Jo's place
Sat, 21 Jun 2008
I hate my kitchen. It's 80s grey laminate with chunky wood trim and it's ugly. Alas I rent and what makes it worse is that I rent in Australia, land of the "can't do anything to your apartment" rental laws. I'm in the process of sewing a new roman blind and looking for handles to swap out the chunky wooden ones (which of course appear not to be of standard size - sigh!) but I thought I'd cheer the place up by painting my fridge. No new shiny fridges were harmed in this exercise. I don't have a new shiny fridge. My old faithful has been with me for a while but the seals are good and it's energy efficient(ish) and I just can't justify a new fridge. I shop for fresh food everyday (love doing this) so I don't need a big gee whizz bang refrigerator. This one will do me just fine. The chalk sayings have changed almost daily as does my "favourite" postcard art. Decal from here.
Reader Comments (11)
That looks awesome Jo! I LOVE that decal! Amazing what a bit of paint and some stickers can do to a crappy appliance.
Careful my crappy appliance might hear you and get offended :)
If you think your kitchen is ugly you should take a look at mine. What a great idea and that decal is just perfect.
That fridge is fantastic. Even our fridge came with our rental so we can't change the background color, but I think I might buy some decals thanks to you.
Maybe we should have an "ugliest kitchen" contest. Mine before I painted it pink was pretty bad.
I've had a number of emails asking if the fabric on my chair is vintage. It's actually an oilcloth table cloth I found in a small decor store. Can't remember the name of the maker but it was made in India. Doesn't help I know :) It's great for spills!
Good on you for refinishing and continuing to use a perfectly good appliance. So many people would just buy a new refridgerator if their old one didn't suit their decor. We have to stop our over-consumption. OK off the soap box now.
i love this idea!
excellent idea jo, i love it!
i know renting can suck, not being able to make structural changes, but i think it also allows you to think outside the square, and be even more creative - like your fridge idea - you end up working with what you have and seeing things in a light that no one else can see.
I have only ever rented actually, and i am now addicted to the challenge of decorating rented spaces. I know, the boat isn't exactly ugly, but I can't put any nails of holes in the wall and this weekend, i just came up with a way of putting my artwork up on the walls without making any damage (and ensuring the work stays up and doesn't fall off with blu tac or the likes).
anyway, sorry for the long comment, seems i am in a chatty mood. have a lovely evening!
xx
What?! How do you paint a fridge? Does it require special paint?
It probably does Maryam but I just slapped 2 coats of chalkboard paint on. Figured the chalk dust would hide any problems over time. Now if I had painted it gloss red ..... I shudder to think of the prep and the primers and the coats and the sanding etc etc etc. Hence a chalkboard fridge and not a shiny red one :)