A Kitchen Transformation Triple Play

I'm showing off a few changes here at That Old House, in my second post of this sunny Monday.

(See below for links to blog parties, and my other post.)

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First -- beadboard -- a cottage classic, a bungalow icon, an old house standby.


After tearing out our old green Formica countertops last November, we have not had a backsplash in the kitchen -- just torn up wallboard on the sink wall. Not attractive.

We considered tile, pressed tin, and beadboard. We chose beadboard
as being the most appropriate for an 1880s-era kitchen in a country home.

But real beadboard is 1) expensive and 2) requires actual skill to install.

At That Old House, we like things cheap and easy.
Just like our men . . .
. . . which brought us to beadboard wallpaper.


You can get rolls of this at the big box stores, but I recommend the thicker and more realistic product that you can order online from Graham & Brown (just Google them).


It is more like foam than paper. Dimensional.


We used their "paste the wall" style -- easiest wallpapering ever.

You measure and cut it with scissors to fit your wall.
Here's Alida's boyfriend Josh doing just that last week:

Then, you brush the paste onto the wall and slap up the paper. No booking, no mess!

It looks like the genuine article.
It really does.

We haven't painted this yet, mostly because I haven't decided on which leftover paint to use,
but paint will enhance the look and texture, and voila! we will have a backsplash in keeping with the era of this part of the house.

Thank you, Alida and Josh, for beadboard-papering our kitchen wall!

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The second makeover was turning the big awkward cabinet and counter
on the left side of our kitchen, below . . . .

. . . into this!

You can read about this project here and here.

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And our third makeover?
It's the transformation of a tidy and recently renewed kitchen
into a hub of baking activity and minor chaos.

Daughter Anne baked cookies for an event at a theater in NYC.
A lot of cookies.

And the new cupboard and butcher block countertop worked just fine!

My other Monday post, a mosaic of iris blooms, is here.
It's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

To see what other homeowners are showing off, click on
Show Off Your Cottage Monday, at The House In The Roses.

And -- it's Metamorphosis Monday at
Between Naps On The Porch!
We'll be eleven around the table for lunch today -- maybe 12 -- so I better
get away from the computer and get busy!
Happy Monday -- Cass