apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm thinking the same thing for my cabinets. If bamboo doesn't work, I'm thinking grasscloth or burlap. Any thoughts, folks? I would cover whatever I use w/ a strong poly coating, so the cabinets are easy to clean.

I've been thinking about something similar, too. I hope someone out there has some advice.

lwsb is right . . . if you do cover them, you'd have to poly the heck out of them . . . because there are lots of cracks and crevices and if you didn't, all that kitchen grease would get in there . . . and yuck!

If either of you do it, post 'after' pics, I'm sure we'd all love to see!

i'm ordering some for my half bath, i could not find it in a regular walk-in store so i had to buy it on line. I would be telling you how it goes in about 2 weeks. Expect to pay $35 to $45 per roll, price changes based on the texture and color. Get a sample if you are not to sure of what you see online, samples are $5. Good luck !

I am currently dealing with a kitchen that is original from 1962, all I can say is any texture on cabinets, even if given a thick coat of poly, will accumulate gunk. My kitchen is standard, flat wood fronts and I'll spare you the details, but I for one would not encourage anyone to add texture to their cabinets.

This sounds gross to me, sorry. Paint would be a better option.

Bamboo wallpaper is usually held together by string, therefore it is not very durable. Most is also unfinished ,so it will stain very easily. Grasscloth athough beautiful can sometimes change colour after six months or so! Also the edges would start to lift during normal wear and tear of opening and closing the cabinet doors. You may want to consider using bamboo placemats held in place with a finishing nail or two ( if you are renting you can easily fill the tiny nail holes with spackle before you move.) these are usually prefinished for easy clean up. Good luck.

I'm an interior designer and have specified bamboo wallcoverings before - but NEVER EVER would I use this on kitchen cabinets unless it is a short term solution, and you plan on replacing the cabinets soon. No matter how much polyurethane you put on them, they will always attract and hold grease and grime, and will be very difficult to keep clean. Natural wallcoverings like bamboo, grass, jute etc. are generally best used in low traffic areas where you won't have to worry about them getting dirty/scuffed etc. If you've got your heart set on the look, I would suggest using a vinyl that is printed to look like bamboo. Much easier to keep clean and will likely last for a good long while. You may have to find a to-the-trade wallpaper showroom in your city to track down a viable option. Most showrooms will sell to the public but you will obviously not receive the trade discount. Good luck!

I love the look, but I'm going to use it to line the back of bookshelves, last time I had bamboo wallpaper in the house it was on the walls and a cat shredded it in short order! I'd be tempted to use it as the center panel, on cabinet doors, if it was behind glass or plexi but not 'open air' where dirt & dust could accumulate. Even on walls, in a spare bedroom/library/office, it held onto a ridiculous amount of dust and had to be vacuumed Very often.

I'd worry about the edges fraying. Even if polyurethaned, I think this might become a problem, making the cabinets look messy -- unless maybe you covered the edges witht rim molding or something.

I rarely cook in my lovely kitchen, so I could probably do this -- no greasy buildup if you don't heat a lot of grease! But I think it would best be a short term solution, not a permanent installation.

If you mounted this kind of thing on doors that ultimately were to be discarded, I'd use contact cement (outdoors -- the stuff is noxious.) NOT wallpaper paste. (I think the placemat idea has some merit for this approach.)

Okay, you all have caused me to rethink the textured cabinet thing, as I'm not a big fan of grease.

It's not the best covering to use if you have kids either. To my mother's frustration and my joy as a child, I would pick and peel strips of the bamboo off, just because I could.

Okay, I need to find another solution to my cheap-looking, fugly country-style, sterile white, probably impossible-to- paint kitchen cabinet doors that I can't afford to replace.