As you saw,
the kitchen is coming along. Yay!! From the day
we began planning, I've had an idea for a (hopefully) quick and inexpensive backsplash, and yesterday I sourced the materials. Moving back to the Thunder Bay region, we've had to become re-accustomed to waiting for things. Want a grey, water-based stain? Gotta wait five days for a shipment to come in from Winnipeg. Need a dishwasher? You can have one middle of April, if you order today. Want a sleek, mid-century inspired curtain rod? Hahahaha, nope. You'll have to wait until 2016 for that trend to circle back. Patience is a virtue. So what was I so worried I'd have to special order?
I'm not sure I want to say . . .
. . .
Paneling. I know, it doesn't seem my style.
I feel so sheepish. As I caught the eye of other lumber yard patrons, I wanted to reassure them, "seriously, I swear, this will look awesome". Never in a million years did I think I would ever opt for paneling, but after seeing modern kitchens like the one below, I have a new appreciation for it.
Here's my reasoning for wanting paneling for our kitchen spit and polish: it's relatively inexpensive ($17.99/ 4x8 sheet) and it will hide the drywall repair we're doing, plus a multitude of other sins I'd like to off-load on Future-Me to deal with and fix. As a bonus, it should be easy to remove when we do phase II. With the cabinets and pantry axed, we have so much bare, torn-up wall on display and tiling all of that would be expensive and time consuming. We're going to panel the entire window wall, and the entire wall behind the fridge and stove. The paneling will be a nice, neutral, flaw-covering backdrop to the awesome opening shelving, with just enough texture to keep things interesting. I've toyed with the idea of horizontal paneling (and herringbone paneling!), but I think keeping it vertical will look better with the shelves, and also complement the vertical paneling
on either side of the fireplace.
Here's the extensive selection I found locally. I'm not sure if I should find some of it frightening or not.
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| The winner!! |
I picked something very simple - no detail, no wood grain. I'm really excited about it, and the next step is to research how to finish it off professionally around the edges. Because I have paneling on the brain, I've rounded up some different styles and applications of paneled walls, including the real-deal and faux sheets like I'm using. I also found
this handy article on types of paneling.
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| Farmhouse 38 - Beadboard installed in a clever herringbone pattern! |
Awww, see? So pretty! Now that I've stared at a few dozen samples (and ogled dozens of rooms with paneling), I think the key to keeping the look out of the 1970s is to pick paneling with evenly sized panels. The skinnier/wider combo seems to date it, as does that certain shade of fake wood. But that's
nothing a little paint can't fix.
