Adding a country flair to my kitchen (i.e, chicken wire)

15 years ago

I am wanting to add a country flair to my kitchen. My wall color is Laura Ashley Olive 4, cabinets are that orangey oak we all love to hate. I have various antique plates on one wall giving it a bit of a country feel, but I want to take it a step further.

I fell in love with Reno Fan's chicken wire in her son's bathroom. Just too cool. I have 4 cabinets in my kitchen which have ugly glass inserts. The glass is frosted, and looks cheap. I am entertaining the thought of knocking out the glass and putting up chicken wire with fabric behind.

My question is this: Should I use the same fabric as the curtains in my kitchen? It is Waverly Mistral Red and even though I love the print, it may suck along with the chicken wire. Maybe too modern of a print with chicken wire, LOL? Or is it feasible to pick another fabric with similar colors and use that? Is there a do and don't when it comes to what fabrics to use with chicken wire?

Any suggestions? I love everyone's ideas but when I try to do my own I come up SHORT!

Comments (10)

brutuses
15 years ago
Is there anyway you can post some photo's? That always helps.
reno_fan
15 years ago
Wow, n2cookin, thanks!!

Here's one problem I ran into with the fabric behind the chicken wire when I was doing my son's bathroom. I bought this delicious fabric to use. The fabric I bought was very thick (not quite upholstery weight, but thicker than normal), and I was trying to get that shirred look.

Because the fabric was 1.) thick, and 2.) the shirring added even more volume, when the cabinet door was closed the fabric got smooshed flat right across the middle by the shelving that was pressing against the door.

I ended up having to use a very thin complementary fabric and lightly shir it so that it wouldn't have a big ol' smooshed section showing.

I also tried a toile fabric, but the whole pattern was lost with the shirring, and it just looked like a mish-mash of colors and patterns.

Just something to think about before you get it all cut and installed like I did!
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n2cookin
Original Author
15 years ago
I figured I couldn't do the "shirring" as it would definitely cause problems. Plus you'd almost need 8 hands to do it with. DH and I are clumsy enough with only 4! LOL

Is it a no-no to mix fabrics in a kitchen? What do you go by? Using similar colors? I do have plenty of the Waverly Mistral Red I could use. Just thought it may not be a print that goes with chicken wire. Should I just use the fabric (pull it tight) and forget the chicken wire? Whadya think Reno, you're the "artiste" here!

Can you tell I have cabin fever?
reno_fan
15 years ago
I don't think you can ever have too many fabrics! I love patterns and textures, and lots of different fabrics.

But I usually can't pick them out in advance. I'm sort of a "can't tell until I see it up" person.

What I bought thinking would be gorgeous just looked so-so, but the fabric I ended up using was just plain leftover fabric that ended up looking great.
lorriekay
15 years ago
how about Waverly Pantry Plaid for fabric.. it comes in red, green, blue and tan and I don't know what else.
It would be cute
uxorial
15 years ago
When we first moved into our house, the kitchen cabinets had fabric inserts (just in the upper cabinets). They didn't have chicken wire or glass. The fabric had been in there many years and was faded, so I wanted to make new inserts. I bought several different small pieces of fabric and tucked them into the cabinets for a couple weeks. It looked funny with all the different patterns, but it was a good way to audition the fabrics and decide what I really wanted. I chose a dark green fabric that had a tiny white print on it. (One of the fabrics I considered was an ivory background with a blue print of chicken wire on it!)

We remodeled the kitchen in 2004, and we no longer have the cabinets, but here's a couple photos of them when they were being stored in the basement:

And when they were still in place:

These cabinets were handmade, so they may have been put together differently than yours are. But basically, the cabinet door was just a frame, with no glass. The fabric had a "rod" pocket at both top and bottom and was shirred onto a thin, narrow piece of wood. The wood was nailed into the cabinet frame, using very tiny nails. I had to carefully remove the nails and wood "slats" when I redid the fabric.
n2cookin
Original Author
15 years ago
Oh uxorial, that is really cute! My cabinets are pretty close to those. I just know I want to get rid of the ugly frosted glass that's on them now. It looks like glass you see on RV cupboard or mobile home cupboards. Thank goodness it's not throughout the kitchen and only on the built-in sideboard. I've never seen the fabric with a chicken wire print, but ohhh that would be sooo much easier! Thanks!
uxorial
15 years ago
The fabric I've linked to below is different from the swatch I had, but it looks even more like chicken wire.

You may be able to find other chicken wire fabric thru a google search.

Here is a link that might be useful: chicken wire fabric
tiskers
15 years ago
OH! Go to a quilt shop, or search online quilt shops for "chicken wire" fabric. There are several really cute ones out there!!!
patty1297
15 years ago
I had glass doors and put a pretty checked fabric behind them. I always love the look of checked fabric to mix and match. Looks pretty and clean.

Adding a country flair to my kitchen (i.e, chicken wire)

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brutuses

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Adding a country flair to my kitchen (i.e, chicken wire)

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