apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

from the picture, it looks like the area above the dark cabinets is yellow, i would paint it white, like bright white b/c the space looks a little dark, maybe add more overhead lighting and under cabinet lighting, change the cabinet hardware to something clear and acrylic, like long cylinders or solid bars maybe get a tablecloth for the peninsula in a bright red or something - i would keep the walls light and just accent with color

I think the first thing I'd do is to remove that peninsula in the middle of the kitchen - It's not buying you that much storage and appears to just be in the way.

Secondly, I'd replace the dated and worn grey laminate countertops and blue backsplash tiles with something more modern - depending on your budget, plain white laminate or solid surface counters but without the 4" strip at the back, and a glass mosaic tile backsplash: perhaps a mix of white, cream and red? Some undercabinet lighting would be a great addition as well...

I'd replace the 70's cabinet hardware with something simple in brushed nickel to coordinate w/ your stainless steel sink - and get a new more modern brushed chrome faucet. Also replace the range hood with a microwave/hood to free up the counter space. I'd also box in that vent pipe above the cabinets with a soffit. Leave the doors on the cabinets - but definitely paint the walls, perhaps a nice pale teal and use red accessories for your accents?

Where the peninsula is now, I'd get a shallow and tall freestanding cabinet w/ glass upper doors - perhaps in a painted finish (Red? White?) to display glassware or set up as a little coffee bar or wine bar, depending on your preferences.

I agree with the poster who said to paint the walls a brighter white. It looks like the backsplash is a dark blue, right? I happen to like dark wood, navy and white. It's almost a nautical feeling (no anchors, just that kind of vibe.) Can you add a darker glaze ove the existing cabinets to give them more depth? That and some new nickel hardware would look sharp. What's killing me is the countertop. It really dates the room. If you're planning to keep that general layout, would you invest in some solid surface counters?

BTW: I just noticed that you have an Orange Kitchenaid Mixer - so make your accent colors for the tile, accessories etc. orange rather than red - and the wall colors medium grey-blue rather than teal.

I really think you should paint the cabinets, which is not what you want to do.

You may also remove the cabinet doors and paint the back of the cabinets.

Paint the crap out of it. Warm creams and whites onall your cabinets inside and out will show off that gorgeous blue tile back splash nicely. I would keep the doors. Open shelving creates a lot of dust FYI. I personally only have 4 small open shelves for platters. Highly decorative, and useful to grab things, but they get very dusty. Trust me, use a power sprayer. Then change up your hardware and faucet and you're done!! If you have the money, lose the laminate and get butcher block, an affordable and gorgeous alternative. It requires oiling but it's WELL worth it if you cook a lot. Can you also get rid of those chairs? They look like they've seen better days, if you know what I mean ;)

What fun!!!!

Post after pics!!!

I would actually paint the walls a darker color - I'm thinking a mushroom - so as to play down the difference between the lightness of the walls and the cabinet's darkness. It'll make the cabinets a little more subdued. Since replacing the countertop involves taking out the sink, I'd merely replace the countertop to the island with something dark and perhaps flecked with some dark brown and blue to tie everything together. Add some new contemporary nickel pulls on the cabinets (Home Dept has some really cheap 10-packs that are quite nice) and it'll look brand new, but remain inexpensive. I actually think it doesn't look bad as is, but totally understand the desire to push it forward.

I think since you're looking for something quick and relatively easy and cheap, you should paint the walls a bright, crisp white as others have suggested, and replace the cabinet handles with white ceramic or nickel hardware. Removing the cabinet doors and lining the insides with white contact paper (or something like that) would also brighten things up a lot.

I also like the idea of using bright, punchy orange accents. Neutrals just drag down the navy and dark wood. Those stools could be replaced with ones that are more minimalist, modern (like these) in white and chrome.

Looking again, another option for the island would be to paint it a navy blue to match the tiles, and put a butcher block countertop on it. Ikea has butcher block for cheap.

Getting rid of that peninsula is a no-brainer. I agree that another type of free-standing cabinet could definitely go there...a wine rack, bar cart, or even an ikea kitchen cart. (looks like you might have a steel cart in your current kitchen?) I like the blue tile, and I'm inclined to take off the cabinet doors, and paint the backs. Definitely change out hardware anyplace where you're keeping doors. Brightening would be helpful, but you can do that with great lighting, both overhead and under cabinets, and I'd lean towards color on the wall. Maybe a really bright ochre? Whiter, updated countertops, with maybe a steel backsplash and bringing in more steel with the cart, and with other accents., like your orange stand mixer. It's work, but it's not hopeless!

Heather here -- i apparently failed to mention that our new kitchen is a RENTAL. Thanks again, everyone!

Why don't you take the doors of the cabinets? Line the shelves and paint the back of the cabinets with an accent color or something like that. It'll brighten things up by taking some of the dark wood out.

