Kitchen Cabinets Upgrade..........part 1

My original plan was to put beadboard on the recesses of the cabinet doors, under the bar and at the ends of the lower cabinets. That sounded pretty doable. But when I got to really looking at how my cabinets were made and how thick beadboard is, I couldn't make it work the way I wanted.

Enter beadboard wallpaper. I had heard of it before, but not until I got a wonderful tip from one of my lovely Facebook friends did I realize that it could be painted!!! And I was happy again!

I immediately ordered some. I chose the wallpaper from Graham & Brown, but I have read that Lowe's carries one as well.

When it arrived I did a little happy dance and started right in. I finished 6 cabinet doors before supper.

I'm no wallpaper expert for sure, but I think I did ok. I'm happy with it.

I started on the bar area the next day. I don't have a very good before picture, but here is one after I had already started. I removed the baseboard and took the wallpaper down to the floor.

Then as things progressed, I decided that I would continue the baseboard (which is on the walls) onto the bar area and the sides of the lower cabinets. So I had to remove a strip of wallpaper at the bottom. My baseboard is in 2 pieces, painted to look like 1 larger piece. So the grooves in the wallpaper might have been visible, that's why I removed it. You can read about my baseboards here.

Continuing the baseboard presented its own set of problems and I'm not entirely happy with how I handled it, but until I think of something else this is how it is. I am going to add wooden feet at the corners under the cabinet and I think that will help the issue.

Okay, so I decided to add some framing around this area so that it looked like my cabinets and gave it a more finished look. And I have to say I'm getting pretty darn good at making tight miter cuts!

Then I started experimenting with rope trim. I want to add it as another border on the cabinets and under the bar. I started cutting the trim with the miter saw, but I didn't like the results. I kept getting big chips taken off. I don't know if I'm using the wrong kind of blade or what. So, I cut them with a hand saw and miter box. Much better! 

As I cut pieces for one cabinet it dawned on me that I should make the first cut so it will fall right between the little rope twists. Common sense escapes me sometimes. You can see here in this picture that I will have to re-cut the top piece 'cuz the upper left end doesn't look right. Actually all the corners leave a little something to be desired, but it is what it is. I have since discovered that they make both a left and right twist rope trim so your miter ends will always match up. I also read that there is a flexible rope trim too. 

Overall, working with the wallpaper was pretty simple. It cuts easily and it easy to apply. As a matter of fact, I used my cutting mat and rotary cutter to cut it. I found that it seems to swell a little upon soaking it and so I always had to trim it after it went on. You can use a little caulk to hide the seams or if you make minor boo boos. I did feel I needed to be very careful not to make indentations in it, as I thought they could be permanent. It really looks like beadboard too. A drawback is that it probably won't hold up to very much abuse, as it is kinda like a foam type material. 

Here's a side by side.

To be continued.....