can you paint it or refinish it? The pink and white combo is what really offends me. Even if you just get rid of the pink it might be a little better.

and replace the hardware with something fun and funky!

It's actually not that bad. I think the pink is what you object the most. Paint it a color you like. If you can't paint I'd cover it with some removable wallpaper. The scalloped edges can also be covered up. Just apply a thin piece of wood over the decorative edge to hide it.

I think the PINK is what makes it over the top garish...

Two ideas:
1. Paint over the pink with white (or pale grey).
2. Get mirrors cut and placed over the pink.
3. Make the room an "all-white" with a single accent color (that is painted over the pink).

how about lining the back in fabric? you said french i say toille! pop the doors off and roll up some guest towels. add some stationary. obviously you can't hide this so work it out! i think it could be lots of fun!

Yikes!!

Obviously a color change is in order... I had some friends who had a weird hutch thing in their rental bedroom and they managed to make it work as an armoire, sort of.

You could take off the cabinet doors and try to make it look like a bookcase.

Agree with calderonlm. Get rid of the pink and green, for sure. But I actually think the cabinet itself it pretty cute.

I agree that first and foremost, change the color scheme. But besides that, what really makes it unattractive are the pulls and the gingerbread trim. If you VERY carefully removed the nails attaching the trim, and put it in storage until you need to put it back on, and change the pulls (which is an easy and non-damaging change), I don't think it would be that bad!

I also think that the trim isn't too bad, or it won't be once you've made some other changes.

How unusual that this cabinet is in a bedroom - Typically these would be found in a dining room.

The piece really isn't that bad: The worst part of the space is the dinner-mint pink & green colorscheme. Get rid of those colors and ditch the piece of glass on the deck too. Paint the room and the back of the cabinet a nice pale-to-medium blue, and use this piece exactly for what it is: a built-in country dresser.

Some books and blue & white accessories on the shelves and a little blue & white lamp on the deck, then some blue & white striped curtains, bedding and a seagrass rug could make this a useful feature in your guestroom.

1 - change that pink. Yikes!

2 - remove that molding

3 - change the cabinet doors

I think other than that, you're fine.

I don't think it's terrible at all! It adds a lot of charm and character to the room, and I think it'll be just fine once you paint over that bubblegum pink. :)

Paint the whole thing the same color as the walls. A pale greige perhaps. It will virtually disappear.

Yeah, the pink is wonky but it's a pretty useful piece, right? Storage and shelving is always welcome in my world, just paint the pink over with something more you. Glossy black might be kind of cool with that white.

What parttimedesign said. Painting everything one color really helps when you have wonky built-ins you can't rip out.

i love pink....but not this shade. paint the whole room grey with the trim and the built in being the same grey. that way it will be camoflaged. i think you could maybe go for some different hardware. overall, even though it's bulky, i think it's a nice built in.

I agree that painting it the same color as the walls will help it blend in and make the "fancy" trim less noticeable (making sure the entire cabinet is painted one color). Taking the doors off will minimize the ugly hardware. I think curtains will add the country feel and should be avoided. Otherwise just enjoy all that built in storage space.

Paint it glossy black, change the hardware and add a Damask print wallpaper to the part that is currently pink.
(I would do a grey and black print wallpaper)
Just push it into that French Rococo realm rather than fight it.

Please don't paint it the same color as the walls! Gag!

I wonder if we will get to see what this room looks like AFTER the changes?

Good luck!

I don't really think this is that bad at all. The pink is terrible, yes, but the cabinet itself is actually quite a nice feature. I would take the upper cabinet doors off, paint the inside a white and then use something textured like a sea grass type of wallpaper in the back of the cabinet or paint the inside a royal blue colour to pop against the white.

I live in okc and have very similar cabinetry throughout my house. I painted my kitchen cabinets a lighter grey and am planning on painting my bathroom vanity a glossy yellow. I think in the right colors, they are really fun. Keep everything else simple so it doesn't get to overwhelming.

Use two very small curtain brackets and install a rod just below the crown molding. hang a piece of fabric and hem it to counter height. You will cover the top (and all the scallops) but you can open the fabric for access.

OMG! Reminds me of the armoire from Beauty and the Beast! (shown here). But yeah, prioritize in this way:

-new paint
-new hardware
-remove scalloped trim

I just painted my bedroom a similar shade of pink! I believe it was called Princess Power. Don't worry, though. I agree this is atrocious.

