design, home

Shutterfly Kitchen Redesign – Pt 1

A couple of months ago I was invited for a tour of the Shutterfly By Design 2014 townhouse which was followed by drinks and conversation with the Shutterfly and Martha Stewart teams (if you missed my recap on that amazing evening, you can read it HERE).  There was one major detail of the night that I held off on sharing details about….until now.  That night myself and two other NY-based bloggers were each given an exciting assignment from the Martha Stewart and Shutterfly teams. We were assigned a specific room within our homes and asked to add our personal design touches to the room using Shutterfly products.  After seeing so many great ideas at the event earlier that night, I was definitely up for this challenge.  And lucky for me, I was assigned my favorite room of the house – the kitchen!

In the days following I thought about my particular kitchen, its current design influences, and what I would want to change or add within the space.  I have always liked my kitchen, however, there have been two major issues I’ve had with the space since moving in 5 years ago – the unfortunate dark faux granite formica countertops and the bulky honey-colored wooden cabinets which had been installed by our landlord prior to us moving in.  As you’ll see below, they don’t work well together (at all), but being a renter unfortunately means we can’t change very contrasting and very permanent surfaces, so I have always just tried to look past their harshness and accept that they were there to stay. Kitchen_Before

Prior to visiting the Shutterfly By Design space, I had only been familiar with Shutterfly products that were mainly photo-based.  But that night I learned that there was so much more offered – and I even had an idea come to me as to how I could temporarily alter my disliked kitchen surfaces with one Shutterfly product in particular.  But first I needed to take a deeper dive into the inspiration.  My kitchen is very retro-influenced with touches that a grandmother would love (old stereo, vintage housewares, mismatched teacups, Vera Neumann-esque prints and patterns, etc.) and I knew I wanted to stay within this realm.

So, I knew I wanted to keep it retro.  I wanted to lessen the bulky appearance of the cabinets and somehow if I could hide those countertops, I definitely wanted to do that.  And lastly I wanted to add some customizable elements to my kitchen.  And by using Shutterfly, I was able to do it all.

Here’s a look at the main kitchen space post re-design. Follow along to get the specifics on each added Shutterfly element.

Shutterfly Kitchen Map4

1. WALLPAPER-LINED CABINETS: First I removed those bulky cabinet doors and used the Shutterfly customizable wall decal as faux wallpaper for the back of my cabinets. All I had to do was scan in a sample of a vintage wallpaper I had found and upload the image to Shutterfly.

Here’s a closer look at what the wall decal looked like once it arrived.  Looks just like wallpaper, right?

Wall Decal Detail

By removing the cabinet doors and adding the bright pattern to the cabinets, the space really livened up.  Plus, it looks super retro – exactly what I was I going for.

Cabinet DetailShutterfly Kitchen Cabinets

Click through for more…

2. COUNTERTOP COVER-UP: And for my unfortunate countertops – again I used the Shutterfly wall decals (totally obsessed).  I had found an awesome 60’s formica sample online that I recreated in Photoshop and added a pattern overlay for some additional texture. Once the decal arrived I cut it to fit my countertop, used a box cutter to trim each piece to the edge – and voilà – the perfect cover-up.  The dark granite peeks through the light-colored decal a bit, but in doing so it adds a hint of additional dimension and makes the countertop look very realistic.

Countertop Wall DecalCountertop Angle

Now I know this may not last forever, but it’s a temporary fix for sure.  And as I discovered after testing it initially, the wall decals don’t even leave a sticky residue, so they can easily be removed if needed.

3. MISC DECALS: It didn’t stop there with the wall decals. I created custom decals for two other added touches – the first being a label for the spice drawer. Spices Decal2Spice Drawer

There was also a tacky logo on my knife block that I had never been a fan of, so I enlarged a simple floral detail from the wallpaper and had it printed onto a decal to cover it right up.

Knives DetailShutterfly Kitchen Details 2

4. MUGS: I knew I wanted some personalized coffee mugs for my boyfriend and me, so I uploaded my own customized monograms and was able to instantly print the letters onto mugs.Mugs Detail

5. PLATES: By taking images from the wallpaper, I duplicated some of the illustrated elements onto plates.  I scanned additional vintage patterns as well and hung a few of these plates on the wall alongside a selection of vintage plates.Shutterfly Plates2

6. CUTTING BOARD: This cutting board / serving plate was made with the Shutterfly wood wall art.  I uploaded the illustration detail as artwork and had it printed directly onto the 8×10’ wood piece.  A light coat of stain, a sealer, and some walnut oil finished off the board and made it food-ready.DIY Cheese Plate2

Shutterfly Kitchen2

Additionally, I made a grocery list using illustrations I had found in a 1960’s cookbook, which I had printed onto a Shutterfly paper pad.  I superglued a magnet to the back of the pad and popped it on the fridge for easy access.  That magnetic calendar (which features one of my boyfriend’s photographs) was made on Shutterfly as well. Grocery List

I loved how all of these elements came together. There were so many opportunities for adding my own flair and having a fix for my cabinets and countertops has been so huge – and has rid me of my renting woes for the time being.  I have a couple more items to show off, but stay tuned for those tomorrow.

[Click HERE for Part 2]

  1. Sierra

    August 30, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    Too. Many. Things. Want. It. All. Ahhh thanks for this! Can’t wait to start exploring Shutterfly

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