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You start with an ugly refrigerator. And you wonder, what can I do?
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a very successful DIY’er. For many reasons, not the least of which is that I am legally barred from owning power tools in 35 states. OK, not really, but my wife tells me I should be. Probably one of the largest incentives for the average DIY inclined individual is the idea that a little elbow grease translates into a lot of money saved. I have almost never found this to be the case. In fact, I usually end up spending more on making something than I would have if I had just gone and bought it. But not this time…this time I managed to pull off the DIY hat trick: cheap, easy, and quick. Ok, not really quick, but not too time consuming.
I saw this project on another design blog (apartmenttherapy.com) and thought, “I have to try this!” It’s actually pretty simple:
Step 1. Buy a roll or two of Contact shelf paper that is adhesive on the back. Choose your colors and patterns wisely. There are a lot more options of both available online.
Step 2. Pick out a pattern and make a stencil for one of the repeats. Remember that you will be cutting this out a few hundred times, so again, choose wisely. I went with a simple scallop design that I felt integrated well into my Alice in Wonderland inspired kids area in my kitchen.
Step 3. Cut out the pattern. Repeat. Many, many times. I started out using an Xacto knife, but switched to scissors pretty quickly. What you use will depend on your pattern to a certain extent.
Step 4. Start peelin’ and stickin’. This is the really tedious part because you have to just go slowly. Stand back and look every few minutes to make sure that the pattern is equally spaced.
There you go, for about $6, you can radically transform your great white (or black) kitchen elephant into a chic conservation piece.
Rohde Hill, interior designer, S. Rohde Hill Design, www.srohdehill.com
