Refridgerator Make Over

Last year, I wrapped the fridge in reusable contact paper. It was fun. We started calling it the Christmas present fridge. This holiday season it was time for another re-do so I dug into Pinterest. 

I removed the contact paper and cleaned the fridge with Windex. I bought the twisty wood molds at Home Depot and glued them on with super glue. probably not the best choice if I want to change it later but I needed a way to adhere the wood on a curved surface and the tape would not secure it until the adhesive dried. In the past, I have used IOD molds with Paper mache and I will include a link. I have used these molds for Christmas ornaments. They are super easy to work with and dry overnight. You can use Elmer or wood glue to adhere them to anything while they are wet. I suggest taping them on vertical or slanted surfaces because they will slide, so check them within an hour or two of gluing. IOD Molds  Paper mache

Once everything was dry, it was time to paint. I know a lot of people swear by different kinds of chalk paint and I have used chalk paint. If I am going to paint a surface that is going to be cleaned regularly, I prefer to use Rustoleum chalk paint. I used it to paint my kitchen cabinets and it has held up beautifully.  My cabinets are a matte white and I wanted the fridge to be different so I went with a charcoal grey. It was darker than I expected when it was wet, almost black. After it dried, it was a soft dark matte charcoal and added contrast in the kitchen. I loved it. Charcoal Paint

I painted two coats. The molds need something to help them stand out. Initially, I considered white wax and tried it on a small area but disliked the look, sorry that I failed to snap a pic and post it but you will see something similar in later pictures. I had some leftover bronze chalk paint that I used on Christmas ornaments.  I wanted to introduce a metallic element so I used the bronze chalk paint on the ornamental moldings. I dry brushed it across the raised surfaces to add a highlight and emphasize the depth. To dry brush, you just put the brush in the paint and brush it across a towel or paint cloth to remove excess paint then lightly brush across the raised surfaces to your personal preference.

The fridge looked great but I wanted it to mirror the cabinets and pull the theme together so I  ordered french transfers from IOD on Amazon. The transfers were beautiful but seemed to disappear against the darker background. My sister thought that this was intentional on my part, but no. I went back to the white wax and decided that my initial decision was wrong. As you can see, I make mistakes then I learn from them. It is a pattern. I added some white wax streaking to age the charcoal grey. It is subtle but works well with the transfers.  Black and Rose Transfers

As you can see, it had a faded look. I thought that it would grow on me, but I preferred the white transfers to the faded look of the french rose transfer. The white transfer provided more contrast and pop. The white on charcoal was the invert of the kitchen cabinets which were white with charcoal grey. When it was all said and done. I purchased three white IOD transfers. Vin Tall- Freezer Pastry Tall (with cake) Upper Fridge  and Bien Lower Fridge Welcome  I painted over the faded french rose flowers. I cut the lions out of the Vin Tall and used them on the Upper fridge later (see the last image). From my pictures you can see that I keep the paper attached to the transfer plastic and place them where they need to be with masking tape which doesn't remove the charcoal paint. This sounds easy but I need to make sure the centering is right and I use a level to ensure that it isn't crooked. This is when I found out that the fridge wasn't level, anyhow, be careful with the transfers. Center them, then gently remove the backing paper without moving them around. The transfer will adhere to the surface. They include a stick to rub across the surface of the transfers to dislodge it from the clear plastic. The surface of the fridge was bumpy so I found that my fingernail would work just as well if not better. When I had previously performed this task with the cabinets, the stick worked beautifully and I did not need to use my fingernail.

I love my Treehouse home and I love making it uniquely our own.  Knowing what I don't want, helps me discover what I do want. Either way, I hope that my journey will help you.