The Kitchen Gets Some Love

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago this was my kitchen.

Absolutely NOTHING was going on in there.  It was the same beige/taupe/boring as the rest of the house.  It's a nice functional kitchen, yes, but what was in there that made me want to hang out in there?  Oh, that's right.  Nothing.    And I also realize that a pristine white kitchen is all the rage right now but I don't have one so I needed to work with what I have.  Truth be told, I love my cabinets.  I don't for see ever switching them out, but don't hold me to that.

And here's what it looks like today!

Here's how it all went down...

So I wanted to add some pizzazz without having to do a ton of work or having to spend a lot of money.  What to do...what to do.....  I then ran across this post at House of Smith's (as I'm sure many of you have).  The quatrefoil caught my eye and got my wheels spinning.  I was thinking about painting the design but knew that it would be tough getting it right.  I thought about stenciling but all the quatrefoil stencils I've seen are HUGE and I wanted them to be quite small.    So I too decided to do it in vinyl.  Then I could do whatever size I wanted and it would be easy to put up.

Having an amazing SIL with a thriving vinyl business helped me decide to go this route as well.  She loves all my ideas even though sometimes she should probably go "Really?  You really want to do that?"  But she doesn't.  She's my biggest and most supportive fan, that one!    I'll tell the costs later but I think you'd be surprised how inexpensive this route can be.   ***EDIT*** It is now available for purchase in our new Etsy shop!  Find it HERE.  

First I painted the backsplash a nice gray (Valspar Montpeilier Ashlar Gray).  I thought it would tie in nicely with the gray in my countertops as well the appliances and hardware.

Side note (I'm a fan of side notes, btw): While I was laying on my back on my cooktop to tape off underneath the microwave I noticed this:

Um, what?  Those filters should be cleaned ONCE.  A.  MONTH??  Are you kidding?  I think I'm more on the once-every-five-years-filter-cleaning program so I have until ::checking calendar::  April 10th of this year to get it done!  Do any of you clean your fan/hood filters once a month?  Wait, maybe I don't want to know.

End side note.

After the paint was sufficiently dried & cured I then began applying the vinyl.

I used an exacto knife to cut around outlets and for the small amount of overhang at the bottom.  It cut it like buttah.

The one area I was a little worried about (for the vinyl's sake) was the area by the cooktop.  I've had some minor to extreme cases of tomato sauce splattering and other cooking disasters we won't get into here.  I was also worried about the heat.  My solution?  To hang a picture there.  I figured I could wipe that down fairly easily and it would protect the vinyl there in the hottest area.    I spray painted & glazed the frame to get just the look I wanted.  

And I put in a goofy picture of my kids that I absolutely love.  Looking at that picture makes stirring a pot much more enjoyable.  

And in the bloggyland way of full disclosure, here is my desk area right now...

Uh...yeah... tools still out, giant Sonic cup screaming that I have a slight addiction to Diet. Dr. Pepper, vinyl unfinished (my math skills once again proved unfavorable so I'm waiting for a bit more to arrive...oops), hair gel, garbage, etc.  It WILL get done but it's not quite yet.  Just thought you should know.

So that's it!  I am so so so pleased with how it turned out.  My kitchen actually has a little bit of a personality now and I have a "direction" to my decorating in there.  I have other projects in mind which will continue to customize the space to my liking.

Costs:  One pint of paint for about $15 (didn't even use half).  And the vinyl, without a family/biggest fan discount, would have been about $75 for all of that.  The frames were from Goodwill, totaling about $8.  $98 total!  

I really have a brand new feeling kitchen for under $100.  My husband was excited about that. :)

Here are the side by side before & after:

Thanks for looking!  

Look HERE to see where I'm LINKING up!

PS Enter my 1st Giveaway HERE!