I've had my own backsplash issues in the past (still haven't found a solution I like) so I am always on the lookout for a low cost, high impact solution. When Karen and her husband found themselves in a rental house after moving for work, they needed an inexpensive way to jazz up their rental home. Apart from repainting the kitchen and living room, Karen also wanted a way to improve a backsplash that just never seemed to clean up properly.
When I first saw this makeover, I thought Karen used the same stainless steel adhesive tiles that I was looking at for my kitchen, but this is a much simpler, much less expensive option. Karen used that most prosaic of products- contact paper- to transform her kitchen from drab to fab. Alternating the grain to create a checkerboard pattern, and a credit card to smooth out any air bubbles, Karen's transformation was time-consuming but simple enough for the newest DIYer.
For more information this project or Karen's other efforts to transform her temporary rental house into a family home, check out her blog A Lease to Decorate.
Images: Karen Huffman at A Lease to Decorate.
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Nomade Express Slee...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
How to Make Buckwheat Soba Noodles from Scratch
Again, I am a trend setter! This is the color I painted my kitchen 4 years ago. 'Dill Pickle' by B.M. Looks good with the dark brown oak wood cabinets (I am a renter - this no getting rid of them!).
Wow - this looks much higher-end. Losing the pastel-Michigan-hiddy paint colors is big part of it, but the stainless look is great.
I think if I did this I would apply the contac paper strips to hardboard or something, then mount it. It would be easier to apply when on a horizontal surface and easier to remove when you leave.
Just saying.
Can't say I am a fan of the silver, but that is definitely a great solution to a problem that a lot of us renters have.
I wish we could have found a green for our kitchen that looked this nice! Sadly, every somewhat mellow green color we tried ended up looking more "baby poop" on the walls. I ended up using a much brighter green, which my husband secretly hates, but that I think will work once we get things up on the walls.
Does contact paper damage walls when being removed? I'd love to try this in our rental, but i'd like to make sure it won't affect the walls once our lease ends!
@beearthur yes contact paper damages walls when removed. I do like the contact paper backsplash. A hint for applying it is to use a squirt bottle to spray the surface on which you are about to apply the contact paper. That makes the contact paper easily moveable until the water dries and it is easier to get the bubbles out but for something like these individual squares, way tedious. I am a contact paper queen.
Oh and the green looks so good with those cabinets.
Thank you for featuring my kitchen makeover. While the look isn't for everyone (how boring would that be?), I enjoy the contrast. The backsplash is the same material as the countertops (formica/laminate) so the contact paper will not damage the surface when we leave. If the backsplash were drywall, I agree with Dulcibella that hardboard would be the way to go.
The kitchen seems far more functional simply because of the backsplash. The mossy green gives it a warmth that is lacking in the dark cabinets and the white floors and countertops. Great transformation! Congratulations.
Sorry, don't mean to be rude but... YUK! That green and blue just looks horrible paired up with those cabinets.
@citygirlincountry - Don't worry, I am not offended by you calling it YUK {sic}. I understand that not everybody has my taste and that is okay. I think the color green in the picture isn't true to the color in person. However, I am not sure what blue you're talking about...perhaps the stainless steel contact paper?
And if you are ever in my area, I would graciously invite you over for coffee so you can see the color in person.
Best,
Karen @ A Lease to Decorate
That green is so much warmer and more refreshing to the senses than the old blue.
The stainless look wall "tiles" are beautifully done, but my opinion is coloured by the fact that checkerboard wall tiles on backsplashes are a pet hate of mine.
I think this project looks pretty nice in the pictures and I do like that green with the cabinets. But doesn't it LOOK like contact paper when you're actually in the room? I'm just saying that I like it from a distance but up close I don't know if I'd feel the same. When we bought our house, the old people who lived there before us had found some "delft tile" contact paper and put it up as a backsplash: totally turned me off from the stuff. Anyway, very creative for $28!
i did Dill Pickle 2-3 years ago. I still love it
I really didn't love the photo here (where it looks very green/blue), but clicking through and looking at the bigger photos on your site made it a lot clearer. I am a fan -- in fact I'm thinking about this myself! My only concern is that the corners might start to peel off as you wipe down the backsplash...?
So I just did my own little version of this in my tiny kitchen. I bought two rolls for $13.50 and cut them into subway tiles instead of squares, and had the groove go the same way. It was so easy and fun, but I should have sanded the wall first. We live in a rental and the walls are so horrible and grainy. It doesn't look as smooth as hers. I like the way it turned out, but I am noticing they aren't staying put as I'd like. I keep seeing them sort of loosen. Could it be because of the texture of the wall?
Here are some crappy cell phone pics of the project:
http://bee-arthur.tumblr.com/post/8883206325