DIY Kitchen make-over: The Final Chapter

This is it folks, I have finally put down my paintbrushes!!!  I must say that after much blood, sweat and tears (or tantrums..) my DIY kitchen make-over saga project has come to an end. I don't think any home is ever completely "finished" when it comes to decorating, but I am contented...for now.

I have had a ball doing it, and it has been a fab learning curve. Although I lacked the time, experience and the design skills to accomplish something out of those Country Living pictures, I am proud of my accomplishments nonetheless. I was able to give my kitchen a little farmhouse/retro facelift on a shoestring. So I guess I achieved what I set out to do :)

In true Oscar’s style, I must thank my dear husband for his supporting role in all this. He has put up with my moods, crazy ideas, late nights, painted hair, quick dinners, endless sprees to charity shops, DIY shops, fabric outlets...without mentioning the essential work he did in the special effects (heavy-duty drilling) and lighting departments!! ;)

Without further ado, I give you The After:

I am not really looking for appraisal for my design or anything; I just wanted to share with you my experiences concerning this project (but if you wish to tell me I'm brilliant, who am I to stop you!! lol)

In my previous DIY Kitchen Make-over post I give more details on some of the accessories you can see in the photo.

Now the before and after shots...

What I consider my greatest achievement in this project is not the final kitchen design itself, but the fact that I have conquered my fear of colour! Yes my friends, up to now I have been a "taupe" sort of person. However, this time around I have decided to go with the flow. Hence, my red wall!!!

Before and After:

At first, I had painted just the middle strip between the worktop and cupboards but then it looked unfinished, like I had forgotten to paint the rest. That's when I had my Epiphany and said to myself: "What the heck, just go for it girl!" And so I did! I felt so liberated. It was like the floodgates had been opened, and colour just started pouring out! :)

Anyways, I must say that it was a challenging decision...To cut a long story short, I could not get mat red paint at the store, and went for satin.  A Big NO, NO!! My wall went quite shiny. It picked up every imperfection and highlighted them to the max!! Since I only had 6m2 of wall to paint and the small paint pot only cost 5€, I decided it was not a problem after all.

To tell you the truth I did throw a mini tantrum, but the hubs soon put things in perspective for me. For the moment I have left it as is, until I find the right sort of paint. Funnily enough it's actually growing on me, and somehow I find it rustic-looking now! We'll see...

So if like me you want to venture into the world of colour, my advice would be to paint a small section, sleep on it and then see how it turns out before you do the rest of the wall!!

For this project I have also recycled, re-purposed, re-vamped many things and used a lot of spray paint on items I already had at home!! For instance... 

 my giant pepper grinder...

my fruit and veg baskets...

Spray paint has the advantages that it's quick to apply, doesn't leave brush marks, and is relatively inexpensive. The only minor inconvenience is that you really need apply it in a well ventilated place, like outdoors. Which can be quite a nuisance when you are doing up your kitchen in winter...brrrr!

One of my favourite recycling/re-purposing items are the fruit-boxes turned shelves! I got theses totally free from my local green grocer's. When I saw them, they were just screaming "shelves" at me!! But I guess you could also use them as trays?!

All I did was to paint them white, cover with scraps of fabric and hang on the wall using 4 wooden brackets (at €3.99 each) from a DIY store.

Now I have dinky little shelves above my fridge (which before was a dead space..), and somewhere to display some thrifty little finds! :)

Speaking of thrifty finds, this cute little bird set cost 1€ at a clearance bin!!

The wooden fish together with the plastic, oval frame and the 2 white wooden trays in the photos below were also charity-finds. After a lick of paint, they have been re-purposed as wall art!!

How about a fish supper? :)

 A re-vamped plastic frame 

 

Recycled wall art :)

I have already posted on how I did the cow tray in my last DIY Kitchen post. The one below has a slightly more distressed look and a retro food poster to match.

The little wooden shelf below was another thrifty find!! It was all battered and falling apart, and so I just finished the job by dismantling it completely. It had a really nice decorative top shelf, which I kept for this project.

Then I just added some hooks, spray painted it white and fixed the whole thing to my existing cupboards to create a mug-rack!

This way I can display cute stuff on the outside, and have more space on the inside for the "not-so-cute" stuff! :)

The biggest re-vamped item in my kitchen (literally) was a huge, 70cm diameter drum lampshade that cost me 1€ from the same charity shop (Emmaus)!! Again, it was weathered and stained but  not without potential. I covered it with some thick, red fabric and voila! - A unique, statement XXL shade for my kitchen ceiling!! :)

Before: Beige and Drab. After: Red and Fab!!!

A brand new shade this size would set me back at least €59, (again, just look at these Pottery Barns examples), whilst this one cost under €6!!

One of the few things I purchased from new was a sea-grass rug at a bargain price of 8.99€. I say bargain, because I saw one exactly the same at PB.com for $29 (about €29)!!

I wanted a touch of red, so I used some fabric paint and a hard brush to add detailing.

BTW, I found the old ashtray great for holding the paint and for resting the brush!

 Last but not least, I give you my infamous, retro sous-plats  :)

The main conclusion I take from this project is that after all the trials and tribulations, the experience was totally worth it!! Even with the risky wall colour...

So if you want to have a go at your own DIY make-over project but are still not convinced, I leave you with this ancient Chinese proverb:

"Tell me and I'll forget,
Show me and I'll remember,
Involve me and I'll understand"

i.e. - the best way to learn is to get stuck in... :)

Parties I am linking to with this post.

For your chance to win a fabulous Le Creuset Stock Pot worth $66.95 click here to find how!