DIY home improvement pt 1 - kitchen space

When we first moved into our tiny resale apartment 3 years back we opted for the most minimal renovation to be done (not to be confused with minimalist design which on contrary, can rake up quite a bit especially on a resale!) simply for 2 reasons.

One, we wanted to keep to a 30k budget so as not to take up any bank loan and two, me being the most fickle person I wanted to keep the space in a condition where I can constantly make changes which meant no permanent design fixtures such as built in TV console, brick walls, deliberate exposed piping, bold coloured tiles; basically fads I knew I would eventually get tired of.

I wanted the furniture to build the space instead where I am given the freedom to switch around and change out as and when!

For 3 years we lived in a mostly white walled home with light wood accent until recently I was hit with the interior bug (thanks YouTube) and badly wanted to inject some colour and life into our home, starting with the kitchen.

There isn't much "before" photos to share mostly because I hadn't had the intention to document this remodelling journey at the beginning so what you see are just rough takes meant to help me visualize the design outcome during the planning stages.

Our kitchen before was fitted with pale wood laminate and a green glass backsplash which we didn't ask for. At the start of our renovation I specified I wanted a clear backsplash with no colour and later found out that clear glass = green. If I wanted white I had to specify clearly the colour white! Unfortunately we couldn't rectify this without incurring additional cost so we left it as such :(

So the first on my remodelling checklist was to rectify this myself with a self adhesive backsplash to give it a little more character! And because stickers are temporal, they can be swapped out for something else the moment it starts becoming an eyesore :p

Before

I also replastered the cabinets with a darker wood tone for contrast and removed the two doors above our stove hood for open shelving to accomodate pots with longer handles, and maybe add some artificial plants for decoration in the future? 

Love how that helps create depth instead of a monotonous flush of the cabinets.

Will be adding pulls when I find something I like

Wood pattern self adhesive: http://bit.ly/wd13asl
Kitchen backsplash self adhesive: http://bit.ly/2kKUjui

This side of the wall used to hold one lonely picture against a bare wall. I took it down, covered it with tile-like stickers and put up a utility pegboard from Ikea that holds our coffee peripherals, pens, kitchen roles, tea etc. The SKADIS collection has a wide range of hooks, clips, shelves etc to help you customize the board most suited to your needs!

We also got a cable management box to keep all the wires neatly in place.

Small space = vertical storage which doubles up as a wall feature as well.

Wall backsplash self adhesive: http://bit.ly/2mincOX
Ikea SKADIS pegboard: http://bit.ly/2klCkui
Ikea ROMMA cable box: http://bit.ly/2kgz7fl

Overall I'm pleased with the results given these are all DIY! Keep a look out for more upcoming posts as I work my way around the living room and entry way :)