The Dollar Store Rental Kitchen Makeover - Again
Once upon a time, way back when, I became enraged with my ugly rental kitchen. Observe the horror:
I cursed it, I cried, I shook my fists at it. Then I did what everybody does (surely?), I looked for a solution on the internets.
What I found was Curbly. Inspired by the spirit of Curbly Daring-Do I figured out a solution, and posted pictures of it here..
Three (three!) years have passed. My temporary contact paper solution has withstood all kinds of shenanigans and is, I suspect, INVULNERABLE to anything but Robot Laser Eyes.
BUT, it is a New Year, a new decade even, and that always prods the part of my brain that likes things NEW and CLEAN and SHINY. So I turned a beady and critical eye to my kitchen. And decided it was time for a change.
So I did this.
I did a few things,
Firstly, I replaced the contact paper on the cupboards that used to have stickies on them (I was going to replace all the paper but there was no discernible difference in the new and old so I thought MEH. On accounta I'm lazy) So, that's 6 rolls of contact paper at a dollar a piece
Next up was the back splash. I was wandering around the dollar store and spotted what you see above. Plastic place mats. At two for a buck. So I grabbed every one I could find in that pattern and a couple of packs of thumb tacks. So, $5 for the place mats and $2 for the tacks.
Now I know that I could have just tiled the back splash, and for very little money. But I really like the pattern, and I'm a big fan of the instant gratification. For me there is also a sort of mental symmetry to having this be an effective but temporary solution.
Using swearing and eyeballing I figured out a "close-enough-from-a-distance" pattern repeat and stuck those suckers to the wall with the thumb tacks. They are totally removable and can be washed by hand or even tossed in the dishwasher. Which will be useful if there is ever a repeat of The Pad Thai Incident.
I also tried sticking them on with a bit of double sided tape; it works equally well and would be a good way to cover up ugly tiles that were already in place.
Next was a new light fixture,
And by "new light fixture" I mean, "a plastic salad bowl - $1, sanded to opacity and attached to the old light fixture with two circular pieces of flexible chopping board - $1". Of course.
I could throw together a few pictures if anyone has a burning curiosity for a how to.
The only thing left is to go score some lovely new tea towels and pot grabbers. I want red ones, and what with Valentines day coming up everywhere is lousy with red stuff. So yay!
Tagged : Kitchen, dollar store, Makeover, cheap, rental
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