My Crazy Junk Art Kitchen Cabinets

My kitchen cabinets were old and ugly! Now they're cool and funky! Find out how I used junk to add funk to my newly artsy kitchen!

Replacing our cabinet doors was too expensive. We tried entering Martha Stewart's kitchen makeover contest, but someone else won. Personally, I thought we had it in the bag.. oh well, I digress...

One day I couldn't take it anymore. I was determined to cover that ugly old wood and the chipping paint we had tried previously. Somehow. Some way.

This is the story of my funky, artsy-junky, and totally unique kitchen cabinet re-do. Though it is still a work in progress, I am gradually changing my kitchen into a work of altered art, scrap art or junk art. Whatever you might call it, my cabinets are a lesson in recycling, re-use, and creativity.

My style may be a bit wacky for some, but if you are an artsy person looking for a cheap alternative to conventional remodeling, this page might give you some interesting ideas. Also find junk-art books, ideas and resources.

I hope you enjoy seeing my crazy kitchen!

All photos on this page copyright 2008 - 2015, Janienne Jennrich
(no use, no how, without permission)

(You can't rush genius)

I got bored with my mis-matched ugly oak cabinets and one day just started gluing stuff to them and still haven't stopped! Actually, I sanded and painted a base coat of yellow and green on this door first, but I didn't care for the results.

My kitchen is a work in progress. I go through a LOT of glue - mostly Elmer's white glue (the "school" glue is too thin).

Most of my junk is actually junk, but I did buy the little fork from a scrap-booking store because it was so cute and cheap. The heart is a piece of broken jewelry.

Garage sales, thrift shops, and friends are great resources for interesting "junk." Now I look at junk mail differently, searching for interesting art, colors, and words to cut out for free. I also hoard teeny free trinkets, keys, stickers, scrapbook paper, playing cards, broken jewelry, game pieces and all kinds of stuff.

Broken dishes are an exciting opportunity!

Our cat broke one of my favorite teacups, so it ended up on this cabinet door, as well.

I stuck the broken edges into a piece of styrofoam with tons of white glue and kept building stuff around it to keep it secure. Once dry, I glued the back of the foam to the cabinet.

It's always easier to work flat, when gluing heavier things. If you want to try something like this, unscrew the doors from the cabinets and set them down on a table until glue and paint are completely dry.

I never really thought of myself as an artist until I started playing with designs on my kitchen cabinets. I have done a lot of crafting, but never anything very complex. Re-doing the cabinets helped make me start to think more creatively.

See more ideas on this page!

My Blocks Cabinet - Decorated with strange little domino-like blocks, which were a yard sale find.

This was the second cabinet I did. I glued the blocks on one by one (without a plan) and added a metal scrapbooking charm that says "create."

Alternatives to Paint Brushes:

Folded paper, old toothbrushes, cotton swabs, cut-up old t-shirts, paper towels, a plastic spatula, a comb, your fingers, feathers, tissues or tissue paper, wadded-up newspaper, leaves, or just about anything else you have laying around. Expect the item to get covered with paint, of course.

My "Metropolis Cafe" cabinet. I like the partial cat face on this one. This is decorated with mostly ripped paper, glue and beads. It helps to put a few 3-dimensional objects on, for interest, I think.

I came upon this cool site and I love making goodies to print for my junk art.

The site is http://www.mycoolsigns.net/en/flickr