WOW! Small changes = huge impact!

Those colors are way too bold for my taste, but if they love it, more power to them. If it was me I would have gone up a couple lighter tones on the same paint strip.

Great job! Can't believe his landlord let him do it.

@EK76 - I've always just done things without asking. At worst I would lose my security deposit - which is absolutely worth it to not live in an ugly depressing space

My landlord also lets me paint whatever I want, with the caveat that when I move out I'll probably have to paint it all back to dull. Worth the expense to not live in a beige nightmare!

Wow, what an improvement! The "before" looks cold and unfriendly. The after looks funky and welcoming. The new floor is light-years better and the landlord must be delighted. The colors are a touch brighter than my personal preference but it really works in the space. That open pantry shelving is pretty sweet, and the built-in drainboard is too -- I'm jealous!

Another nice touch might be under-cabinet lighting, especially right over the sink. Doesn't have to be anything fancy; Ikea has this plug-in (my friends have one over their sink and it's great). There are even battery-powered options.

(Grammar police: "compliment" should be "complement" in the last sentence.)

It's refreshing to see an inexpensive, simply executed makeover, not someone trying to copy the style from pages of a magazine. Simple, yet transformed!

Are you kidding me? This is awesome! GREAT job, Lee!

Absolutely fabulous changeover. The color on the walls is perfect NYC~ and the flooring is excellent to go along with that~ in fact, you've now given me an idea to do the same thing, though I no longer live in NYC. I'm out in Ohio and with thedreary winters here for 7 months out of the year just about), our floors could really use some sprucing up!!

Well you sure put sparkle in your rental. Love the turquoise blue upper cabinets. If I can just say, I have a pet-peeve when folks use their refrigerators as message boards, but I know, that's my issue. Love the floors too. Nice job!

To MOBINUX. If you have nothing but MEH to comment, don't post. Not necessary to be mean.

Very cheerful! I like it!

This is certainly post-worthy, I can't believe anyone would say it isn't! The kitchen looks so much better, bright and vibrant.

I agree, great post. It's nice to see something that the average renter can relate to. This is "apartment therapy" after all. Great makeover!

Great job! I would urge you to paint the bottom cabinets though -- something from California Paints red accent card -- DEA102-106. Striking Red maybe? Would look awesome!

Very charming. Love the color combination!

Thanks for the post! Practical, simple solutions are attractive to me. Placing the floor tiles at an angle was such a good idea. And! I noticed that the upper and lower cabinet hardware don't match--which makes me happy. I see a lot of perfect, matched homes across the interwebs and this shows that a real person lives there. Good job, Lee!

Great post. This is the sort of thing I want my landlord to let me do in my flat. I wish, i wish. Also it's so great to see a post that's a realistic transformation in a real life apartment. Lovely.

With paint nowadays, it's getting easier to cover bright colors if need be. I have to say, I like it, I also think a curtain with the same colors incorporated in say a flowery pattern would pull it all together.

I love this. The color is intense, but used sparingly, and there's lot of white to rest your eye on. And the floor is spectacular - well worth $90 and however long it took you. Well done.

I second the comment above that says the landlord must be thrilled with that floor -- massive upgrade. (And yo, landlords, look how easy that is, why wait for proactive tenant to take in his own hands?!)
I love to see projects like this featured on Apartment Therapy. Small- to medium- DIY effort and financial outlay can actually make a difference in a home, and I find that inspiring in a way that professionally done, $20,000 overhauls aren't.

I will add to the chorus of commenters applauding this post for highlighting an upgrade that should be well within reach of a lot of renters and makes a lot of impact with a few small changes.

I am curious to know how difficult this self-adhesive flooring is to install for anyone who's worked with it. Can you buy something similar at Lowe's or Home Depot? I'd love to try something similar on my tiny closet kitchen.

Hot water peels paint? Never heard of this.

@Tinyhands, I don't know about just placing the hardware in a bowl of hot water. But we have removed 100 years' worth of caked-on paint from our door hinges with the help of a slow cooker. We purchased a cheap one from Craigslist (don't do this in a cooker that you use for food!), placed hinges in the slow cooker and covered with water, and cooked on "low" overnight. The next morning the paint peels off. We found this tip in This Old House magazine.

