Fall Front Porch and Tile Front Steps

If you follow me on instagram then you saw we made a little change to our front porch! We added tile on each of the front of the steps! I actually was thinking of painting some sort of pattern with the black stripes we had, maybe a buffalo check pattern- kind of like a rug up the steps. But on second thought, I felt it would look too “crafty” ha! So I typed “painted steps” into Pinterest hoping for some inspiration. And in the painted steps search, I saw some stenciled, tile looking front steps- just on the front of each riser. Loved the look. But hate to stencil. So we came up with another idea….

Tile!! That is tile folks. Not stencil. Someone asked me “how permanent it is”? Well, it is tiled onto each step. So permanent until we pop it off!  You might remember when we stenciled a little mud room for our neighbors. The homeowners didn’t care for it and ended up putting tile over it. And we had invested a lot of time into it. I thought it looked great if you were on a budget and didn’t want to pay to have it tiled if you didn’t have a tile saw or money for new tile. But if you have the money to tile, I 100% recommend just doing tile. So keep that in mind. 

We were on a mission to find tile that was in-stock locally. A lot of tile shops you have to order in your tile and it takes a week or more. Of course we wanted to do it the one day Kevin had off that week….and I told him idea that morning. I know what you are thinking, why is he still married to me? I’m wondering the same thing. 

How much did this “little” tile on the steps cost? It was around a $100, plus time ($200 if you don’t have a tile saw yet)

Tile front steps details-

• Find tile- our tile is from Lowes HERE
• Cut tile- our steps are 6″ tall and the tile is 8″x8″, which means Kevin had to cut each down. We used THIS basic tile saw that worked great.
• Prep- our steps were previously painted with cement paint. We did zero prep besides sweeping. 
• Attach tile to steps- we used THIS ready mixed mortar (PS- we bought WAY too much! Only needed the 1 gallon, not 3 😳)
• Grout or Caulk– we didn’t grout or caulk. But we plan on caulking the top of the tile 
• Paint– our cement steps are painted white, they were a black before. We used THIS cement paint (it can be slippery- so I recommend adding sand or home improvement stores has a mixture you can add in).

Fall Tip- Mums like to be watered A LOT! I water mine ever morning, since it is still pretty warm in CT. Make sure to water the soil and not pour water over the flower buds. And that your pot has a drainage hole. (Wavy Top Composite White Washed Pot HERE)

Fall Tip- Spray pumpkins with a clear coat spray paint to deter squirrels! (I used THIS water-based spray I had)

I found that super cute metal pumpkin online at TJ Maxx (I don’t see they have anymore, find similar HERE). I put THESE Luminara candles out here, but they are sold out in the cream, THESE are outdoor battery operated candles that work great!

We found the double hanging pot holder at a little shop in New York, I found similar HERE

The “Our Nest” mat I found at Marshalls. You can find a lot of cute fall door mats HERE. (go to THIS post to shop my shoes!)

Click on the photo to shop the post-

Wavy Top Composite White Washed Pot

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