Paint, and lots of it, is the most important ingredient of this bargain kitchen makeover. Here we show three ways that bright color and decorative paint treatments changed the kitchen for the better.


Stenciled Island
This island is simply two dressers placed back-to-back. After shortening the dressers to just less than counter height (about 35 inches tall, to account for the door that spans them) and painting them, we screwed them together and glued on a white-stained solid-core door using construction adhesive.

Check out Assemble an Island and download the Kitchen Island Floral Stencil. For basic instructions, see How to Stencil.


Backsplash Stripes
Striping the white backsplash with broad bands of red paint and slim stripes of olive gives the kitchen bold scale, uniting the more intricate floral fabric and the solid red island.

This $30 paint treatment is really quite easy. If your backsplash is already white, you can mask the red stripes and the olive stripes with painter’s masking tape and paint them in turn. Click here for a stripe-painting secret.

Cabinet Backs and Shelves
To bring an open, airy look to the room, we removed the doors from some of the upper cabinets, painted the back of each cabinet bright red, and added new white shelves. Now everyday and showpiece china visually pops. See How to Paint Cabinets for basic instructions.