~OUR $35 FRENCH FARMHOUSE BACK SPLASH~

We are pressing on with our kitchen remodel and I'm so happy today to share with you that our back splash is almost done!  It's the last of the two remaining projects we've had left to do and you know THIS GIRL is OVAH-DE-MOON happeeeee to be to this point!!  During the weekend my Mr. AGPMan finished measuring and cutting all the Lap (ship lap) and then stained all the wood pieces. 

Because so many of the pre-packaged Lap was damaged (on the ends) the really NICE MAN at our local home improvement store discounted what they had in stock and we ended up getting all of it for $35...I think there were six packages if I remember right.  Can you believe that?  Because I had a half-full quart of almost ready to toss out wood stain I ended up using that before painting the wood (after drying for 12 hours) with leftover cabinet paint.  

Here's a shot of the wood after it was stained and one with ONE coat of paint!  We also purchased wooden electrical covers to stain and paint. Is it any wonder they cost MORE than the ship-lap?  I wanted a lot of plug-ins in our new kitchen (before the renovation I had only two!) and I'm not a big fan of them sticking out!  We have 9 outlets and three double light switches!

 Here's a shot of some intricate cuts my guy had to make!

Cut-outs for the sockets, too!

Here's a view after the wood was stained and given one coat of paint.  It took two light coats of paint and some moderate distressing along the edges...

Here are the wooden covers...  Another LIGHT dusting of paint on  everything was needed before the entire thing was given a good coating of polyurethane.  It was easily attached to the sheet rock in the kitchen with adhesive.

My Mr. AGPMan and I thought for a long, long time about how I wanted our kitchen to look.  We mulled over going with wood counter tops, concrete, granite, quartz and so much more.  We tossed around the idea of distressed cabinets, glazed cabinets and just plain ol' painted cabinets until we were sick of everything.  Ultimately we went we simple painted cabinets (Sherwin Williams Self Leveling Paint in Snowbound), granite counter tops and then the distressed ship-lap back splash.  Since our flooring is hand scraped wood we decided that wood counter tops with a vintage wood island (fabulous antique counter my guy is modifying) would be just too much wood for us.

In the end the entire back splash, ship lap, paint, stain and socket covers cost us about $100.  It's just crazy how some things work out and we feel blessed to get to this point without breaking the bank.

Our backs, YES!  But, not the bank!!!!

 

 I purchased this antique reproduction mail box from Market.  Couldn't wait to get it painted...it's going somewhere in our home!  Not sure yet just where!

The photo above seems like a distant memory....this was at the beginning!  After the bathroom, laundry room and half the cabinets (right side) were removed!

OK...more soon!  Thanks for peeking in to see where we are.  We are closing in on the finish line and will surely be done by our anniversary in September.  We are traveling to the Nashville area next month to pick up the antique counter.  Beyond excited about that!

Love to you...