[dafogle]

I'm sharing this idea for a flooring or a backsplash - it would have to be for the right kitchen ... pennies ... yes... pennies - it would be very tedious to install... so perhaps putting them on board of some time cut to the right size - and then installing as panels ...

here's a link to pennies used as flooring in the Standard Grill in the Standard Hotel New York.
Penny Floor | materialicious

Doreen

[Samuel Jablon]

That is an awesome use of pennies.

[RobUK]

I love that. And the more bling-conscious could use gold dollar coins

[threetoedfrog]

I'm actually seriously considering doing this in my kitchen.
See? It's such a radical idea for me, I can't even say so without whispering it!

My sink is in the middle of a large peninsula, so the only backsplash area is behind the floating chimney hood, which is the focal point of the room anyway...the pennies will help accentuate that...well, either boost it to a "Wow!" or knock it down to a "What-the-heck-was-she-thinking!?" I'm currently waffling between the two. It really appeals to my love of funky, and I know it would make me smile every time I looked at it...but, but, but...it's so hard to commit to something so "out there".

It's a Stat white kitchen (we're out in the country) with speckly brown stone countertops and slightly darker brown barnwood floors. Walls are either window or neutral warm oatmeal shades. Right now, I'm leaning toward using pennies right out of the rolls to get a random mix of earthy colour rather than going for the super-clean, shiny, copper metal look.

I was thinking of using a technique similar to this one:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/how-to/nickel-tile-floor-a- seattle -bathroom-renovation-127976

Now it's just a matter of getting enough confidence to actually do it.

waffle-waffle-waffle

Address:601 SW 41st St. Renton, WA 98057 Telephone:425-656-2980 fax: 425-656-8104 1-800-570-IKEA Store hours:Mon-Fri 10am-10pm Saturday 9am-10pm Sunday 9am-9pm IKEA Store Directory Entry for IKEA Seattle

[ParisBreakfast]

What became of the penny idea? How intriguing.

[threetoedfrog]

I decided to go for it.

It'll cost about $65 in pennies for the area I want to cover, so if it turns out to be a disaster, we can rip it out and do something else and not be out a lot of money...lots of time, yes, but it would a cheap mistake in the grand scheme of things.

Any time I tell someone what we're doing, they want to clean out their pocket, desk, or penny jar, so we have most of the pennies we need. I think it's very cool that once it's done, we'll look at the wall and know that so many folks we love have contributed to it. Adds to the psychological warmth of the place, yanno?

I experimented with the online circle graph paper generator to get a template with spacing I liked, and, using the method from the link above, glued a section-worth of pennies to screening. I still need to do some experimenting to make sure the goop (name escapes me at the moment) we use to attach the sections to the wall will adhere to the screening well enough...we may need to go with larger screen holes. I'm also researching materials...to glue the coins to the screen, type of grout (apparently some grouts are corrosive and would greenify the pennies, which I don't want), and whether we need to seal the pennies before grouting or after to maintain the random mix of earthy colours (I don't want the grouting process to clean the pennies).

So...work in progress.

[ParisBreakfast]

I am so glad to hear you're going ahead with it. Sounds like you are doing the right kind of research also. Best of luck.

I was in Europe this summer and saw a small area done in old money before they changed to Euros which is why this caught my attention. Have no idea how they did it, and didn't have my camera. It was over the wash basin in a tiny restaurant. Thought it was neat at the time, and you know how Europeans tend to recycle a lot, so this was making good use of coins no longer in circulation.

[dafogle]

I love that you're going to have a penny backsplash in your kitchen and can't wait to see photos it ... it sounds like you're really thinking through the whole process and doing your research to be certain that it will look like you're imaging it to look. I love the extra meaning that your friends/family have added to the project by donating pennies to the cause ...

I love it!
Doreen

[Kayla]

loved it so much I've been tossing around (no pun intended) where I can do it. I'm incorporating it into two bump outs we are building in the back yard. Stacked blue slate at the bottom of the areas and pennies at the top area where the bay windows are on each bump out. We'll put copper roofing on each of those areas, eventually, and we have a lot of copper accents around the house (inside and out) so it's really a magical, artful, yet cohesive idea for our home. And all the adults living here agree on it, which is kinda rare.

[ParisBreakfast]

We are just the most amazing adults, what can I say?