contact [paper] high

See that kitchen cabinet below?  The dishwasher is housed directly underneath of it, which makes unloading so much fun.  Ugh.  I unload onto the counter, then I have to hold the cabinet doors open to put the dishes away because the doors won't stay open.  Well, I was putting dishes away when the door decided to just come off in my hand.  No surprise since the doors, and hinges, are over 22 years old.

I presented the hubs with three options:

1.  Replace all the upper kitchen cabinets with new IKEA cabinets and replace the doors of the below cabinets.  Not surprisingly, this was the most expensive option, and perhaps a slight over-reaction to one kitchen cabinet door hinge giving out.  Just saying.

2.  Replace the hinge and wait for it to happen again.  Because it will.

3.  Take the other door off too, making it easier to actually use the cabinet.  

#3 won, hands down.  But I couldn't just leave it as-is because it was looking like a cabinet that just never got doors installed.  I considered painting it, but knew that when we go to sell in a couple of years we will end up putting the doors back on and then I've either got to repaint or explain why one cabinet is painted.  Then it hit me - contact paper!  I checked online, and apparently contact paper is making a comeback.  Awesome.  I happen to go to Target on my lunch break and checked to see if they carry it, and snagged two rolls.  One roll is a turquoise scroll design (I liked better) and the other was a green and turquoise damask (the hubs' favorite).  My choice won because I was doing the work.

See that bubble?  When the contact paper goes over a screwhead it doesn't want to lay down flat.  No problem.  The installation isn't perfect - there are wrinkles and bubbles but it's a cabinet so it's fine.

Ignore my crowded countertops, please

But I still had that other roll left, and I'm not apt to return a $6 roll of contact paper if it involves a special trip to Target.  So I got it in my head that the bookcases needed a sprucing up.

The green isn't bright, so it kind of hangs out in the background.   It doesn't compete against the many many many colors on the bookcase, so I've decided I really like it!  And it was a good excuse to give the bookcases a good dusting.  Now if only I could get inspired to do such things when we're actually putting the furniture together, I'd save myself a lot of work!

I know my bookcases are loaded to the hilt, but I'm a bit obsessed with books and picture frames