We listed an apartment recently with a kitchen that had not been updated since the 70s. It was quite outdated to say the least. We were faced wondering what we could do to update this kitchen on a tight budget.
BEFORE
First thing first we cleaned this place top to bottom to bring back the fresh white in the cabinets.
Second, we took a trip to Home Depot. We walked through various isles looking for inspiration when we came along the hardware isle. Of course we immediately gravitated to the modern and sleek look of the square cabinet knobs. We grabbed a bunch and were on our way out to leave when we came across a self adhesive faux tile backsplash.
In all honesty we were hesitant at first. Would this really work? Would it look cheap? We decided the least we could do is give it a try. We bought 5 packs of 8 for around $19.95 each for the size of this kitchen.
Step one to this DIY backsplash being successful is giving the walls, where you plan on applying the self adhesive tile, a really good clean. If the walls aren’t free from dust, grease, etc. the tile will not adhere to the wall properly. We found this out after realizing we had forgotten to clean a section of the wall we were applying to, so we had to remove that portion and start over. Really putting some elbow grease into the cleaning will save you time in the long run of this project.
Next, we started by applying full sheets of the self adhesive tile to the wall right above the counter. We had to do some cutting and trimming to have the backsplash extend right to the cabinets – but just remember – measure twice to cut once!
Once we had finished applying the entire backsplash we noticed that some of the edges had began peeling away from the wall. We wondered what we could do to ensure the adhesive really stuck. We ended up getting innovative and used an iron on a low heat setting and essentially ironed the backsplash through a cloth. It worked! The end result turned out better than we ever could have imagined.
AFTER
