his (Caleb’s) childhood home and have been fixing it up over time. They did a mini remodel by painting their cabinets a couple years ago (maybe you remember when we broke into their house and swapped out all the hardware last year?) but now they are ready for a big one. They are due with their 4th baby in May and have been saving for a renovation and although they asked for a few opinions during the planning process, they were planning on hiring the project completely out with a strict by-May deadline–and after we stepped away from the flip, we were like, Wait! No! We can do all of that!" - Chris and Julia Marcum

The kitchen wasn't that bad, but Chris and Julia knew it could be so much more.

From the tile to lighting fixtures to their own cabinet line, Julia crafted a mood board to set the scene for the renovation.

We're so impressed with how the beautiful backsplash turned out and how Chris and Julia crafted the custom-tiled cover for the recirculating range hood.

Watch this video that demonstrates how Chris and Julia designed, built and tiled this custom range hood. They set the tile in an offset pattern and used Mapei Flexcolor White grout.

Here's a close up view of Cloe ceramic tile in White used on the hood and backsplash. The Cloe Collection is glazed ceramic wall tile characterized by its brilliant colors, smooth gloss finish and interesting variations in hues and tones. It comes in seven more colors, plus in a 5"x5" square.

The varying hues of the white in the tile create an interesting backdrop for open shelving. The Marcums took full advantage of the beauty of this tile by going counter to ceiling with it.

For more information and insight on the Fullmer Kitchen, check out these blog posts on ChrisLovesJulia.com:

· All the before photos and mood board
· Demoing the kitchen and the new layout
· Finding asbestos and course correcting
· The Ultimate Kitchen Space Planning Cheat Sheet
· Things To Know When Planning an Ikea Kitchen
· New Wood Floors are in!
· Building a Custom Tiled Range Hood
· All About Those Gorgeous Appliances
· Everything you need to know about using Semihandmade cabinet fronts with Ikea cabinets
· Installing the sink and faucet
· How we DIYed the open shelving 
· How we organized the cabinets and a video tour inside every one!

All project photos and videos are sourced from ChrisLovesJulia.com.