Longing To Fill The Void…On My Kitchen Wall (Plus, A Bonus Nugget of Knowledge!!)

The time has come for me to take action. I’m tired of staring at a blank wall in my kitchen. Oh, the truth is that I’ve just been pouting…and then procrastinating.

Do you remember my idea of continuing the wainscoting from the living room and eating area onto my little kitchen wall? Well, to refresh your memory, here’s the little mock up I did.

Oh, how I love that look!! But sadly, I just don’t think it’s going to work. The fact is that there’s simply not enough room between the fridge and the wall. And to add to the headache, my fridge doesn’t sit level. So at the bottom, there’s a bit of space, but at the top, I can’t even get so much as a piece of paper wedged in there, much less a 1″ x 3″ piece of lumber.

I thought I could remedy the problem by pulling the fridge out and making it sit level either with some shims under the feet, or some appliances even have those little screwed in feet that you can adjust to the correct height. But I’ve pulled, and tugged, and shoved, and strained, and that refrigerator won’t budge…not even a fraction of a centimeter. I mean, will…not…BUDGE.

Pout.

And more pouting.

So as of right now, I just have a yellow wall. Oh sure, it’s fine, as far as yellow walls go. But it’s no fancy wall with wainscoting, that’s for sure!! It’s just so plain. And what’s more, it just stares at me and taunts me. It’s unbearable.

So…what to do?

Well, I rummaged around a bit and found this frame. I figured I could make a chalkboard out of it. Yes, a chalkboard. Ubiquitous, I know. But I just need something, and I need it to be cheap, and a chalkboard really would be handy for grocery lists. The frame is certainly the wrong color–I need something with a little more oomph. And the framed chalkboard alone certainly won’t be enough. But hey, it’s a start.

And do you see my sad little unpainted baseboard?! I haven’t had time to finish it. I’ve been too busy pouting!

I took this picture so that you could see my light also,
which I realized I never showed you!
I had to turn off the lights so that it actually showed up.

 

 

So, yes, it’s a start. It’s a sad little start to a wall that I’m completely unenthusiastic about, because I simply can’t imagine it living up to my dreams. What I had pictured in my head was so pretty (to me, at least), and I just hate having to settle.

But who knows…maybe it’ll turn out to be my favorite thing in my entire condo! I’ve found some inspiring ideas, such as:

This lovely cabinet door that I saw on Design Sponge. I think that this idea adapted for a kitchen wall would be spectacular! And wouldn’t it be a delight to have cherished family recipes right there on the wall, illustrated in a fun and quirky way?! I really do like this idea. My concern would be that it would look a little too busy for my tiny kitchen.

I could fill in some empty space with fun and freeform items, like that awesome branch with the birds on the right side of that photo, found on The Yvestown Blog. I’m in a phase where I seem to love anything with birds on it, and this would be simple to do (I think).

I could do a very freeform artwork wall, like John and Sherry of Young House Love did in their nursery.

Okay, okay…I’m feeling the fog lift. The urge to pout and hurl obscenities back at my wall when it taunts me is dissipating. (No, I don’t actually curse at my wall…but I do pout.)

I guess the list of possibilities is really endless. I just need to choose an option, and move forward. Right? Right.

Oooorrrr…maybe I’ll find a way to summon my Wonder Woman strength and shove the fridge over enough to jam a 1″ x 3″ back behind there. Alright…probably not. I’ve just got to let it go.

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And now for a little freebie nugget of knowledge. I’m not sure if this will show up in the picture very well, but do you see how this frame has a beautiful iridescent finish on it? It’s really pretty as it glistens in the light.

Well, that finish is achieved very simply with spray paint! This is a little something I figured out on my own, and quite by accident.

First you spray prime and paint the frame in the color of your choice. I used Green Apple by Rustoleum.

After that dries, take some metallic paint, and spray LIGHTLY over the top.

Use very light, very short bursts of paint until you’ve achieved the desired level of iridescence. Don’t spray too much, or you’ll cover up the base color! Just a little dab will do ya!

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Well, I’m gonna go weigh my options for my wall. Today is lunch day with my mom (we try to have lunch every Wednesday), so maybe she’ll have some brilliant ideas for me.

Have a great day!