Nathalie writes in:
I am the owner of an ugly kitchen. Walls are covered in beige plastic complimented by dark brown marble. I started painting it white ( plastic bits, not walls) and am planning on replacing the countertop and sink. It's pretty much all I can afford at this point. Here's my question: what about wallpaper ( such as Tempaper) and sort of emulate the glorious 70's vibe that is the heart and soul of my ugly kitchen? Thanks for your answers. Nathalie
Nathalie, we'd love for you to embrace your inner disco era 70's diva within and cover your walls with the GIO rust and silver wallpaper. Using wallpaper is a very economical solution for drastically changing the appearance of a room with a modest investment, with Tempaper a smart choice since you'll be able to change it out if the look doesn't float your boat a few years down the line. There are other temporary wallpapers to choose from, as noted in one of our previous posts here, noting one reader's experience:
We applied Tempaper to the walls of our guest bathroom, right over the 80's flame-stitch wallpaper and with great success. Couldn't have been easier. And it's exactly like really nice contact paper, if by really nice contact paper you mean no one would ever guess it's not traditional paste and pattern. I'd never have tried to actually wallpaper this bathroom -- it's so small, we'd rather wrestle cats in there -- but this product is easy to handle and can be flawlessly applied. Honest. And affordable -- we used exactly one roll, at a cost of $80.
I think if you painted the whole kitchen dark brown, it might actually work without major renovations.
view Lisa Hunter (Montreal)'s profile
I'd be very grateful for a small amount (actually more like a truckload) of qualification:
What you mean by "walls are covered in beige plastic"? Perspex? Sheet plastic? Contact? Vinyl? Pleather? Then you say that you started painting the plastic bits rather than the walls, suggesting that the walls aren't covered in plastic after all. And when you say "What about wallpaper" do you mean for the backsplash, the walls or the cupboard doors?
Personally I like the cappucino colour scheme, and the marble counter tops are very luxe. If you're on a tight budget I doubt you're going to be able to replace them with anything as hardwearing. Maybe you could just remove the marble on the backsplash and replace it with ceramic tile or waterproof wallpaper, but without more information I can't tell if this would actually work.
view Blandwagon's profile
I'm having a hard times visualizing the kitchen. That collage gives me a headache.
view labchick's profile
Agree. Happy to help, but give us something to work with here!
view madsarah's profile
Here are my budget ideas:
1. Paint the walls (whatever the heck they are made from) a dramatic darkish color. Something like midnight blue or a stem green. (cost gallon of paint plus super bond primer)
Alternately
1.A. Wallpaper in a big bold graphic pattern (although it might be too dizzy for the kitchen)
NOW,
2. Get your butt over to your local Skimstone dealer. Yes, skimstone. It's a wonderful product that covers tile, formica, ugly counters and looks and acts like custom concrete. Yes, even on walls and counters. Use it for your counters and that backsplash thingy. It is hard wearing and customizable. Comes in several colors and tones and you can add things like gold fleck and mica powder to make it look more like natural stone. Really. Trust me on this one. Cost? About $100.00. There are plenty of contractor forums on how to use it for counters. http://www.skimstone.com/
view Lizzy C's profile
So, the beige plastic is the cabinetry, correct? It looks like that's what's being painted white.
I'd probably leave the marble countertops be and focus on beautiful appliances and a good flooring product. But, if you hate them then by all means rip them out. Perhaps you can make a deal with a builder or a cabinetry person who will either buy it, or give you a new counter top in less expensive material in exchange.
I think taking one or two picures of each wall would probably help, I'm not able to get visual perspective out of your collage.
view scarletdog's profile
While it's hard to see, what's not to love about marble counters? If they are not in good shape, it's comparatively cheap to have them rehoned/repolished to bring back their natural beauty.
view LilyC's profile
Fix the walls however you see fit.
Leave everything else. It's not that bad.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
i can't really see what you're working with, but i like the brown marble, too.
view bebklyn's profile
I agree - the kitchen doesn't look that bad. Brown marble - great. And are those vintage steel kitchen cabinets? Yum. How about adding some great late 60s color with this Bradbury.com Mod Generation wallpaper: http://bradbury.com/dais_3.html
If you have the spirit - you could even put it on the ceilings.
view 50s Pam's profile
Assuming everything is clean and functions properly - I'd kill for a kitchen like that.
OK, maybe it needs a new stove, but the place has great bones - I'd leave it be.
view bepsf's profile
Kind of hard to tell with the collage but part of the problem is the cabinets and walls are the same color thus it's blandness.
It also looks like the walls may be covered in a shiny type plastic, right? I'd cover that if the covering is too difficult to take out and resheetrock if need be with the tempaper as already mentioned in a design that mimics the era of your kitchen in a rust red color to help tie in the counters.
And if lighting is an issue, add under cabinet lighting to help with that issue and just leave it be and you may find that just a little color can bring that kitchen around and you may find you love it after all. :-)
view ciddyguy's profile
I don't see the need to change the counters or sink..
I have no idea what the wall is, but cover it with something with a pop of color.
If there are better photographs.. we might be able to assist better.
view tashar's profile