But my heart wasn’t ready to move on from colored kitchen appliances! No way José. And when I saw the Big Chill Pro line, I fell in love all over again. They’re clean, modern and you can choose almost any color.
But as we got deeper into our renovation, other things started going over budget, and I had to start getting creative with what things I could cut from the budget, save for later or replace. I decided to replace the fridge and stove with a DIY option.
I’ve been promising for months I’d explain how we got this fun mint color, and so here it goes!!!
But first, the before pics…
At the phase that the kitchen was here, I could have stopped. I fully realize that probably 90% of people would rather have stainless steel than a colored stove. But I’m not 90% of people, so I kept going!
My friend kept telling me not to paint, to use vinyl. But I was like, “EW NO!” because I am really stubborn, and I was concerned the vinyl wouldn’t look as legit as paint.
Well, fast forward a couple months, and after Laura had called every paint company we could find who made “high heat paint,” nothing was really safe enough to use on the oven. And especially not the paints you could custom color. Since the oven heat is so high, especially when you open it up, we had to find something that could withstand heat.
So I finally caved and revisited the vinyl idea.
We called a local “custom vinyl” shop. This is basically a car shop that puts the big graphics on the sides of buses or puts flames on the side of a sports car. I was definitely out of my element, but they said their vinyl was safe up to 900 degrees (or maybe it was 1000, I can’t remember). Either way—it was safe.
So I went to the shop with my measurements and a paint color swatch I was hoping they could match. They said they could custom print any Pantone color. They could also do the matte finish that I wanted (and it was still supposed to be easy to clean). Awesome!
It took a few rounds of sample prints to get the color just right. I also had a lot of canceled appointments because a girl wanting to get her fridge recolored is not QUITE as high a priority as a bus that needs a country music singer’s face on the side of it.
But after about a month of going back and forth, they came to my home and installed the vinyl for me.
I opted to get it professionally installed because I’ve worked with big surfaces of vinyl before, and it’s very tricky to avoid wrinkles completely. I valued the polished look more than saving a bit more $ in this instance.
They had to remove the doors from the stove and fridge to install it, and then put them back on when the vinyl was on so that it was one big, seamless surface.
All in all, I paid about $400 for the vinyl and install. I think it’s more worth it than painting because, in addition to the safety issue, it’s also fully removable if we ever want to go back to the stainless steel! I intend to keep it forever, but just in case we have to move or whatever, it’s good to have options!
I’ve had it on for about 3-4 months now, and it’s still blowing my mind on a daily basis. I love the color. It adds so much personality to our simple kitchen. Before I was nervous that it looked like EVERY kitchen on Pinterest. Now it has its own custom detail.
Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Alyssa Rosenheck.
92 Comments
Wow! That is truly a FUN and gorgeous looking fridge and oven. I love the uniqueness of it!
Love the color!! Looks amazing!
xx, Elise
I’ve been waiting and waiting to get the low down on how your colored your stove, was so excited to see the day had come-ha!!! It looks so good and I can’t believe it’s vinyl!! So cool. Thanks for sharing! My washer and dryer are sadly in sort of a well seen area of my house, this has my wheels turning to pretty them up!
I love this idea! I definitely want to look into to this when we get to it the kitchen part of our renovation! The color is so beautiful!!!
I love this! One of my favorite things about your blog is the fact that you don’t give up on your vision after one avenue doesn’t pan out. It’s good to remember to try, try again!
Also I love that your dream kitchen isn’t 500 square feet and dripping with granite. It looks so cozy and livable!
Can you show a closer photo?
Are you kidding me? I love this!
How is cleaning it? My Hubby is a messy cooker, think grease everywhere.
I not only love the mint green, but I also adore the mix of styles in this kitchen. Amazing job putting this room together.
The best kitchen ever! A total dream!
http://www.sistersweetly.wordpress.com
Looks awesome! adds a lot to the already lovely kitchen
I just love that you did this http://www.hannamarielei.com
I’ve been waiting for this post! 😀 I was excited to see how you would manage it. And they turned out beautifully! Makes me want to try it someday (when I can afford to lol :P).
I’m happy the vinyl worked out so well for you. Really brings the room together.
Oh my goodness. I’m seriously obsessed with this color! My boyfriend and I have that color as both of our favorite colors, it would look so cute in our little kitchen! Thank you!
http://www.angelicabbie.com
So cool! I had no idea you could do this!! Leave it to you bring such a unique idea to life 🙂
GREAT idea — thanks for sharing! Love the colour you chose 🙂
A closer photo of what detail?
xx- Elsie
Can you please tell me which Pantone colour you used to give to the vinyl people to match?
Thanks,
Amy
It wipes clean.
xx- Elsie
Is the fridge painted the same color?
Love the color <3 Amazing!
Love the color. Amazing!
