How to Install Wall Tiles in Living Rooms

Mark a horizontal line along the length of the wall, near the bottom, using your measuring tape, level and a pencil. Set the line at the height of a tile plus 1/4 inch. If your tiles are 5 inches high, for example, the line should be 5 1/4 inches off the floor.

Measure the length of the wall and calculate its midpoint. Draw a vertical line up through this exact center of the wall, from floor to ceiling, using the level and a pencil.

Spread mastic over the bottom of the wall with a notched trowel, from one end to the other, under the horizontal line you drew in Step 1.

Press the bottom row of tiles into the mastic, centering the first tile over the vertical line you drew in Step 2 and adding additional tiles to either side to create one horizontal row of tiles. Place tile spacers between the tiles as you hang them. Cut the last two tiles at either end with a tile cutter as needed to fit the tiles into the remaining space.

Spread another area of mastic across the wall just above the first row of tiles, to a height sufficient to receive the next course of tiles. Hang the next course, again starting at the center point of the wall and working outward to the sides. Put spacers between the new row of tiles and the row below, as well as between the sides of each new tile in this row. Cut the end tiles as needed to fit.

Repeat Step 5 and continue tiling up the wall, course by course until the entire wall is covered in tiles or the desired height of the tiles is reached. Let the tiles set overnight. Pull out the spacers.

Grout the wall, starting at the top and working your way down, using a grout float to press the grout into the spaces between the tiles. Wipe up any excess grout coming out from between the tiles or that covers the faces of the tiles themselves with a damp sponge.