I featured part of Kathy’s kitchen recently — spotlighting how she found resources to fix her vintage GE oven and electric range top here on the blog. But golly, I saved more wowza from her delightful kitchen for this second story: Kathy crafted her own decorative dishwasher panel — using an enlargement she made from the cover of her grandmother’s vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. The dishwasher panel not only suits her kitchen design to a tee, but it reflects the kitchen’s historic connection with Betty Crocker, too. Read on to see how Kathy completed this easy DIY, and for a peek at the other side of her perfect wood-yellow-red kitchen.
The dishwasher was a recent project of mine. My dishwasher works fine but it is 20 years old, and I wanted to do something to make it fit in more with the retro look. Having a budget of next to nothing I had to get my creative juices going. I thought about spray painting it yellow to match the oven/stove, but I didn’t want to chance the mess or doing it badly. Then I thought of those huge magnets for sale in the country magazines that decorate the front of dishwashers for $55. None of their decorator designs really satisfied the retro look I was looking for. But, it gave me the idea of covering the front panel with a picture of something retro. I thought about what would be fun and chose to pay homage to my grandma with a poster that I had made from her 1950’s Betty Crocker cookbook, which I still use today.
From the previous story, we learned that Kathy’s kitchen also has a wonderful connection to Betty Crocker. She told us:
…the original owner was a professional cook in the Betty Crocker test kitchens in Golden Valley, Minnesota at General Mills near my home.
This was also why Kathy wanted to rescue the stove — she wanted to retain that fascinating connection to Betty Crocker history. How cool — and what a great idea to carry the Betty Crocker homage to the dishwasher panel! Kathy continues with her DIY steps:
First, I had the cookbook scanned and made into a poster. Before cutting it to put on the dishwasher, I made a pattern first. To do this, I measured the dishwasher panels… I did the math to add the two panels together as one piece, so that my pattern could be split without losing some of the design… and then, I made a plain paper pattern.
Second, I laid the pattern on top of the poster to gauge where I wanted to cut my design… traced around the pattern with a pencil… cut out the pattern… and made sure to cut it a tiny bit smaller so it would stay within the edges of my dishwasher. Then I cut the poster into two pieces, one for each panel.
Third, I had the two pieces laminated at the local copy/office supply store, where the laminating is a little thicker and sturdier than normal office/school laminating. This made the new panels a little sturdier. I had them leave a 1/4 inch of laminate all around the edges of each piece when they cut it for me. The laminating was around about $10 for my project, but they charge by the size of your piece of paper so yours might be different.
Then last, I took the poster pieces home and had intended on attaching them with double stick tape since my original dishwasher panel is not magnetic.
But then, I discovered that my older style dishwasher’s panels have an edge over-lapping the panels — and my newly laminated pieces could slip under the metal edges without the use of any tape. A much better solution since there would be no gaps where water/mess could get under the new panel. I used the end of a flat blade screwdriver to help slip the laminated poster under the metal edges.
I stepped back to admire my new retro look and was pleased at the kitsch I had created! I think this method could be used for posters, old wallpaper, children’s artwork, or even enlarge an old family photo to poster size at the warehouse club for cheap — and put grandma herself on your dishwasher!
Thank you, Kathy. What a fabulous project, and you know I love love love the Betty Crocker history. Also, your sense of design is awesome, in terms of color and scale, the decorative panel “works” perfectly in your kitchen!
Note: Before running this story, I checked with the PR folks at General Mills, owners of Betty Crocker, to make sure they thought that making an enlargement from their cookbook for a personal project like this was okay. They responded that they thought it was a fun project and gave me the green light. Thanks for the luv, General Mills!
Martha says
I love your idea. And I also love the upper cabinets in your retro kitchen. Unlike most of them, which have the closed-in soffit above standard-sized cabinets, you have even more upper cabinet space. What a great kitchen.
Karen says
Kathy, that is pure genius! My cupboards are the same natural as yours and there’s no way I can get a dishwasher to match the brown original oven, so I am on this like a fruitfly on spilled jam.
kathy says
Karen, this is a fun little project and I’m so glad it seems to have inspired retro readers. Just think, once you make the first one, you could make a different one to change it out for the holidays or seasons too!
