One Renter-Friendly DIY Made This Kitchen So Warm and Inviting for Only $150
While living in Germany a few years ago, Morgan Ford, who’s known for being “sunshine personified” among friends, experienced countless gray skies and gloomy days.
So when she moved into her new Colorado rental apartment and wanted to update the kitchen, she vowed to design it to cultivate creativity and good vibes all year round.
To Make the Kitchen More Inviting, She Needed to Add Personality
Luckily, the space was already in decent shape. “The kitchen wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t very inspiring,” Morgan says. “I looked at it as a great base to build off of. I wanted to add warmth and personality so that it would be more inviting and [would] inspire me to cook more!”
A Simple Trick Started Her Renter-Friendly Transformation
The goal was to make the kitchen feel “warm and playful, yet moody” and to ensure that all of the changes blended well with things she couldn’t change (it is a rental, after all). While the transformation is still ongoing, she started with a simple trick: applying a peel-and-stick backsplash.
Morgan felt comfortable updating the backsplash herself because she’d worked on a similar project in her last home.
She DIYed Her Peel-And-Stick Tile Project to Make It Her Tile Look Custom
“I chose two types of tiles [white and terracotta SMART tiles] and actually cut them into fours by hand and assembled this pattern,” Morgan explains. “That process took about an hour to an hour and a half to complete.”
After no time at all, it looked like a hand-painted masterpiece. To add to the room’s moodiness and warmth, Morgan incorporated a magnetic knife block, which she attached with Velcro Command strips, and it’s held up nicely so far.
Everything but the Tiles Was Thrifted and Budget-Friendly
The kitchen makeover is an ongoing process (she’s started working on the cabinets, too!), but this portion of the transformation came first, and it was done on the cheap. The tiles were gifted to her (she believes they’d cost around $150 for the size of the wall she covered), and all of the decor — besides the knife block — was thrifted.
It’s no surprise that the tiles are Morgan’s favorite part of the kitchen update. “It adds so much interest to the space, and it makes me enjoy cooking there.”
If you want to see more of her happy home, visit the full house tour. Inspired? Submit your own project here.
This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: This $150 Backsplash Makeover Completely Transformed a Sterile Kitchen (the Cabinets Stayed!)
