Before & After: This Kitchen Gets Covered From Head to Toe With Adhesives
Here we have a pretty standard rental kitchen, with the classic beige-ish cabinets, walls, fridge, and countertops. It looks like everything is in pretty good shape, but one renter saw room for improvement—and a chance to try out allegedly rental-friendly home improvement products.
Every surface has been stickered! The appliances have been upgraded to “stainless,” the backsplash is shimmering “tile,” the cabinets are a fresh bright white, and the faux marble countertops provide a dark counterpoint that works perfectly well with the appliances. Laci of Laci Jane is is responsible for this intensively adhesive makeover, and the results achieved are impressive.
The before was pretty bad. So I made it better using renter-friendly products. But then I decided to move so I had to make it look like I didn’t do any improvements.
How many times have I done the “Conceal All Evidence of Improvements” move? Too many to count—I only wish I’d been working with easily removable materials. Laci Jane has links to all of the products used if you’d like to resurface every surface in your home.
This looks so great! I especially can’t get over the fridge: I would never guess it wasn’t really all stainless. Anyone who has worked with these kinds of adhesives: Is there anything that can be used on the top of a stove? It doesn’t seem like there would be a heat-safe material that can be cleaned constantly, but maybe there is!
Laci achieved this entire transformation in an impressively short amount of time, for an impressively low price:
Countertops: 8 hours, $79, my boyfriend helped
Backsplash: 4 hours, $100, just me!
Stainless Steel Appliances: 3 hours, $100, just me!
Nice work!
Here’s Laci with a bunch of recently removed adhesive finishes, and the image really captures the feeling of moving out of an apartment. While the materials are just a ball of trash now, Laci really enjoyed them in their prime:
I love how everything turned out. I also loved that it didn’t damage anything.
They didn’t do any damage! I’d been on pins and bees waiting to hear if the removable, renter-friendly materials lived up to their name and if the deposit was indeed returned. Victory on both counts! Considering doing a similar project yourself? Laci recommends trying it.
Thank you, Laci!