And by YOU, I mean my kitchen.
I’m slipping in this non-spring cleaning post to vent for a minute. I could use your brilliance! Do you have an older kitchen or a new one? When we first moved into our home, I knew the room we’d renovate first would be the kitchen. It was prime renovation material– great bones, terrible decor!
Five years later, it’s the only room we’ve barely touched. First the master bathroom broke, then we got to be on a HGTV show so the sunroom was renovated, then I had Noodle so the nursery got decorated, then the other bathroom broke, then Bee came along (another nursery!) and most recently our living room needed serious help. The kitchen kept getting bumped down, and now we’ve sunk so much money into everything else a major renovation of it just doesn’t make sense.
Here’s how the room looked during our home inspection before we moved in (it’s a picture of a picture because I’m too lazy artsy to just scan the photo itself).
Arg! See what I mean? They had just renovated it a few years before we bought it and chosen grooved oak cabinets and green laminate counters. Double arg! So instead of seething in silence, I thought I’d turn to you guys and break down the ten things I hate about my kitchen. Feel free to join in on the discussion! You know you want to come over and start ripping things out.
Here’s the latest photo of my kitchen, for reference:
1. The cabinets.
They are grooved. They are oak. They are grooved oak. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? It would take too much energy and time to paint them, so I’m thinking of just replacing the handles. Why, yes, those are brass handles I spray painted silver the first week we moved in here! Did the chipped paint tip you off?
2. The counters. Forest green laminate, to be exact.
I don’t even know what to say about them. What I wouldn’t give for sleek granite. Until then, this 90’s remnant continues to make adding in another color next to impossible. Maybe some Le Creuset on the counters or stove would brighten them up? That green is so difficult to decorate around!
3. The broken water dispenser.
Why not a sprayer? I don’t know. There’s a water dispenser in the fridge. This one doesn’t work. It just sits there, taking up space. I’d love to utilize that area for storing my dish soap.
4. The barstools.
Another relic. Florida circa 1990, anyone?
{no photo. Trust me, you don’t want to see them).
5. The lack of storage space.
This is my pantry. Looks are deceiving. It’s actually very shallow, the wall juts out behind it so it’s about 2 cans of soup in depth. I know I shouldn’t complain, not all homes have a closet or pantry in the kitchen. But most of my friends have them, so I suffer from some serious pantry envy.
6. Lack of window coverings.
I used to have a valance here but it was looking worse for the wear. The sun also gets really strong during the afternoon and even the blinds don’t block out the intense rays. I’d like a roman shade or something besides a useless valance.
7. Random oak display shelves.
I’d have no problem with them if I didn’t hate the oak cabinets so much. Do I leave them? Add a background, maybe in paper? Any ideas to make them look better?
8. “Art”.
Why do I have this? I don’t know. They aren’t that bad, but I usually like to have art that has meaning. I have a great idea for something to replace them, but finding the time is another matter. Until then, random coffee cup art is here to stay.
9. Random photos.
I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you, but that photo frame above the table has my cat, our feet {at the beach} and a few other weird photos of my husband and I. Because that’s what people want to see when they look at our kitchen wall… a cat and sandy toes.
10. Did I mention the cabinets? Oh, yes, I guess I did. How about the appliances, all white? At least they match, but I’d be lying if I said I loved them. Like granite, I suffer from appliance envy. Stainless steel, could you come visit my kitchen?
Go ahead. Hate on my kitchen in the comments. It won’t mind, I promise!
I agree that painting the cabinets would be time consuming, but wouldn’t the reward be worth it? I think they would look great painted white. Then you can play up the dreaded green counters and use that as your accent color. I don’t know about the stove, but I’ve seen fridges that were painted with an appliance spray paint to look stainless, maybe that’s an option. I also see a nice looking addtion to a fridge, it made it look like a pantry door, I’ll try to dig it up. Maybe the kitchen should be the summer project? As a plus you can grill during the summer, so it doesn’t have to be such a tight timeline. 🙂
Here it is
http://theoldpaintedcottage.com/pages/Kitchen.htm
ps when you google fridge makeovers you get some interesting results, lol
I would be adding a trim to those cabinets so they look less rustic?! And I would for sure take the time to paint them! If you hate the way they look you will spend way more time thinking about how much you don’t like them than it would take to paint them!