I agree with everyone. It's not that bad. I would just paint the whole thing one color. Taking off the doors will make it seem less huge and bulky but make sure the insides are in good shape. I wouldn't mind having this, but it's more my style than yours. I think you can definitely work with it and be happy.

Looks like a little girl's room to me, I can just see those shelves stuffed with Barbies & Breyer horses, and falling over Scholastic books.

But...what's with the microwave in a guest room?

Oh for christs sake, its not HIDEOUS, its just slightly ugly but can be fixed! Change the pepto bismol interior. Remove the scalloping if possible and put on a new countertop and you are good to go. Of course it is in a bedroom which is just weird.

I agree with sturgeongeneral -- take the doors off the cabinet. It will open it up and make it feel less oppressively overwhelming. With the open shelving you'll gain without the doors, roll towels, place some candles, books, and maybe some nice baskets/bins for storage. This gives you more control over the look, since you can choose bins that really work with your style.

The paint, of course, has to go. If you go grey, using a fabric or a darker grey on the back wall can provide some depth. New hardware on the drawers is a simple fix.

Which just leaves the gingerbread trim -- and others have suggested ways to hide or remove it :)

If allowed, removed the wavy moulding, paint black, change out hardware to brushed nickel. Instant update!

Thanks, everyone, for the great advice! I think I will try to go with the 'kitch' of the piece instead of trying to hide it. The current plan is to paint the entire room bright white, and paper over those shelves with some green-on-white toile wallpaper. I think sticking with 'French country' will help us just go with the flow of the room and its cabinet :)

I might remove a couple of cabinet doors as per one reader's suggestion and put in some cute document boxes, guest towels, etc... I think the rest of the hardware on the cabinet will be switched out just as soon as we paint. I think painting will be my middle name this summer. Virtually every room in this house features a similarly, ahem, interesting selection of colors.

I think it has a lot of potential and is not that bad, and it's very useful. Obviously the pink needs to go. Once you get the colors sorted out, just switch the hardware, and you'll be a million times better. If you can carefully remove the scallops, that would help modernize, but I think it will still be OK. Honestly, I think built in storage is pretty much always desirable.

It is truly hideous. Can you get some masonite or thin plywood and build a box around it?

Paint cabinet and cover the bottom shelf with a board basically eliminating that space and covering the scalloped moulding. Personally I think it would look good with just scalloped moulding around the upper shelving.

Alternatively you could cut and fit a sheet of high quality plywood to go over the top portion of the cabinet. Attach it with some screws or finishing nails. Paint it, finish with some trim around the edges and hang a painting or mirror there. It would look more like a built in dresser that way.

Easy enough to remove and fill holes left on cabinet with wood fill, sand and touch up when you leave.

Love the idea of painting it gray. I am also not a fan of the current wall color.

that is not a hideous cabinet but a unique one. as others are pointing out, just get rid of the pepto pink color (& the green wall color too while you're at it) & it will look fantastic.

Although you're going Kitch, how about;

Throw up some French style shutters across the top of the cabinet - hide all the nastiness!

Replicate the wooden shutters on the window to help integrate the dresser into the room and give some synergy.

Replace the hardware on the bottom - easy.

Paint the cabinet in your colour of choice - although the white could be cool with the grey.

Good luck

I really think you can work with it. Think Dorothy Draper. First, I would change out the doors that are lined to something smooth. The doors making it look dated.

Paint it Gloss Black! And change the hardware to something modern and cool. And put a really modern wall paper or cool pop color in the back.

I would paint the bedroom walls charcoal grey. You have great molding in the room. Charcoal will really pop and it is such a modern color.

Best Wishes

i would paint it the same color as the walls so it recedes and change the hardware. If there's way of removing the scalloped edge so you can put it back on when you leave i'd do that too.

It won't be hideous once you paint it a uniform color. Painting it the same color you paint your walls will make it much less obtrusive. It won't look bad then & you'll be grateful for the storage.

I'm in the "paint it glossy black and add wall paper inside of it in a French print" camp.

#1 Shut the door and lock it.

#2 Make the room into a media room, by a projection TV and I have an idea about where to put the screen.

#3 Have a little girl.

Go with the kitschiness. I'd do a crackle finish, or some some oil stain rub in the cracks to make it look old, and change the pink to more like a pale blue or something. Then fill the shelves with little vintage knick-knacks, bottles, trinkets, etc. If you can take the doors off the top that would make it nice too. Then just replace them when you move out.

ooh! i'm in norman, ok too!!! =)

I think maybe go ahead and paint, live with it for awhile, and see what comes to you. If you used the spare room as an office, it might actually be so useful to you eventually you can deal with its scallops!

