September 14, 2023

Quick and Painless Backsplash Makeover

Even though I'm knee-deep in the painting-of-the-living-room project, I thought I'd take a break and update the backsplash in the kitchen. I hate how ugly it is, and because I don't have the time, energy, or skills to do tile job on the backsplash, I decided to just cover it up.
My ideal situation would be bluish-green glass tiles, but that probably won't happen until we fully makeover our kitchen.

Today, I picked up some contact paper for 5 bucks at Target and went to town, cutting and pressing it on top of the tiles. For the project, I also needed scissors, a tape measure and X-Acto knife.It took all of about 10 minutes to do, between rolling out the paper, measuring, and pressing it into place. contact paper is really nice in that it has a grid on the back that makes for easy cutting and measuring.

I did take off the electrical cover as well as the soap dish that is drilled into the wall. It just made things so much easier than trying to cut around them neatly.
I trimmed a bit around the edges with the knife, as well as around the electrical socket, though I made sure not to cut off too much so it was sealed nicely under the cover.
Now honestly, it doesn't look amazing up close, since you can slightly see the grout lines of the tiles, but who cares? I like that this was so cheap to do, and I still have yards and yards of it left for other projects, like lining the shelves. When it gets too grimy, I'll just replace it either with the same pattern or something else. I've also considered cutting them to fit each tile, so the grout still shows, but that is much beyond my attention span at the moment.

It also goes so much better with the color of the living room than that turquoise.
Next up: dealing with this mess (Goodwill stuff and things to be put away).
Keepin' it real, y'all, keepin' it real.

22 comments:

  1. I absolutely LOVE it! Great job. :)

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  2. Oh my goodness, love love LOVE! You have inspired me. :) I hate the way the backsplash in our kitchen looks but we rent... so I was just putting up with it. But this is so doable, even in a rental. :)

    Thanks so much!

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  3. Love the fact that you show your messes! Looks great, and how funny, my video post today was in part titled Keepin it Real-Ha! Coincidences!!!

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  4. What a great idea! It turned out very nice! Who really cares about grout lines...

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  5. Thank you so much for the wonderful idea! My backsplash needs to be redone. It actually has two different color tiles, beige and white. At least I am hoping they are supposed to be two different colors and that the beige ones arent just dirty! lol This is a great temporary fix until I can get the money together to put in the backsplash that I want. Thank you!!!

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  6. I absolutely LOVE it. I too hate my backsplash but can't do anything about it right now. But I can do this. Shopping for contact paper tomorrow!

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  7. This looks amazing! Great idea, thanks for sharing!

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  8. What an awesome idea! I would love glass tiles as wel but their price yikes!

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  9. I did my backsplash a few months ago and I bought the same exact contact paper then decided to scrap the idea. Instead I used a green paisley print. You can see it here (kinda, lol): http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophistishe/4952902916/

    I'm gonna paint some solid paper and cover my cabinets with it. Contact paper is the bomb!

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  10. Oh my goodness! I love the way that turned out! It looks so beautiful and fresh and artsy! You are a genius to think of doing that! I need something behind my stove. It's just a painted wall in between two cupboards....look out contact paper...here I come! If I do it and it looks good I will let you know! Thanks for the idea! you rock!

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  11. SUPER idea, I bet I could do this too, he he. U know what to do girl, SHARE the brilliance,,, come on over. :)

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  12. This is an absolutely beautiful before and after. We feature great projects, if you are interested let me know. You should be able to just respond to my comment. You usually get a bunch of new traffic. Check out my site if you get the chance www.remodelaholic.com

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  13. Just Lovely! light and airy!

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  14. Am I the only one who likes the cute turquoise tile back splash? The contact paper is cute too, but why cover up that pretty tile?

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  15. What a great idea for an inexpensive and quick fix up. Brilliant!

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  16. Hopping on over from Remodelaholic's feature -- this is a great idea! Way to do a makeover on a limited budget... I'm less than thrilled with my kitchen, and I understand the feeling of not wanting to spend too much right now when I just want to redo the whole kitchen when we can afford it. Very creative idea, I think it looks great :)

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  17. It looks great! I used contact paper on my 1960s pink & gold counter tops so I could stand to look at it until our reno. I love your sink! We're going to use a similar one. Do you have a post about it?

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  18. Oh my goodness! You are a lifesaver! I have zero back splash and I REALLY want one (we rent). Do you think this would work if I put it directly on the wall? And remove without damage later? Thanks for the great idea!

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  19. I love it!!! Very very smart idea and it looks so good!

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