Refrigerator Make Over

Hello Sweet Friends.

My design assistant and I want to share the refrigerator makeover with you today.  As you will see towards the end of this post it is still a work in progress.
My refrigerator just kind of was open and free standing in the room.

I felt it needed to feel more built in and not just standing there.

This side was not too back because it had the cabinets framing it.

Terry and his mighty tools to the rescue.  He used plywood and make a cabinet for around the refrigerator.

Then we added some white paint.  The cabinet still needed some trim to finish it.

We found some trim that had a little bit of a design and dental molding.  Wanted to give the white box cabinet some bling and character.

Trim painted with white.

The opening up above now stores things I do not use everyday and want to hide!  I think the trim really gave the planness of the cabinet some character.

My White Cottage Farm sign framed in an old vintage frame fits perfectly in this space.  All I have to do to get into this space is pop out the sign.  Then it fits right back in when done.

Then when I was out at the Vintage Market with a friend I came across this beautiful chippy vintage door frame.  Hmmmm that might just work to give the side of the refrigerator cabinet some character.  There was no glass in the window but had the idea that maybe a chalkboard would look nice.

As you can see the door was bigger than the side of the cabinet but no worries Terry has tools and knows how to use them!

Terry was able to cut this door frame down and have it fit on the side of the cabinet.

He found some old salvage pieces he had in the garage from other projects to add some height to the bottom of the door.

The next leap of faith on this project was to paint the doors of the stainless steel refrigerator.  I started with chalk paint.  It took several coats about 4.  Then you can wax or poly it so it does not chip.  I decided to just do one more coat of white gloss trim paint to seal it.

I hate stainless steel.  I know it is an updated and popular choice.  I just do not like fingerprints always on my refrigerator.  

You can only use stainless steel cleaner on them too which is expensive and an everyday job.

I am glad I took this leap of faith because the doors came out really beautiful.  It does not show as well in pics but believe me the doors look great and have a nice finish to them.  

With finishing off the last coat of high gloss trim paint it is completely washable and will not chip.

I almost had to stand on my head in this narrow space between the refrig and the other side where the stove is to get a full picture of the refrigerator painted.

My next thing to do with this is to figure out something a little more to add to the doors.  I just feel it needs a little something.

I have this old ceiling tile that I thought might look good on the bottom door of the refrigerator to give it some bling.  Just not sure.

I am leaning towards these rub on furniture transfers to put something like this on the door.

I think they give a little character.

There are a lot of these to choose from so this is an idea too.

Going back to this picture of the door before it was painted white.  I kind of liked how it stood out and you could really see the detail.  So thinking maybe sanding down a lot of the white I put on to really show the chippy wood or maybe even painting the door a color like cream or light blue etc. to make the door piece stand out.

It looks so much better now with the refrigerator all framed in and I also got a small area above the refrigerator for storage.  When you live small you need to utilize every inch of space.  Now I just have to ponder making that door stand out more on the cabinet and what to do to the door of the refrigerator.  When I figure that out I will be back to show you.

With some plywood, paint and an old chippy door frame I got my refrigerator to feel more built in and finished.

Have a great day and wonderful weekend.

Parties:  All About Home