I have that same green laminate on our kitchen countertops and am ready to tear it all out, too!!!! 🙂
Sorry no suggestions but I know how you feel. We have an old kitchen too. Since we have two small kiddos I can’t live without a kitchen for six months while we update it so we’re just living with it…ugh
Randi, now you’ve seriously got me thinking about painting the cabinets! That’s a great idea– do it during the summer. We have a deck to eat and grill out on… oh now, I sense a huge project coming!
P.S.- as for funny google searches, when I got married I wanted to create hydrangea kissing balls to hang on the end of the pews. You can not even imagine the google results I got when I tried to search for a tutorial. I cried.
Good point, Brittanie! I should use all that energy I’ve spent hating them and just paint them.
N, I know, what is it with green in our houses? Your kitchen is much less offensive though… you’ve decorated it so nicely!
I never tell other people what to do in their kitchens…but if it was mine I’d be loving those grooved cabinets! I’d take the time and pain them a shade close to the counter top green, put some non-paint chipped brushed silver handles all over them, and put some brushed silver framed artwork in there and WALLAH!! Beauty! 🙂 {Truth is, and maybe it’s just me, but I think your kitchen looks great the way it is too!…except for the artwork. ^_^}
Ooooo I love big projects! We reno’ed our kitchen last year – huge project, well worth it!
Here is what I would do/consider:
-I would consider painting the cabinets either a sage or antique white. The grooved details are nice and add character. If you don’t want to paint them yourself, you can easily hire out the job. It would still be cheaper than refacing or replacing the cabinets.
-I would look into granite countertop options. Sometimes you can find a great deal on remnants but if you need a lot, sometimes going directly to a quarry/stone seller, you can get a great deal. We found our granite for $11.00 a square foot by going directly too the quarry. Then we just paid a fabrication and install cost.
-If granite is too costly you should look at concrete, it is affordable and when polished – looks fabulous.
-If that is still outside of the budget, you could paint your formica. Home improvement stores sell a paint for laminate, at least you could neutralize the look a little more.
– To add more pantry space, and if this were a large project, I would consider adding cabinets along the wall where your table is and if you have the room float your table in the middle of your kitchen/eating area.
-To add more color and pizazz, I always purchase outdoor rugs for my kitchen. That way if something gets spilled, I take it outside, spray it off with the hose, and let it dry. No biggie 🙂 It adds color and pattern to a room that is hard to work that kind of detail into.
-Oh, and I am sure you already know this with all your home reno experience, but always check Overstock.com…. I bought an 18-gauge, insulated, undermount sink for %65 off (make sure to check with your countertop supplier, sometimes they throw in a free undermount with purchase. We had them apply it as a credit since we wanted to pick out our own sink) and our faucet (ORB) for about $100 – let me tell ya, it is heavy and quite a nice piece. I imagine it would have been $200-$250 at a big box store. So you may be able to pinch your pennies by going that route.
I agree with another commenter, plan on doing this late spring and you will be able to eat outside while this is going on. It helps a lot!
Can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve.
I’m currently near the end of making over our kitchen. We DID paint the cupboards and it IS time consuming. If you chose to do this, buy oil based primer. If you do this then you do not have to rough the wood up. Make sure you get good paint, not cheap or it will chip. We ended up getting paint made for cabinets and trim.
I agree with others, when I first saw it, I naturally thought of painting them white. After reading other suggestions here is what I would do with it. Paint them the antique white and paint the trim at the top a sage color. This will help the green counter tops. (The one thing we are not doing right now, maybe the end of the year because we did the floors instead.) You could even paint the little shelves (not the edge) sage. As for your handles…definitely update them but I am not sure about the silver. With the antique white I don’t think the silver will pop for you.
I found when painting our cupboard doors, it took 2 hours for the primer to dry then you can paint the color…another 2 hours later paint prime on the other side…2 hours later paint the color. My kitchen table was able to hold 5-7 doors at a time (plastic on top of the table), it took me about 45 minutes to paint them each time. It’s not a fast project but I am very happy with ours.
Let me tell ya! I would KILL for your kitchen!I have three cabinets…just to have the amount of space you have! It is huge and I could do so much with those shelves near the sink! Display your pretties on them!! Could you maybe find a little storage cabinet for extra pantry space? Just a thought!
Carrie, your kitchen just need some paint, and that includes the countertops.
http://uglyducklinghouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-painted-my-kitchen-countertops.html
The cabinets would have a great beadboard vibe, and if the appliances work, paint them too! For $200 you’d have a whole new space.