Backsplash to the Future

People tell me all the time: “I love white kitchens. I want one so bad! They make my blood boil with desire. But *sad face* … my husband says no way.” Then they pull me in closer. They glance behind their shoulder and drop their voice to a whisper, “He thinks they’re … trendy.”

‘Trendy.’ Spoken like a dirty word. Psh.

I want to shake them and shout “WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH BEING TRENDY?!”

And then I want to go find this naysaying husband and set him down with a flip chart of kitchen trends that clearly illustrates how the honey oak cabinets and bisque-colored tile he may consider ‘timeless’ are actually on the last gasping breaths of a trend that started 20 some years ago.

That’s the thing about kitchen ‘trends.’ They last a realllly long time. It’s not like a shirt you get tired of wearing after six months. It’s one of the biggest investments in the home, and people aren’t going to go ripping them out and starting over every couple of years.

So go get that white kitchen of your dreams, even if you have to paint it yourself. It will still be looking fresh for years to come. Tell him I said so.

 

Jordan had already painted her cabinets white and loved the look, but was not so much in love with the beige backsplash that remained.  Replacing it seemed daunting, so there it sat, in all its mismatched cream-colored former glory. But then she learned that with the right materials, she could simply paint right over it.

 

So she did!

You can see exactly what she used on her blog The 2 Seasons, and chime in with the debate on what she should hang inside the rectangle to add a little color. Fun platter? Monogram? Halloween clown mask? (That’s my vote. Keeps the kids in check).

Here’s a look at the whole makeover. Before it was definitely nice, but definitely heavy on the orangey-brown.

 

Now it’s just the way she likes it, bright and full of light. And maybe someday in the far-off future she’ll get tired of this look too. At that point, hooray! That just means there will be something new and trendy to get excited about all over again.