Great investment for $90! And, the color is probably a reflection of the renter's personal taste - bold for some but perfect for him (I might have done the bottom cabinets too, since it's such a contrast between the blue and white)

I love this.
I would have painted the lower cabinets too, and ruined the whole thing. I think keeping the lower cabinets white makes for a nice smooth flow of color, bright cheerful stripe of turquoise above and a white swath uniting the appliances and cabinets on the bottom.
I was not seeing the avocadoo working until a previous poster mentioned some color unifying curtains on the windows. That would look fabulous!
The diagonal checked floor looks modern and fresh with the bold colors. Truly inspirational to those of us on budget and stuck in the rental market for the foreseeable future.

The landlord should kiss Lee's feet for replacing that floor.

I think it looks great. And why wouldn't a landlord want you to do something that improves the space?

Wow, what a way to brighten up my day and I don't even live there! Great job, it just makes me super-happy with those fun colors and it's nice to see such a huge impact on a small budget :)

I adore those cabinets and the floor. I love seeing low-cost things you can do (maybe) in rentals. I live in a rental and am on a budget... sometimes AT is beyond me, but this is inspiring.

Really loving the bold color choices!

Man! That is inspiring! My landlord asked what flooring I wanted in the bathroom and I requested this floor! He couldn't find them in Vancouver! That, or they were somehow too expensive here!? You did an awesome job here!!!! Worth every penny!

The link for California Paints Riviera isn't working. Can you send it?

The handles on the lower cabinets are priceless--so fun. Thanks for saving them. I'm not a big fun of open shelving (living with it right now while I refinish my kitchen's 43 cabinet doors ...) and I wish there were another color behind all the pantry stuff. Maybe a marigold? Periwinkle? Chrome yellow?

@MCB in MD-
Good tip. I overlooked that it was the hardware. A cheap, dollar-store saucepan on the stovetop sounds like it would work too.

Every hinged door or cabinet in my home has 30 years of layer upon layer of paint. Unfortunately, they're cheap brass underneath, so I'm replacing them with nickel anyway.

The flooring was purchased at Lowe's (probably available at home depot as well). The cabinet color wasn't what I was originally going for, but it quickly grew on me and I think looks better in person, especially with natural light. (California Paints DE5753) The hardware on the cabinets was put in very hot water and after 15 minutes the paint peeled off easily. It appeared to be latex paint which made it easy to remove. Here's where the idea came from: http://manhattan-nest.com/2011/11/03/black-doors/. And the before picture was from the day I moved in. That explains the un-lived-in feel. Thanks!

Love it!
I have always wondered why people are so afraid of their landlords- you can always return things to the way they were- or ask the next tenant if they want to have your improvements, I'm sure most will. And many landlords are glad of the improvements too.

This is wonderful. I like the colors and accessories, but I'm a pushover for floors like that.

Dear Toastercat, kindly consider asking your landlord for permission to make changes or improvements.

Your security deposit isn't there for you to spend as you please. It is there as in insurance policy should you leave the unit damaged or should you just decide to move out and disappear.

Perhaps your place was beige because your landlord thought it would be easier to rent that way. (It is.) But most landlords are quite interested in having happy renters. The happier you are, the longer you stay.

Asking is more than just polite - and more than just required by the lease you hopefully signed. It lets the landlord know you want to make the house a home. I bet they would be happy to help you do that in a way that preserves the value of their investment property.

seeing the blue on just the top cabinets looked like a lonely horizontal stripe until the next pic showed a green vertical to balance the room. it is enough & not too much, especially w/1 item per decade to unite.

This is great because those areas can easily be painted back with white paint.

My first apartment that I moved into with my friends in college looked similar. We put in a black and white stick on tile floor and painted the cabinets this bright blue color! LOVED IT! Miss that apartment even though it was a dump and we shared it with little roaches. Ah... memories!

Great job! I second the curtain idea, maybe two panels of this IKEA fabric http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80208614/

What a difference! Love the accent colors with the black & white tiles.

I avoid color except for art and the exterior doors, life is complicated, I'm visual and they're calming, but very tempting kitchen. So very fresh and exciting!

Wow!! I love what you did! Very fresh and happy...a home to come home to! Good for you!

Vinegar also works great for removing old paint from hinges. Just soak them in full strength white vinegar over night, and off it comes. Dispose of vinegar carefully because it probably has lead in it.

Looking at the open pantry, I see there is space to hang a pull-shade. Wondered if hanging a pull-down curtain in another solid fabric over the messy pantry supplies would give it a less cluttery look. Especially because the floor is so patterned, and cooking essentials are cluttered (but useful) over the stove-top. Easy to do, and it can be pulled down as needed when pantry is not in use. What cha think?

Love the improvements but I personally am not a fan of two colors of cabinets...it looks unsettling to me but to each her own..mg