Toggit
10-23-2009, 01:16 AM
My apartment is your standard apartment complex rental: bland and boring. I want to bring character to it, make it feel like a home, my home. The only issue is that my boyfriend and I only plan on staying here a year while he finishes up his masters before we move out of state. Therefore I didn't want to paint or put too much money or work into something we're only going to be in 9 more months.
I'm just about finished with the kitchen so I wanted to show it off and hopefully impart some cheap ideas to other renters out there.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen1.jpg
The pictures came out a tad yellow-y, but oh well. The first thing I did was take off all the icky bland cabinet doors. It took all of two minutes and they'll pop back on just as fast when we move out. Because in a small kitchen space is tight, I tried to make all my art/decoration functional. I think open storage gives a small kitchen a slightly larger feel. Although right now I only have one deco plate on top of the cabinets, I plan to eventually have them go all the way across.
The middle cabinets hold the spices and teas--really hard to keep looking nice and organized. So I put up small 3M Command hooks (they come off really easily when you need to move) and hung potholders to act as a curtain. I went with $0.50 ones in solid colors, but if I'd had the money I would have bought some nicer handmade ones.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen2.jpg
Here's a close up of the cabinets. I took a vinyl shelf liner from Walmart, cut and measured it to the cabinets and put them up with simple Scotch tape. It holds up perfectly well and should come down without any damage to the paint behind it. The canisters I bought from a secondhand store for somewhere around $2 for the whole set (what a steal!). They're stamped on the bottom as 1979.
On the next shelf, I put all the rice, lentils, etc. into old spaghetti jars, etc. and covered them with saran wrap and a rubber band. Your food becomes art! And then added a little red cupid figurine that came in a tea box just for fun.
On the top shelf, our wine and cocktail glasses make for pleasant decor while being stored safely :)
Okay, onwards!
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen3.jpg
I just had to share a picture of these adorable owl salt/pepper shakers I bought at the second hand store for $3.50.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen4.jpg
Last pic! I'd thought a lot about what I could do for a cheap, easily removable backsplash. And then I found these $1 8 x 10 prints. I just left them in the plastic and cardboard backing they came with to protect against splashes, put them up with some 3M Command poster strips and voila! A $3 backsplash that will come down faster than it came up with it's time to move (once again, if I had more money, I would have picked up prints I liked a lot better. These prints are more budget style than my style).
I hope you liked my mini kitchen redo! I'd love to see pictures of anyone else's home--I'm always on the lookout for inspiration for my own.
I'm working on the dining room now, I'll share it when I'm done!
I'm just about finished with the kitchen so I wanted to show it off and hopefully impart some cheap ideas to other renters out there.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen1.jpg
The pictures came out a tad yellow-y, but oh well. The first thing I did was take off all the icky bland cabinet doors. It took all of two minutes and they'll pop back on just as fast when we move out. Because in a small kitchen space is tight, I tried to make all my art/decoration functional. I think open storage gives a small kitchen a slightly larger feel. Although right now I only have one deco plate on top of the cabinets, I plan to eventually have them go all the way across.
The middle cabinets hold the spices and teas--really hard to keep looking nice and organized. So I put up small 3M Command hooks (they come off really easily when you need to move) and hung potholders to act as a curtain. I went with $0.50 ones in solid colors, but if I'd had the money I would have bought some nicer handmade ones.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen2.jpg
Here's a close up of the cabinets. I took a vinyl shelf liner from Walmart, cut and measured it to the cabinets and put them up with simple Scotch tape. It holds up perfectly well and should come down without any damage to the paint behind it. The canisters I bought from a secondhand store for somewhere around $2 for the whole set (what a steal!). They're stamped on the bottom as 1979.
On the next shelf, I put all the rice, lentils, etc. into old spaghetti jars, etc. and covered them with saran wrap and a rubber band. Your food becomes art! And then added a little red cupid figurine that came in a tea box just for fun.
On the top shelf, our wine and cocktail glasses make for pleasant decor while being stored safely :)
Okay, onwards!
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen3.jpg
I just had to share a picture of these adorable owl salt/pepper shakers I bought at the second hand store for $3.50.
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp12/toggit7/Crafting/kitchen4.jpg
Last pic! I'd thought a lot about what I could do for a cheap, easily removable backsplash. And then I found these $1 8 x 10 prints. I just left them in the plastic and cardboard backing they came with to protect against splashes, put them up with some 3M Command poster strips and voila! A $3 backsplash that will come down faster than it came up with it's time to move (once again, if I had more money, I would have picked up prints I liked a lot better. These prints are more budget style than my style).
I hope you liked my mini kitchen redo! I'd love to see pictures of anyone else's home--I'm always on the lookout for inspiration for my own.
I'm working on the dining room now, I'll share it when I'm done!