I'm with bepsf!!

The only way to make the cabinets look less dark and massive is to make everything around them darker. The white counter is easier to replace than painting the cabinets, and less expensive. Ditch the peninsula entirely, and flood the kitchen with lighting.

The cabinets look like they are in great shape, a good murphys oil soap washing and new hardware will help quite a bit. Removing a couple of doors, maybe the ones flanking the sink, could help. Consider painting the kitchen the same blue as the backsplash. This will make all the white accents look brighter. I would paint the peninsula white also. It's a nice kitchen. Good luck!

A rental???

Then I wouldn't bother doing anything other than painting the walls...

Yes, the peninsula is hurting my eyes, it has to go bye, bye.

Looking at the pictures of your current kitchen, I think you might not ever be happy with the dark wood? Are you sure you don't have the energy to paint? My experience has taught me that I now wish I had painted the kitchen when we moved in, when everything was in boxes and a mess anyway, because now it seems like it would be a nightmare undertaking (and we are only talking a few square feet of wall).

The blue tiles with your existing orange accents and everything white sounds like a pretty nice kitchen to me.

Peninsula out, paint everything white, exchange hardware, tadaah!

And if you have any energy left you might even epoxy the counter top!

ditto with "slowdown"s suggestions. orange accents (especially with that AWESOME mixer) are the way to go, with crisp white walls.

going back on what i said earlier. take of the cabinet doors. they're weighing everything down.

oh, ok, i posted while you wrote it was a rental...that obviously changes everything.

Are you even allowed to get rid of the horrific peninsula?

Ugh. Well, yeah, in that case, just paint the walls white and change the hardware.

Yeah, if it's a rental, just paint the walls white (assuming painting is okay), switch out the hardware (you can always switch it back), and get some cute curtains (I would go with sheer white panels to let in as much light as possible). Oh, and different barstools. Some artwork over the peninsula might help too, to break up that big expanse of wall.

The blue tile is nice and I think it will look good with the orange accessories you already own.

i agree with painting the walls superwhite and giving the cabinets a good cleaning with murphy's or whatever you normally use as well as replacing the hardware. the navy and orange (of your kitchenaid) will look fabulous together--perhaps you can find a cute print (maybe even something vintage-y from sunkist or similar for kitsch factor) to be framed and hung above the island. add a pair of barstools (i believe ikea and west elm have some moderately priced models) and voila.

it's clean, well maintained and has a ton of cabinet space. not so bad...

A rental, huh? I would still paint the walls a mushroom grey (if painting is allowed), replace the pulls http://tinyurl.com/3olc2y , and still get an ikea butcher block to cover the island counter. What you can do is nail a lip along its bottom edge with just some pine and it'll hold it in place and cover the current counter. You can also secure it with a couple screws into the wall through a wider piece of pine to cover the backsplash. Some matchstick blinds might help the windows too.

nothing says you can't buy new cabinet doors. store the ones you have till you move out and then pop them back on. As long as you don't split the wood on the cabinet with multiple screwing and unscrewing and are willing to front the expense for new doors, you should be fine. Personally, I'd leave the ones below waist level cabinets as is, and swap out the upper doors for some frosted glass ones with lighter colored frames (light blue, light orange or just white). and if you're going for the orange accent theme, cut out some cute small shapes in orange contact paper and stick them to some of the tiles on the backsplash.

walls a light juicy orange or creamy lemon color, bowed satin nickel pulls, and a cute magnetic dishwasher panel like this one:

http://www.stylehive.com/bookmark/VIN%C3%87ON--Original-Panel-26991

note: I really tried, but cannot find out where to purchase the panel from vincon but I think you can search for something similar on ebay.

then, I would just get some orange or yellow accents and just be cute and happy in your fresh new space :)

http://www.vincon.com/WebCommerce/Sistema/200606/inicio.asp?MiTienda=100397&MiIdioma=EN&Menu=0&MiSeleccion=SelecB&MiCabecera=Bestsellers

If you happen to love coffee...

Love your current kitchen, so am sure you will do something equally fun in your new one!

Here's my 2 cents worth though...

Hmm, if it is a rental, I would try to ask the owner whether he/she would be willing to let you update the cabinets by painting them... If you can get away with it, maybe paint the bottoms a charcoal grey (or a lighter grey or white), and the uppers a white.

I'd paint the walls a crisper (non-yellow) white, take the doors to the uppers off, and paper the inside with something bright turquoise to lighten the feel from the dark blue tiles.

Is it possible to put your microwave into the peninsula? (we have ours under our island -- works great!)

I would wallpaper the wall with the peninsula in this paper:

http://www.wallpaperdirect.co.uk/products/cole-son/malabar/25187

It look great with white, looks great with dark wood, lightens up the blue, and would be a fresh, fun look. (just one teeny tiny wall -- surely the landlord would let you!)

