Backsplash is back at it! A DIY tutorial with DIY Decor Store.

A few months back, our backsplash began cracking. This is what happens when you spackle an area that large (lesson learned). Looking at those cracks was starting to drive me a wee bit crazy. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and my eyes are drawn to small, annoying details like that.

Can you spot the cracks?

This is what they looked like up close...and every few inches of this area were like this. Yuck.

With a baby on the way, my husband and I figured we'd have to push fixing the backsplash to the distant future...until Fasade panels from DIY Decor Store stepped in. These are Thermoplastic panels that can be used on ceilings, walls, and backsplash. They truly transform a space and you DON'T need to be handy (or an experienced backsplash installer) to take on this project.  I came across DIY Decor Store's Instagram, which you can check out here, and immediately fell in love. Not only do they have an incredible selection of colors and styles to choose from, but the tutorial I watched on their website showed that this project would be very manageable. (You can watch their tutorial video here.)  After perusing their site, my husband and I were stuck on two colors: Matte White or Brushed Aluminum. Picking the pattern took us no time at all since Traditional 1 matched our cabinet knobs perfectly. Click here to take a look at all of the stunning designs to choose from. They sent us samples of the two colors we were loving (you can also order samples if you're feeling stuck!) and seeing them in person was a huge help. We decided to go with Traditional 1 in Matte White and it has fit our style perfectly. After you choose your design and color, the next step is measuring the backsplash area in your kitchen. You'll need to determine how many square feet and panels you will need. DIY Decor Store has made this super easy! Follow this link for step by step directions on how to measure your space. 

Our materials laid out and ready to go!

For our kitchen, we needed 35 square feet of paneling and 5 pieces total of 48" J-Trim. I highly recommend getting the trim since it adds a subtle, professional touch to the project. It was also very easy to add on to the panels. Once we had the materials, we were ready to begin! We did a trip to our local hardware store to get the heavy duty liquid nails. We purchased 2 of these tubes and this was just enough to complete the project. If this type of adhesive is not something you like working with, you could also use the Fasade high-bond adhesive double sided tape. Either option would work for this project. The first thing we needed to do was paint the wall area under the cabinet. There was some gray paint there from our previous backsplash fiasco so I used a white wall paint I had to cover it up.  While I did this, my husband cleaned the back surface of the panels with rubbing alcohol and a cloth.  Starting at the far left side of the kitchen, we measured how far down we would need to cut the first panel. We worked panel by panel, cutting them carefully to the correct size. My husband used a utility knife and later I used my favorite pair of heavy duty scissors. You could also use tin snips for this project. 

Once we had all of the panels cut to size, we placed them out around the backsplash area to make sure everything was fitting correctly. Without even being glued on, they already looked amazing!

Doing a "dry lay out" of all the panels.

Our next step was using the liquid nails. The glue should be applied 1" from the edges so that excess clean up is not necessary. My husband applied it in a wave-like pattern. A 10 ounce adhesive tube covers about 4 backsplash panels.  We kept a wet paper towel on hand in case any glue were to seep out of the edges. This happened a few times and quickly wiping it up was no problem.

My husband put the liquid nails on in a wave-like design. Make sure not to get too close to the edges!

As we continued this process, we had 3 outlets that we needed to cut out spaces for. My husband traced the outlet cover with a pencil right over where the hole would sit on the panel. Using the utility knife, he then cut out the rectangle where the outlet would be.

Cutting out spaces for where the outlet covers would sit.

We have matte white outlet covers that match the backsplash perfectly. However, if you are going with a color that is not so easy to match, such as copper or brushed aluminum, DIY Decor Store also has Outlet Cover Laminate that can be applied to your current outlets! You can check out their selection here. There is a color to go with every style option and an easy tutorial on how to apply them. Our final step was adding on the J-Trim. The trim was easy to cut down to size with scissors and took us literally minutes to add on to the tops of the panels. It was a simple last step and added a "wow" factor to the final look.

Here's a look at our incredible, completed backsplash:

Can you believe the difference? And how professional it looks?! 

Those beautiful details!

I'm still in awe that this is what our kitchen backsplash has transformed into. I walk into this space smiling every day. My husband even admitted that this has been one of his favorite projects we've done because of how easy it was (Shh...don't tell him I told you so). He loves the final look, too!

If you take on a backsplash, ceiling, or wall panel project with Fasade from DIY Decor Store, please let me know. I would love to see how you transform your space with this easy-peezy DIY.

Thank you for following along.  And make sure to check out DIY Decor Store's Instagram for even more ideas and inspiration!