This Kitchen’s Wood Makeover Was Inspired by the DIYer’s Grandparents
There are many peel-and-stick options to make dramatic surface changes in a rental apartment that can be reversed when it’s time to move out. Renter Christina Wonsbeck’s (@copenhagenapartment) updated kitchen has what she calls “‘wood’” and “‘tile’” — emphasis on the quotation marks — that look like the real deal while staying rental-friendly.
“We have to be able to take it back to its original state,” Christina says. “I’d like my deposit back, you know.” The original state of the kitchen was “white, white, white,” as Christina puts it.
“It was lacking personality and felt cold,” she adds. “I remember my grandparents’ house having wallpaper, orange- and lemon-colored curtains, a dark walnut kitchen, patterned furniture, and a green tiled bathroom. I just think it was the coziest place, and I wanted that feeling in my house.”
Christina and her partner, Ralph, added wood-grain peel-and-stick covering to the cabinets, a patterned wallpaper to the wall, and a faux tile backsplash. The challenge? “We didn’t want to pour money into a rental, so it had to be budget-friendly,” Christina says.
The kitchen makeover cost $1,107.
The peel-and-stick materials cost $390, the new wood top for the kitchen island cost $124, the barstools cost $406, and the kitchen rod cost $6. (Christina and Ralph did splurge on a new coffee maker, too, which is not included in the transformation total.)
Christina says the biggest difference-maker is the wood peel-and-stick; it “transformed the space completely,” she says. The hardest part was fully covering the dishwasher and refrigerator in the peel-and-stick because it was hard to cover the corners and they had to be unplugged to reach every part (with little room to work with).
“We didn’t put peel-and-stick inside the cabinet doors, which saved us a lot of material, but you only see it when opening a cabinet, and it looks pretty natural,” she adds.
The island facelift presented another challenge.
Christina and Ralph had previously built an island for the kitchen, and they had to reconstruct it a couple of times to incorporate the tile detail they wanted and get the tiles to stick on the surface. The tiles are a light tan peel-and-stick, and the countertop is real wood.
“I especially love my coffee corner, as it has the mix of backsplash, wood, and tiles,” Christina says.
There’s a wallpaper backsplash and open shelving up top.
Another detail she loves is the new open shelving. It was Ralph’s idea to remove two cabinet doors (that can be put back later) to display glassware, and it was his idea to continue the wallpaper “backsplash” between the shelves.
“It looks so good!” Christina says — and who says backsplashes have to be tile or faux tile? Sometimes, they can be vintage-patterned vinyl wallpaper. Christina also added a doodle she made and framed and matted it with the wallpaper.
Christina says she learned a lot about thriftiness and DIY projects — having previously not completed many home projects — during the kitchen makeover, and she encourages others to dive in, too. “Turns out, all you have to do is start,” she says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.