Minor, err, major kitchen makeover

Well, as promised, I'm finally getting around to posting the results of the kitchen makeover I we (but mostly I :) ) did. Granted, we only changed one thing really. Hence, a minor makevoer. However, I think the new backspash makes such a statement that for me it feels like a MAJOR transformation. I went from feeling BLAH about this space to LOVING it. Loving. I actually WANT to clean it becuase I love it so much. It's still small, but I love it. It makes me happy. Okay, enough said. Here we go:

First, a reminder of what my kitchen looked like before:

Okay, I'll be honest, this isn't MY kitchen, its a pic from another townhome down the street thats for sale. But, I promise, colors and everything are exactly the same. I just forgot to take a "before" picture. The only one I had didn't really show much at all.

It took me about 17 trips to Home Depot (not literally, but close), a total of somewhere around 10-15 hours (I'm guessing, I didn't really keep track), and around $150 (TOTAL! Including the tools I didn't have!).

And this is what I ended up with:


As usual, I apologize for the crappy pictures. Ever since I lost my camera, I'm stuck with relying on my phone anytime I wanna snap a pic. As a result, these pics REALLY don't do the final space justice.
The acutal paint color is:

Saffron by Martha Stewart Living in semi-gloss. (I was SO nervous about buying anything but Sherwin Williams, but the sheen and cover was actually excellent!)

My inspiration came from Thrifty Decor Chick's blog

She also has a great tutorial on caulk and spackle (which I used TONS of for this project) here.
I've been SO obsessed with beadboard lately, I'm already searching for other places to put it. (Hint: the downstairs bathroom cabinets got a smidge of a wainscot facelift too :) )
I can't say enough how pleased I am with this project. Now, if I could just get those awful faucets changed out, I think I'll be in *tiny* kitchen heaven :)