Decoupage

I only found one decent picture of this past project but wanted to share it for those who can't (or won't) afford new kitchen cabinets and want something different (anything!).  We bought the town house with cheapo cabinets and the previous owners has left them with a coat of primer on them.  I had no choice but to paint them.  So I went with this chocolate brown and new handles.  Eventually I got tired of that and decided to try a little decoupage trick.  What you see below is fancy paper dinner napkins, glued to the cabinet fronts with a watered down mixture of Elmer's glue and then polyurethane'd over a couple of coats.  I'm sure it is not to everyone's taste but it certainly made me happier for a while.  I've changed it since....more on that in another post....but it was a quick and easier way to save my sanity.   Definitely not the most permanent and durable solution but fun and whimsical if you know that you'll change it later anyway.

Now you'll also notice the back splash if you zoom in.  Sorry! this was the only picture I had!  That back splash was a bad idea.  I wanted it tiled, and being impatient (and whimsical) decided to just decoupage some tissue paper up there.  Yes, Dollar Tree tissue paper from the gift wrap isle.  It actually was fine as a temporary solution and lasted for several years.  But when I decided to take it down to actually tile it with glass mosaic tiles later, which would have shown the pattern through had I not removed it, it was a beast.  It would have been fine had I not polyurethane'd it....but it also would have been un-wipeable and not have lasted as long.  I had to scrape it, steam it, pick at it, steam it some more, curse at my myself, and swear I'd never do that again.  No, it would have been fine if I had chosen a regular tile to cover it with.  I would definitely do it again...in a pinch.