I think it's cute! I would definitely paint the pink a different color. I also really like the toile idea.

Whatever you do, don't remove the molding. As a landlord I would be pretty pissed if I had a built in that my tenants were tearing apart.

Eeks! That is foul! I can really understand why you don't like it.

Is it possible to erect a pull down curtain that would hide the top half? - something simple straight and sleek. The bottom half of the cabinet isn't nearly as bad as the top half.

Paint over the pink.

Remove the doors on the upper cabinet and use as display/bookshelves.

Put some thin wood molding to cover the curvy stuff (blech!) but make sure it's removable.

Change out handles/knobs.

Paint the bedroom walls something other than mint.

The piece itself isn't bad, it's all the details that scream at you. It does look like the kinds of cupboards that various farm family members have had in their pantries. I think the basic piece is rather straightforward and charming.

I agree that any permanent changes are not fair to the landlord unless s/he agrees to them. Maybe ask?

A friend hid a built-in by installing a couple of off-the-shelf roller shades at the top. Two roller shades side by side would quickly cover the top half, which has the most unique, er, features. And you could still use the storage. You could put matching roller shades on the windows if your budget allows. Try homedecorators.com for inexpensive shades.

Clearly repaint.

I'm going to have to second the door-removal/bookshelf idea, at least on the upper cabinets. The lowers you could just use as if they were dressers and have a little extra storage.

Check into removing the trim edges. It wouldn't be too hard with a hack saw, and it would give it a modernized edge that most people are looking for now.

I would paint the whole thing the same color as the room or a dark color. In either case, that would minimize the details you don't like.

OMG...

1. Remove the scalloped trim if you can.

2. Remove cupboard doors on the top part. Leave them off.

3. Paint the inside and outside white (or paint the outside all one color, and the insides white).

It's nice having storage in the bedroom, but the pink has GOT TO GO! The scalloped edges might not be so bad without the pink.

I agree... if the scalloped edge can be removed easily (i.e. separate tacked-on pieces, which it looks like they very well may be), you should do so. But if not, painting the built-in one uniform color will de-emphasize the scallops significantly. DO NOT take a hacksaw to them... an unskilled carpentry job may leave you with a bigger challenge than you began with. And quite possibly a very angry landlord.

Otherwise, I don't think anything about the built-in is too terribly offensive outside of that pink background. And in contrast with that seafoam green wall color??? Holy Easter eggs, Batman! Enough with the pastels!!!

I think a really subtle dove grey or pale sand over the pink (with the green walls in the same shade) would make a huge difference.

New hardware on the drawers - I agree.

If the scallops really gross you out, cover them with thin, wide trim pieces, very simple ones, painted white. That might actually be the best way to go if it's the cutouts you hate most.

I thought I was the only one with such amazing cabinets, I'm afraid I was wrong...

What I did here:
- remove the trims
- remove some doors
- paint it all white or soft colors. I painted it with the same white as the walls, to hide a bit.

Then, change the hardware, and you're quite set.

Good luck !

Is that a microwave? Why?

The cabinet is cute. I agree that the pink should be a pale grey. Put some bronze hardware in on in place of the black. It's adorable; I'm jealous.

While I agree that the trim is kind of obnoxious, it doesn't look like it would be easy to remove. The frilliness of the trim clashes with those wide plank cabinet doors, which makes the whole piece look even more awkward. I would remove the doors rather than try to remove the trim, and then put new pulls on the drawers. Then take the shelves out of the part that is "framed" by the scalloped trim, because those just serve to draw attention to the trim itself. Maybe put some bold-patterned wallpaper or fabric in the resulting blank space and see if it takes the eye away from the trim.

Carefully remove the dart-ish apron molding from the cabinets. I promise you just removing those God awful (and unnecessary) trim pieces will change everything.

I'm with amvolpe. Glossy black and damask paper.

If you can remove the trim, great, but ask the landlord first. Lots of places won't let you do that, and you don't want to find out the hard way when a piece cracks that you just lost part of your security deposit.

Can you put a track along the ceiling, and add a curtain that would cover the top, which is, to me, the most offensive. Remove the doors and store them in the closet.