Michael says
That is such a great idea– I’m inspired. Maybe a blow-up of a vintage detergent ad could work well in my own kitchen…
kathy says
Michael, great idea! The possibilities are endless… ads, photos, page from magazine or book, rock n roll posters, wallpaper, owner’s manuals… I once photo copied a vintage baby blanket for a scrapbook I was making so maybe even fabric scanned and made into a poster would work!
dipsterdeb says
Adorable! My mom just passed away 2 wks ago and maybe she wouldn’t mind looking over my kitchen from the dishwasher. Believe me, I can use all the help I can get in there! I am one who would rather paint it than cook in it. She was an excellent cook & I could use a few pointers for sure!
kathy says
dipsterdeb: I’m so sorry for your loss. I think it would be wonderful to have something around the kitchen to remind you of your Mom. My next project is with that in mind… I am looking thru old photos and slides to find a few pictures of the women in my family cooking in THEIR kitchens. Then maybe I will make a display on the kitchen wall/backsplash of small frames with them. Grandma, Mom, Aunties, maybe even Dad making summer sausage in the basement at the farm…??? Good memories.
dipsterdeb says
Hi Kathy,
Was just getting back to this idea, when I read your response. I am also planning to paint over a large floral border in my kitchen, first with magnetic paint & then with chalkboard paint. The idea is to be able to decorate it with magnets, and/or writing/drawing. This would keep the fridge uncluttered. I did this with chalkboard paint in my son’s room so that I wouldn’t need to repaint the whole room because of a large insect themed border that he had outgrown. It already had an upper and lower edge so I just used painter’s tape along the lines and painted the middle with chalkboard paint. Now he’s able to write or draw whatever he likes on it. I just don’t know if the paper of the border will hold up to a coat of each paint. This idea could work for a back splash if you had magnets made from the photos. Then you could change them around as you pleased.
Thanks for sharing your dishwasher project. I hope to complete it soon. Where did you have the poster made? Someplace like Staples or a photo printing service like Shutterfly?
Lisa says
This is SO, SO NEAT! I can’t believe how professional and GORGEOUS the finished product looks. Major snaps! 🙂
Janet says
Love this look! I don’t have a dishwasher in this house but I sure would do that if I had one! I don’t know about other makes, but many people don’t realize that the GE front panels are changeable. You can remove the trim and switch it out. The older dishwashers actually had two panels in the door; you could change it from white to black or from avocado to gold, etc. At some point I am not sure of, they changed it to one panel but it was reversible from black to white or almond to white, etc. I am sure if you checked with an appliance store they might take one in similar to yours, and I would think that they would be happy to give you panels off the junked ones to make different panels to change the look. I often pirated parts off of them such as wood chopping block tops or racks. I confess, I am a dumpster diver!
kathy says
Janet, I think when I bought the dishwasher years ago you could get different colored panels. Your resourcefulness is great! Around here, dumpster divers were called “dump pickers” back in the retro years.
Janet says
Kathy, I am almost SURE that the dishwashers with two panels above and below, like yours, had the two front inserts. At least the GE ones did. I know now most dishwashers don’t even have the trim but have a single wraparound front panel, so they are of course not reversible. But I would bet your trim comes off and yours is!
Kathy says
Thanks for your wonderful blog about my dishwasher Pam! I hope this inspires others to love the “kitchen” your in! Even if you can’t do a big remodel, small things make your home personal and like no one else’s.
Patty says
Beautiful kitchen. Wonderful valances on the widows. Just yummy!
Thanks for sharing.
Kathy says
Thanks Patty! The valances are from “Country Porch” but I ordered them from their catalog a couple years ago. I wanted that fruit tablecloth look but I have 3 windows and couldn’t find enough old tablecloth to make that many curtains.
pam kueber says
Hi Kathy, Thanks for the info on where you bought the curtains — I had noticed them too and had meant to ask you. Perfecto!
Elaine says
That is just a perfect look for that beautiful kitchen. I love the creativity. Now I want one for my 20+ year old dishwasher. I hope I have a vintage cookbook in the right colors.
lynda says
So many very clever people on this site! This is perfect for her kitchen and crafted with perfection. Good job! I think she could have a business doing this.