This is such a gorgeous kitchen! I love the colors!
http://www.petiteandhungry.com
I think you and I have the same stove. They look identical. We bought it about 5 years ago when we remodeled. The thermostat went out on the oven and it was discontinued, so I have been struggling to bake. I’m in Fla, so it’s not really a big deal to me, because HEAT. We will have to replace it, but I can’t decide on what I want next.
Oh wow–I LOVE this. One nitpicky question–did they put the vinyl around the fridge’s Kitchenaid logo? Or did they remove it?
This looks really cool! I’d love to recolour my fridge… Maybe I should look into getting some vinyl!
BEUTIFUL! i wish there were an after shot of the fridge head on like the before photo. im trying to get an idea of that the finish ended up looking like
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I love the color! So pretty! Do you want to come and paint my appliances? 😉
Amy | http://www.yankified.com
This kitchen looks AMAZING.
I would never of thought that you could change the colours of appliances – it looks amazing & I’m in love with the colour 🙂 xx
I really love this, makes such a statement to the kitchen. I recently moved into a 1980s apartment with original kitchen units and as a rental I couldn’t replace the doors. I covered in a lovely vinyl called ‘Scrapwood’ from vinyl warehouse, which is blues and whites and looks like a weathered beach hut. Very pleased with the result, love it every time I walk into the kitchen. As my fridge freezer is in the hall due to lack of space in the kitchen, I am considering covering this with the same vinyl too. Building up the courage to do just the front initially and fingers crossed. You have inspired me!
I want a mint fridge. Now.
This is just absolutely beautiful!! I can’t get over how gorgeous your kitchen is.
So rare to find people doing this. I love the colour and feel it works amazing well!
I was happy to see you also liking the mint green color in the kitchen. I am much older than you but chose that color for my kitchen remodel. The color is clean and reminds me of an Italian ice shop I went to as a child. Now I feel cool! I have white cabinets and appliances. I chose a black quartz counter and wish I hadn’t, it picks up everything, but alas it will stay. I enjoy your articles.
I think it looks much better now.
I am a black&white person but this pastel colour looks so great!
My cousin did the same with her kitchen, but she chose yellow (ew xd)
wow, amazing colors equipment, how much change the kitchen.
I love yellow too, but I felt like I would love it more in the summer and less in the fall/winter. This color is almost a neutral to me at this point. :))
xx- Elsie
Hi Sally!
I’d love to see your kitchen too! 🙂 #twins
xx- Elsie
The logo still shows. I think they took it off and put it back in over the vinyl.
xx- Elsie
Of the vinyl, I would love to see what it looks like up close to see the finish.
Of the fridge. You can’t really see the vinyl finish or how the edges look with your cute hubby in the way….no offense 🙂
~ love ~ love ~ love ~
Spectacular!
That’s so brilliant. I love how IF you should ever decide to change it, the stainless steel underneath should be in pristine condition! That’s awesome. Good job!
This is literally the most exciting DIY ever! I just bought the same fridge (and the matching KitchenAid stove) for our new kitchen! I was super sad that I could get the counter depth in white or that fun black stainless. Since our details aren’t silver and our overall feel doesn’t jive with stainless steel I’ve been searching for the very same solution! Thanks so much for sharing! I cannot wait to do this to our new kitchen! $400 feel totally doable! Now I’m just wondering if they can match my metal sample from Schoolhouse Electric and if so how cheap or fancy can that look…. Decisions!
Lindsey
For metals I would take them in for metal plating or just wrap it with metallic vinyl yourself. Personal opinion- a little bit of mixed metals is no big deal. Almost no kitchen with gold is ALL gold or brass.
Send me pics if you do your kitchen!! I can’t wait to see!
xoxo- Elsie
I love this idea. I wonder if there is a magnetic vinyl. Unfortunately I have a stainless steel fridge and I can’t put any cute magnets or pictures 🙁 I also love your white and gold fixture. Where is it from?
Hi Johanna! It’s from here: https://lucentlightshop.patternbyetsy.com/ 🙂 -Jacki
Such a cool idea – I never would have thought of the vinyl but once you explained it wads obvious! Funny how things work that way! Your kitchen is beautiful and it is just enough blue to add interest and maintain the calm feeling with the white. Nicely done!
Do you think it would work on a white fridge that has that strange rumpily surface like some fridges do? Looks so, so good!!
Hi Sandy! Yes, I do. I just posted a video on Instagram stories where you can see the difference (the side of my fridge has that texture and I covered over it with white because it used to be dark gray).
xx- Elsie
I’m not sure about magnetic vinyl. But I kind of doubt it because magnetic sheets are kind of thick (even the really thin ones).
I used to have a fridge like that too and it was so annoying! Washi tape?
xx- Elsie
Thank you so much Hannie!
xx- Elsie
Hehe- read the post. It’s not paint!!
xx- Elsie
I also want to see what the edges look like on the fridge. Were the sides done also? Just curious about how seamless it looks. I love your kitchen!
