We’ve recently got our house constructed and even with our budget trimmed down, we were still determined to design and personalize our very first home. I’m lucky that the husband is a bit of a handyman but since he is an engineer by profession, he tends to focus more on functionality, rather than the aesthetics of his work. Good thing, he has a practical and creative wife, who, with a just a few touches, polishes his work to be acceptable masterpieces, at least to our humble taste.
Since, we, Filipinos love to cook a variety of delicacies like tuyo and bagoong, we are big fans of situating the kitchen outside the house where the smell won’t seep on the sofa or curtains. So we did just that. We installed a dirty kitchen right after the back door and built a metal screen door for security. And with the kitchen at the back of the house, I will just be needing a kitchen cupboard/prep area near the dining table, on which I plan to sit frequently used small appliances and inside, I would like to keep our dinnerware.
From way back, my boss sold me a second-hand, sturdy, 3-door cabinet: waist high, a meter wide and just an arm’s reach deep. We initially used it for clothes since our rented house back then had very limited storage. When we moved, we transformed it into a prep table and storage for serving plates, and other kitchen whatnots. It would have served the same purpose now but I have nowhere to put plates, spoons, forks and glasses. I told the husband we can use it but I would be wanting drawers instead of cabinets so I can easily access them day in and day out, meal after meal after meal. He excitedly obliged and created drawers for me. We also purchased wire baskets for a more appropriate storage of the silver and flatware. I, unfortunately, do not have a before photo. Below are the drawers with their contents in it.
The cabinet had, originally, 3 doors. We left one out and just sanded its paint (and varnishing again) for a rustic feel. We also changed its handle to match those of the drawers.
The problem with the drawers was that they had gaps. Up and below, and side-to-side, all I saw were gaps but I did not have the heart to complain since it was the husband’s labor of love. I just, excitedly, put our stuff in them and secretly thought of something to veer the eyes away from the unsightly gaps.
Since we were going for a rustic feel, I, initially, thought of crate designs – date and location stamps, arrows, “FRAGILE,” and the like. But looking into Google and Pinterest, nothing called my name. So I decided to search for a kitchen quote and I fell in love with this one. The husband is a true blue Star Wars fan and he dragged me to also become one since our BF-GF days, so this is perfect! Very appropriate, as well, since I intend to keep the forks inside the drawers anyway, so great!
Again, I do not have a before photo. You see, I made the accent in December 2019, long before I thought of creating a blog and sharing my adventures with the world. So I am just recreating the steps I took to give you an idea, in case you are also interested with this kind of project. So how?
Materials needed:
Large paper for stencil and for covering work area
Design to copy
Pencil and eraser
Ruler
Scissors
Tape
Spray paint
Procedures:
- First is finding your design, which we already did, the photo above. However, I thought that the criss-crossing forks were out of the question. It will be hard to do the cutting and shading part so I decided to just draw a simple fork and either put it on top, in the bottom or on the side.
2. Prepare your stencil. Make sure it fits the area you want to cover. I, originally, used scratch paper taped together. Here, I used paper for blue printing. Manila paper or cartolina can be used as well.
3. Copy the design. So, I decided to draw and position the fork on one side, the left. I also added grading to the letters so the quote emphasizes the words, FORKS and YOU. I made the font bigger for these words. I thought it adds to coolness of the design. I also made sure that the fork is as tall as the whole quote. I used the ruler to ensure size and symmetry of letters and pencil & eraser to finalize the stencil.
4. Once you are happy with your stencil, start snipping. My life would have been very easy if I had a cutter plotter, perhaps a Cricut Explorer or a Cameo Silhouette. (I dream to get my hands on these machines. If I do, one day, I will definitely write about them here. I already have a project in mind.) Just cut out the letters and the fork, carefully. If you tear something, just tape it right back, making sure the stencil is good.
5. Now tape the stencil on the area. Use back (rolled in) tape with the letter holes such as the triangle of the letter A and the ovals of the letter Os. Do the same on the areas where there are small or thin parts, such as the fork teeth. Make sure the design is aligned. Use a level if you have one. (The husband was so pissed when I asked help to remove the drawer handles. But he was also happy with the outcome so all is well.)
6. If you are not in a workshop, put newspaper or extra paper on the floor, before spraying as paint might also go there. Take a deep breath and spray on the stencil holes, right onto the area you are designing. You can vary the thickness of paint or color by spraying closer or farther. Since I went for rustic, the far-spraying gave me a faded effect which I liked. Do not, however, spray too close as the paint might drip inside the stencil.
7. Let it dry before removing the stencil and re-attaching the handles. It will just take about 2 to 3 minutes and you can see the outcome of your project.
There! No better time to post this but today, so let me greet you, May the 4th be with you!
