What do massive photo archives consisting of cactus blossoms and assorted other weird succulents have in common with a DIY One Room Challenge® makeover, you might ask? Plenty! (Uhh, make that “Planty”?) One cactilicious kitchen makeover coming right up! Not only will it be extremely budget-friendly (ergo, mostly renter-friendly), I’ll also be incorporating custom touches using my own botanical photographs as inspiration throughout. With updates that are largely cosmetic, I won’t feel so bad about ripping it all out and starting over at a future date, once I return to post-COVID gainful employment. If you’re not familiar, the ORC requires a weekly blog post outlining that week’s progress for six weeks – this first post will be a bit longer than the next five, just to set the stage.
Potential new color palette consisting of peel & stick tile, paint, and a wall treatment, TBD…
I’m a photographer and freelance garden writer, though, not an interior designer, so how did I get caught up in this crazy scheme to redesign a room? As it happens, the ORC’s call for Guest Participants went out just about the time I came up with a tentative plan, so I figured why not commit myself to public accountability while I’m at it? During this weird time of state-supported hermitry, more commonly known as COVID19 quarantine, I started making some small updates around my house while I had time on my hands and got a number of those annoying little “someday when guests threaten to visit you’ll be exposed and humiliated” tasks crossed off my list.
However, one major project I’ve never had any ideas for is the tiny galley kitchen I inherited from the previous owner back in 2007, with its nauseating baby poop brown walls, hideously outdated 80s-style melamine cabinets, and poor lighting. Since I’m not a cook, it’s basically just an easily ignored snack repository, and one good thing about the openings at each end is that they enable me to get a good running start with a carefully timed snatch and grab from the fridge on the way past, thus, minimizing exposure to the ugliness. I present to you as evidence:
Behold the dreariness of the kitchen design I inherited from the previous owner!
Work with what you have! A concept comes together….
Once housebound for the duration, though, it could no longer be ignored. With zero budget to make any of the more substantial changes included in most kitchen renovations, I started thinking about what I COULD do, instead of what I couldn’t. I can’t replace the cabinets, but they’re in excellent condition, so I could paint them. I started researching best practices for painting over melamine and determined it could be done with the proper materials. Paint color is infinite, though, so I started sourcing the less accessible materials, first, then I’ll circle back and match up paint colors later.
I couldn’t replace the black Silestone countertops, either, so I had to find a way to justify their existence and make them work with a new color scheme and look intentional, instead of an eyesore. After all, I’m still stuck with the black appliances, which I can’t afford to replace, even though I’m in dire need of a new fridge (sadly, I can no longer store such basic survival necessities as ice cream, given my malfunctioning freezer that turns everything to mush). Ideally, I’d like to find a counter-depth unit that doesn’t protrude into the doorway, but alas, it’ll have to wait.
Above the countertops, the backsplash is currently just bare baby poop brown wall. Without a budget for ceramic tile and/or a contractor to install it, I scoured Amazon and other sources for weeks in search of a peel and stick tile alternative. I still have no idea how I stumbled upon my eventual choice, but I was pretty excited when I found these sheets of green tiles with, if you look very closely, cactus designs in many of the individual squares! They weren’t even labeled as such, I just happened to be searching for green after exhausting my options for pinks and purples, and voilà! There they were! Amazon had just enough remaining stock, so I snagged ‘em all before some other cactus poacher came along! [See first photo above.]
As for the brown wall, I had to brainstorm a color I could tolerate that also works with not only the black countertops, but also the existing terracotta tile floor that runs consistently throughout the entire lower level, which also can’t be changed. I came up with the brilliant idea of using peel and stick wallpaper that incorporates cactus green, black and terracotta. I ordered a half dozen samples from Spoonflower and had settled on the only one that made sense and wasn’t too busy, but I sat with the sample for nearly a month without ordering the full amount because there was something else about it that didn’t quite sit well with me…
For one, the wallpaper pattern was a little too… I dunno, precious? But more importantly, it wasn’t based on my own photos, my original raison d’être. However, I have no idea how to make my own repeating patterns from photos, and had no intention of trying to scribble up some rush-job abomination. After dwelling on this all summer, I suddenly had a lightbulb moment just last week – a mural! I mean, how obvious is that!? It’s only needed for one relatively small wall, and certainly can’t cost any more than wallpaper. I’m still looking for an appropriate image to use, though, so more about that in future posts.
Let there be light! What I’ve done so far….
After making a spreadsheet listing all the steps it would take to make this project happen, I started working on the ceiling, first. It’s pretty low, except for the recessed box that used to hold an ill-fitting jerry-rigged fluorescent tube contraption, which I had removed last year after the ballast died. At the time, I just had my handyman install an inexpensive integrated LED flush-mount light fixture as a placeholder, but it soon became apparent that the low wattage and overly warm light it emitted was not suitable for a kitchen. It also made the white cabinets look extra dingy (as if they needed any help)!
Nevertheless, not having any other brilliant ideas, I left it there until earlier this summer when I started researching light temperature, optimal number of lumens per square foot, and types of light fixtures. I needed something whiter, brighter, and closer to the bottom of the recessed box so the light could escape into the actual kitchen. After weeks of search-filtering and mind-changing, I finally decided on a Kichler semi-flush mount fixture from Lowe’s in which I could add any light bulbs I chose. I ordered 60-watt equivalent 4000K LED bulbs from Amazon and had the handyman come back last week and switch everything out. Now with the whiter and brighter light, I can finally see color accurately and will be better poised to make my final paint color choices.
Before the switch, though, I prepped the ceiling box while I could still access it without the new fixture in the way. When the original fluorescent tubes failed last year, I also removed the diffuser and its frame. With an otherwise low ceiling in the rest of the kitchen, I thought it would provide a small opportunity for added visual height if left open. However, the new fixture required cutting several holes in the drywall to move the wiring to the center, so between the drywall patches, the scorch marks from the old ill-fitting fixture, and the cracks and nail holes where the frame was, I had a lot of prep work to do! Between cleaning, sanding, patching, texturizing, and painting, I made about a dozen trips around the box over the course of two days and I was sure I’d end up in a permanent neck brace! Alas, I soon recovered, and I hope to extend the fresh white paint to the rest of the original off-white ceiling and down the walls by next week.
Recessed ceiling box, before/after repairs plus a fresh coat of Valspar Signature Paint + Primer in Ultra White.
“Your health and well-being is the number one priority. Instead of going out and shopping, this is a great time to use what you have and let your creativity shine.” ~One Room Challenge
So, with this quote from the ORC team in mind, I feel slightly less bad about being on an extreme budget, as I will definitely be using what I have, along with a fair amount of paint and plenty of cactilicious ingenuity. The final paint and accessory colors will depend on what I ultimately choose for my super top sekrit wall treatment! If you want to help me decide between my final selections, perhaps I could be persuaded to make a poll in future Instagram Stories… 😉
If you have any suggestions, insults, or emotional outbursts about any of the above topics, please feel free to add them in the comments either here or on Instagram at @lajphotos! Be sure to check out the other Guest Participant transformations on the One Room Challenge blog, as well. For now, I’m off to paint and deal with THIS last minute mystery project [photo below], which I’ll explain in next week’s post!
Last minute mystery space! Any guesses as to what’s happening here?