Ugh, please don't try to put a curtain over it. That would only make it a thousand times worse, no matter how you try to do it!
And I think that if it's the scalloped trim that you hate, keeping the pink areas in contrast to the rest of it with wallpaper is a bad idea. It would only continue to draw attention to it. I'd paint the entire unit one colour, that's a different colour than the walls.

I'd probably leave the cabinet white even if you are allowed to paint, but I'd probably beg to change out the pink - even if the landlord gets to pick the next color. I'd also try to get the walls painted. I'd probably leave the doors on as to not risk the damage to them.

It would probably be easier to try to work with the cabinet rather than hide it. I'd probably try to make the guest room like a very nice hotel room. You could probably give them their own personal coffee maker that could be hidden behind a cabinet door along with supplies. This piece could accommodate the guest towels and linens as well. Place books and magazines in the shelves. The "countertop" area could be used to place some nice stationary or for a guest to sit a laptop if they were to bring one.

I too am on team "paint it glossy black and add wall paper inside of it in a French print." Or instead of paper, choosing a nice accent color that would go well with the black. Sometimes you have to do something bold in situations like this.

I also really like the idea of removing the doors and using it for rolled towels, etc.

PS BOOMER!

I actually kinda like it. I think it's charming and cottagey (that's a word, right?) It's not necessarily my style in the house I'm in now, but if I lived in a 20's/30's bungalow, I could totally rock this thing, pink and all. But for you, I'd paint it a darker gray than the walls, remove the scalloped edges if you can, and change out the hardware.

I guess I'm part of the minority -- I like it! :( I'd change some things around it and add spotty pink pillows and white and pink trim curtains to make it fit it).. but I guess I have poor taste and am not up to date!

It's actually a nice piece except for the scallop cuts. To make them disappear, paint the whole cabinet the same color. When the scallop curves are not contrasted against a different color, they will be less noticeable.

And I would chill, and get rid of the microwave. It will give you something to talk about with your guests. It's not that bad: except for the scalloped edges.

That pink and green is so Palm Beach. You need to give your guest room a beachy name, like Scallops!! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

If you can paint, paint the whole thing a white/light grey and wax it. Suggest Annie Sloan type chalk paint because you can paint that on any surface. If you can't paint, use peel off wallpaper and paint that. You can get beadboard wallpaper to match with the doors for about £8.

You can also easily cover the terrible scallops with some straight cut strips of plywood or hardboard. Just stick them on top and paint to match.

Get an old bleached tabletop or offcut of good wood kitchen worktop and stick it on the counter - you can just use blutack if you can't be buggered with power tools.

Change those door handles. Nothing cutesy. Something utilitarian and 40s.

I think I'd embrace the kitsch of the piece. When I first saw it I thought "hmmm... I wonder if she can shove the guestbed up against it and somehow try to make into a headboard?" That is, if you're not desperate for the cupboard space it provides below. Remove the upper doors, chance some hardware, and use the cubbie holes to display/store necessaries for your guests. Maybe the decor of the room becomes something like... er... modern/grandma-chic/nod to Oklahoma-ish?

the scallops and the pink are the bad parts. If you can't paint or take the scallops off, maybe just paint a thin, skinny layer of wood white (i'm thinking like balsa wood) and attach it with light adhesive over each of the scallop sections, then get some really nice contact paper to line the pink interior.

I would remove the awful scalloped edging (on the sneak of course) and hope no one would notice, if you're allowed to paint it, I'm certain they may not miss it...

It sounds like you're allowed to paint, so start with that. Maybe change out the hardware, and if you still can't stand it, try to remove the scalloped edge in such a way that it's not destroyed.

to my chagrin, this kind of pastel awfulness is actually pretty popular among middle class midwestern suburban women, see stanley's costal living or lexinton's long cove or any other mid-level furniture company's current line of 'cottage-y' fake shabby chic beach fake french country nonsense.

i suggest you paint the whole room pink, hang tassels from everything, put doilies everywhere you can...(choke)

oh yeah, and get some plastic plants for those shelves!

missed a g in lexington, sorry

I think it's wonderful: if you really want character, well, you've got it now. EMBRACE it.

@ M.Cole -- if there is a bright pink neon pointing finger sign overhead with the word "You" on top, it is pointing and flashing for ME. the kind of person who likes this LOVELY cabinet-- and proud of it!!

its not that bad, peoples eyes here sure are sensitive!

If you paint the pink white, it would soften the blow, for one.