Good luck!

Your cabinet faces are outdated. I like the idea of removing top cabinets and replacing with sleek open shelves that span the whole length of the "L" shaped kitchen.

Depending on budget your tiles are outdated as well. How did these people sell you on this place? haha

if you can rip out tile that would be great as well. I think you should paint bottom cabinets as well as replace the doors. Update your hardware to something more modern.

If budget is small a simple white subway tile can replace the blue and I strongly recommend painting over the yellow unless you do a vibrant color above suggested subway tile to act as an accent whereas here it is not.

As far as accents and having fun with the kitchen. I am really a fan of chalk paint right now as a DIY for kitchens. I think the wall with the peninsula would be a great place for this once the peninsula is removed.

If the counter top is in mint condition I say why not keep it. counters can take a lot out of a budget. Better yet, save that project for a later date. If it fits into the budget to replace it a dark slate color of a solid surface would go nicely against the white subway tile and tie in with suggested chalk wall. I cant ttell waht your floor is but I am also into painting large squares of white and any other color like soft blues or tomato red (checkered) floors. If you do something like this than keep all walls neutral and light.

If you are dead set on not painting the cabinets than everything else MUST be updated and lightened to offset them.

It is a dark kitchen so lightening it up is your goal here. Dark cabinets are going to work against you.

Hope you got some great tips from everyone.

L

I moved into a house with the same exact kitchen setup, dark cabinets and all - minus the peninsula thing which, I agree, must go. Oh, and my ugly dark cabinets went to the ceiling which really cramped the place. I took the doors off the cabinets, painted the inside of each cabinet an unusual accent color, lined almost the whole back of each cabinet with a mirror (so the accent color bordered the mirrors) and painted the adjustable shelves the same accent color - top, bottom and front edge. It got rid of 90% of the cabinet doors (the corner cabinets kept their doors) and seriously brightened the kitchen while making it appear larger. The dark wood became an accent instead of a liability. I also got a center "island" on wheels for a little extra counter space / storage that can be shoved out of the way when I need walking space.

oh, and my counters are that vomit yellow of most places built in the 70s so you have some advantages I didn't have!

Here's what I did to my own house and it is still looking great and holding up for 4 years now.
I bought a 1963 all brick ranch style house. The house was built by a Polish Immigrant by hand and by himself. The only help he had was to lay the driveway. Craftsmanship on every detail is perfection!
I wanted to retain the houses' original items and not 'tear anything out'. Well, the kitchen and bathroom were both laid out very well, but the walls were outfitted with Strawberry Pink tile with pink/gold speckled formica countertops. The tile goes completely around both rooms from the floor to 4 feet above. The shower was is totally tiled as well.
Oh yeah, never try to simply remove tiles and go about painting or whatever to the wall they were mounted on ...more likely the drywall will need to be removed behind the tiles and replaced.
So, I decided to keep them in place (they were in immaculate shape) and paint them! I used 3 coats of Zinnser Primer to initially cover the tiles, the formica countertops and the wood vanity in the bathroom (same material as all the wood cabinets in the kitchen).
After allowing the primer to dry for a couple of days, I used bath and kitchen paint to paint over everything I had primed...tiles, countertops and the wood vanity in the bath.
I put on three coats of this paint as well as three of primer to assure it would not peel or crack. I should mention that I also painted the shower tiles that go 8 feet above the bottom of the shower stall. After using this shower (two of us) sometimes 3 times a day each, it is holding up great with no water damage.

Anyway, long story short -LOL- I would suggest painting everything in your kitchen using this method. I know most think it is impossible to paint odd colored tiles, but with this new formula, it seals to any slippery surface...ceramic tiles, formica, varnished wood, wood paneling, pvc pipes, etc. and allows you to topcoat it with paint of your choice.
I used three shades, light-med-dark of a camel/gold custom color family for my kitchen to add some drama and showcase the tiles (dark color) the walls (light color) the formica countertop (medium color). I got to say, I got tired of hearing compliments on how beautiful both the kitchen and the bathroom are!
What I thought was going to be a long, hard and messy job was a very easy job...just lots of painting, which I do enjoy! It all ended up taking a week or so, but it was well worth not tearing up the walls as I want to keep the house exactly as it was built 46 years ago.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone! We share photos of what we did in September.

Heather Johnny

Personally, I don't mind the dark cabinets or the backsplash much, but I really don't like the countertop. I'd spend my money on a new countertop and new hardware, that way it's a relatively quick and easy upgrade that doesn't involve much painting/time. Decorating-wise, I'd definitely add a few colorful bowls or jugs to the tall space above the cabinets, and maybe install a more showy faucet (it's amazing how much of a difference the faucet makes!)

Good luck, looking forward to seeing the "after" pictures!