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Blindingly stark kitchen before the "make-over". This is
actually a creme/beige that, quite frankly, doesn't cut it for a Halloween Party.
}X-{P}
The Tools & Materials:
Black Plastic Sheeting:
It comes in different sized rolls at Home Centers. This one is the 10 ft. variety,
by about 100 ft. So this has served me well over the past 5 or 6 years that I've had it.
Tape:
I used clear packaging tape. It's wide, strong and cheap, (the latter I like best.)
A dispenser like this is best for cutting it. It's worth the extra cash.
Scissors:
A good pair of sharp scissors should be a part of every haunter's toolbox.
Razor Knife:
You'll need this to help trim off the excess plastic.
Screwdriver: (Not pictured here)
This is used to remove the handles from the doors & drawers of the cabinets.
Some have a slotted head on the screws, others have Phillips. Use whatever your handles have for screws.
Grid Paper:
You can use normal paper, I just find that using grid paper makes it a lot quicker
to draw out the cabinets of the kitchen and write down the horizontal measurements. Chances are, a lot of the cabinets will
have the same dementions. (More about that later.)
Coffee:
The staple beverage of Haunter's the world over. I prefer Maxwellhouse. It's good
to the last "DROP".
If you're not a six-foot tall werewolf, you might want to use a step stool, short
ladder, a chair or even kneel on top of the counter top, to remove the screws from the handles & hinges.
The new technique is more like wrapping a present,
only, you don't wrap the ENTIRE "present",
if you know what I mean...
That is, we're leaving the
back of the door
uncovered.
This will save
a lot of material
for more projects that
I have planned for later on.
\/
Unless your cabinet doors are a bit longer than these,
you'll only have two hinges to deal with per door.
I strongly reccomend that you only work with
one door at a time. Taking off all the doors
at once MIGHT seem like a good idea,
but you'll have to try to remember
which doors went where. And
that's NOT a "good thing".
So, loosen up those
screws, and you
can remove
the door.
\/
You'll also have the door handle to remove.
You can either take the handle off while
the doors are still hanging by the
hinges, or after the doors are
taken down. I tried it both
ways and I like to take
the handle off as
the doors still
hang from
hinges.
\/
The doors to my cabinets are mounted to the hinges
with Phillips head screws. You might
have a different configuration,
so
you might need a slotted
screwdriver instead.
In either case you
still remove the
screws from
the doors.
\/
I had to try to leave the handle on and
remove it after I took the door down.
But this prooved to be "wobbly".
The door was anchored
to the cabinets and
this made taking
the handles
off easier.
\/
Here we have the door, laying face down
on the tabletop. If you notice some
spots of "whatever" on the back
of the doors, now might be a
good time to give them a
shot of cleaner. I saw
a lot of crudd had
accumulated
along the
bottom
edges.
\/
I had urolled the plastic so that it will lay sideways across
the face of the door. Leaving a little over an inch
beyond the right edge of the door. I then
trimed off the roll, leaving a little
over an inch on the left side.
the door edge made a
great cutting guide
to keep the cut
straight as
possible.
\/
I left the plastic sheeting folded, so as to cut
all the layers at once, rather than have
to cut one long slice through ten
feet of plastic sheeting. What
can I say? I'm lazy.
Nuff said.
\/
You can see how using the edge of the door can give you
a pretty straight cut. You don't
want to make a
crooked cut. You'll probably use this
plastic strip on several doors
of the same width.
It saves time
this way
too.
\/
Unfold the plastic, so that
the majority of the
plastic lays off
one side of
the table
and on
the
floor.
\/
Position the door on the plastic, and pull the bottom edge
of the plastic up and around the bottom edge of the
door. Try not to cover up the screw holes of the
hinges, or, in this case, cover the holes
where the hinges are going to be.
This will lessen the chance
that the hinges will
cause wrinkles
on the front
of the
door.
\/
Tape the edge of the
plastic to the back
of the door.
\/
Trim off the remaining plastic so that when the
edge is folded over, the plastic won't
cover the hinge hole or the
screw holes that mount
the hinge to the
door.
\/
Pull the plastic taught, but be careful not to
allow the corners to rip the plastic.
The plastic will be taught
with less wrinkles
and look a lot
nicer.
\/
Fold the corners
over the edge
of the door
like this.
\/
Fold the plastic that covers the back
of the door down around the edge
of the door. Keeping it pressed
flat and smooth against the
edge. This will give you
a nice sharp corner
and a great "Pro"
look to the job.
\/
Tuck & fold any excess plastic from the back
of the door, as you fold the plastic up
from the front of the door. You
should end up with a sharp
square corner that folds
around the edge of
the door. And a
clean look
too.
\/
Place a shotr length od plastic packaging tape so that
the edge of the tape is not exposed on the front
of the door. The packing tape is a bit more
glossy, and you might catch glints of
"shine" against the flat sheen of
the plastic. Set the tape along
the edge, and pull slightly to
keep that square corner
"action" going. Then
smooth down the
tape on the
back side
of the
door
\/
As careful as you may be, the plastic will
eventually partially cover the holes
for the hinges. But useing the
scissors and cutting a
small slit in the
plastic will
keep it
flat.
\/
Here's the door with all four corners
folded & taped. I also taped a bit
along the edges of the plastic
to the back of the door
to streatch & smooth
the plastic a bit
more. The
results...
\/
The screws for the handles are gently twisted and poked through
the plastic. You don't want the plastic to stretch
and wrinkle
around the handle. You've spent a lot of time to keep
things smooth. It's no time to screw it over now.
Wish I could do somethng about
these
gross white handles, other than
replacing them with some
other style or
painting
them.
\/
The doors are replaced onto the
hinges, the screws are run
back into the doors and
the door is finished.
A right nice
covering
\/
The drawers are done in a simular
manner. Remove the drawer
front, remove the handle,
cover the drawer with
plastic sheeting, tape
it down, replace
the handle &
mount the
drawer
face.
\/
You can see the difference between the
cabinet doors that I did "the old way",
and the door I did with the new
technique. I really didn't go
for the wrinkles. I thought
the smooth look was a
whole lot better. It
looks so good, I
may just keep
the plastic
up all
year!
\/
I really think that
looks horrid.
Don't you?
I thought
so.
\/
At least you can see
the chairs now.
Before they
just blend
right in.
\/
All there's really left to do,
is the doors over the
fridge and the
fridge itself.
Hope I got
enough
plastic
???
\/
Ok, here's the final
pics on the project.
ALL the cabinets
got done last night.
\/
The Dishwasher too.
I removed a piece of trim
that was held in place with
a couple screws, the front panel
was a painted piece of sheet metal.
I covered it the same way I did the doors.
It simply bent and I was able to withdraw it
from the frame, covered it, then, flexed it back
into place and re-attatched the trim. No problems.
\/
I had a lot of scrap pieces of plastic left over,
so I just trimmed
down the larger pieces,
and covered the back wall of the
pot
shelf above the cabinets. Added
a string of purple lights and put
those urns I painted up there
and it's good to go!
I do have a few
more urns to
paint yet
though.
\/
The pumkins cycle through colors and
they project their faces onto the
ceiling with shifting colors
pretty well. The darker
background makes
the purple lights
stand out
more
now
\/
Well, that's pretty much "it" for the
"Blackened Kitchen hack".
Hope you enjoyed it
as much as I did.
}'-{1}
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Please be sure to visit "How to Halloween" A new up and coming site on building your own Halloween decorations for next to
nil!
The Halloween-L is a great website & forum. You should go there NOW! Ok, after you view my website. But right after that,
go there! (If you know what's "Boo" for you!)
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