Like many homeowners, Jessie wanted to make some changes to her kitchen but she didn’t want to spend a lot of money doing it. She and her family have lived in their home for about 5 years, and a budget kitchen update was needed.
Painting the cabinets was the first order of business. “We have a lot of white and grays in our home and so we wanted a more cohesive look for the rest of the house,” she says. But the newly painted cabinets made the white appliances look “dingy.” Jessie looked for sales and ultimately found some gently used stainless steel appliances on Craigslist to add to the new look. The couple also added concrete countertops.
A few browsing sessions on Pinterest later, Jessie was convinced the kitchen needed a little something extra. “A backsplash can just add so much,” she says. She knew she wanted a white backsplash and chose Aspect Peel & Stick 3×6 metal tiles in white. Although Ben is considered more of the “handier” of the two, and Jessie is more obsessed with the designing and decorating aspect of a project, installation was a breeze.
“For my first backsplash, it was great!” she says. “I drew the lines on the walls to make sure it was going to be level and the peel and stick application was so easy. I think it turned out really nice.”
Jessie is very pleased with how the kitchen looks today. “This project started with us saying we’d just do a little bit and then it turned into a whole remodel,” she says. “We are really happy with how it turned out.”
If your garage floor looks like a Jackson Pollock painting from all the stains that have settled in over the years, don’t despair. You can remove unsightly oil stains over a weekend. Here we’ll learn how to get stains out of concrete — all you need are a couple of easy-to-find materials and a little bit of muscle to get it looking like new again.
Concrete is a porous material so it’s best to try and remove a spot as quickly as you can. If the spill is still wet, try and soak up as much of the liquid as possible with paper towels. Don’t rub, as the liquid can settle in and do more harm than good.
For older oil stains, there are different schools of thought on what type of solution to use. Trisodium phosphate, or TSP, seems to work well. After protecting your eyes and donning gloves, get a bucket and mix 1 oz. of TSP with water and an absorbent material like talcum powder, or follow the specific directions on the bottle.
Test
Once the solution has been mixed, do a test on an inconspicuous area because some cleaners can leave a different type of stain. Spread the paste onto the stain. Use a stiff, wire brush to scrub the stain. The mixture will soak into the concrete, capture the oil and bring it to the surface. Next, sprinkle cat litter or diatomaceous earth over the stain to pull more out. Note: you will have to crush the kitty litter into the concrete for it to work as an absorbent. See how here, which compares different stain removal methods.
Scrape the residue away or sweep it up after about 15 minutes. Rinse the area with a hose or bucket of water. Stubborn stains may require additional applications, so you may need to repeat the process more than once.
Have a good way to remove stubborn stains from concrete? Please share it in the comments!
