Painting the Kitchen

So I've decided that I want to redo my kitchen from a pink/blue/tan country flower type decor, to one more to my liking. Keeping in mind that the countertops are a pale blue, I had to work that into my new theme.

So I decided to go with this country bear that I have some potholders and towels for.

So the tan cabinets and blue countertops that are currently in the kitchen will work well with this new theme. However, there is some red in there that I wanted to bring out. So I decided to paint the "backsplash" a nice dark red color. Here's hoping it will turn out ok.

The following pictures are of the same corner of the kitchen, of different stages of my painting project today.

Here is the previous wallpaper that was in the kitchen. It was a light cream background with the pink and blue flowers all over it. Fine for my mother, but not so much for me.

Here is the same corner, after I moved things out of the way and peeled the paper off. It was contact paper, which is different from normal paper, being sticky on the back out of the wrapper. It pulled off fairly easily.
Next I went around with a steel scrubber and roughened up the paint that was there, trying to smooth it out. Then I went over it with a wet cloth to remove the dust I'd created. Next I took masking tape and taped off around the kitchen above and below where I wanted to paint.

First coat of paint, second coat of paint, outlet covers replaced. I think it turned out great!