OMG! I never knew you could do something like that! I hate our stainless steel appliances and even though we have had wraps done on vehicles before, never thought to do it to kitchen appliances! I see another project in my future
=) Bridget | http://nuttyhiker.com
You cats are crazy cool and I must confess I adore everything you do and blog about! I gave my mom (a 77 year old super cool lady) a number of blogs I admired (I’m trying to build up my own lifestyle blog) and she said only your blog made her want to stay and explore. Well done! Anyway I love your ideas and photos and personalities. AND, you even dropped by my twitter to click ‘like’ when I posted about you guys. Yep, #blogcrush ??
Ahhh! It’s such a beautiful space, I am beyond jealous.
shannnoninthecity.com
This is very cool. I’m not neat enough for open shelves like that, but they look cool if you can keep it that nice and still have room for all your dishes.
Love this so much and love that you have your dream kitchen! It looks fabulous!
This is so beautiful! I’m sick of the giant hunks of stainless steel and ours (GE) is unusually difficult to clean. That stove is really cute too.
Beautiful kitchen…
https://goo.gl/8PWwUP
The mint colored appliances totally make this kitchen. Love!
Did you save some money in the end? I mean $400 for customized vinyl.. Wouldn’t it cost less to buy colored fridge?
Anyway, it looks GORGEOUS! I wanted to paint my appliances for ages, but I’m a broke student so I guess I’ll have to wait a bit 😀
OK, I LOVE this. Wow. Do you mind sharing the cost?
Hi I work for a sign company and we have never come across a high temperature vinyl. Vinyl is essentially plastic and plastic and heat are never the best of friends. If you have the contact information from the shop you worked with I would love to have a chat with them about what exact vinyl they used.
What type of vinyl is this?
Inquiring minds want to know, especially cause of heat… I’m curious if anyone has wrapped on all around… maybe not too but sides? I’ve investigated paint too nightmare!!
So I realize you don’t want to link the stove to discourage people from buying something you don’t endorse, but would it be possible to figure out which it is as more of a PSA? We’re looking into new appliances, and I love looks, but we also are not “rolling in the dough,” so to speak… 🙂 This vinyl idea is too intriguing, nice work.
I’m in the process of remodeling my kitchen and this would be an amazing solution for one of my biggest dilemmas. It’s been a while now since you did this and I’m curious how it’s holding up… Thanks
It looks fantastic. What makes the vinyl stick, is it an adhesive product and did they use a shrink-wrap technique for the corners, like when they shrink-wrap a vehicle? GREAT JOB 🙂
Are you available to hire for designing renovations? I looked on FAQs but nothing is up on that page.
This is seriously my dream kitchen
Do you also have any posts on where to start/what to do/what to expect if you are looking to buy a fixer upper and renovate yourself?
thank you!!!
This is such a cool hack. I’ve used the stick on cabinet liners in the bast on the trimming of a tv so it wasn’t an eyesore but what you did here it genius!:)
What vinyl company did you use? I cannot seem to find heat resistant vinyl on the web.
I too was wondering if you could indicate the type of vinyl that was used.
It’s the kind of vinyl they use on cars and buses. xx!
Very tasteful! I love the color you picked for your appliances and everything about your kitchen is lovely!
I recommend this blog all knowledge seekers about kitchen and home appliances.
Thank You So Much!
Hello, BEAUTIFUL job on those appliances not to mention the sooo cute kitchen!!!
Any suggestions for an old leatherette texture finish fridge… Do you think the vinyl is thick enough to hide the texture look?
Hi Elsie! Long time lurker on all your accounts, especially since Nova came into your life. I adore her and you and all the things that you post. We recently purchased a mid-century modern home in Norcal and will be working on the kitchen after we move in. I absolutely want to try this out on our new appliances. Do you know if the vinyl is easily removable by you or a professional in case you ever want to change the color in the future? Just curious. Thank you for all that you do!
I swooned when I saw this – thank you for sharing! Now that it’s been 2 years, how is the vinyl holding up? Is it lifting or scratched? How has it been to clean? I hate stainless and dealing with the marks and stains!! I would love this as an option – but with 8 and 10 year olds in the house, I’d like to know more about the durability. Thank you!
Hi! It’s holding up amazing! Almost no visible wear at all. 🙂
Elsie, did you use a vinyl shop in Nashville to buy, measure, & install? Husband & I just bought a house here & would LOVE to revamp the double oven on the cheap!
That’s great! Thanks for the reply! 🙂
I am in the process of remodeling my kitchen and would like to replicate the white shelves as you have in your house. Can you help me with sources? I like the clean look you used without brackets.
Thanks so very much!
curious to see how this is holding up. i’m looking to do this myself.
It’s great! Still looks the same. :))
Heya, seriously thinking of doing this for an Air BnB – would you recommend for renters? Does the vinyl easily get nicks?
Can you link us to the brand of vinyl you used for this project?
What Pantone color did you use? Love this by the way so creative !!
OBSESSED! What shade is this? It’s the perfect minty turquoise!
Is there any way you could link the vinyl you used? It’s the exact color I want and itd save me from having to get samples and search. Thanks, Elsie!!