Don’t ignore it, embrace it!
Inevitably there will be something in your home that’s not quite to your liking. Sometimes you’ll have the resources or a legitimate reason to replace it, but let’s face it, most often you won’t. Instead of giving in to the common pitfall of ignoring the “something off” and decorating around it, try letting the ugly duckling actually lead the design scheme. Make it your launching point! Not only is it better for the budget, but it’s also usually the best choice from an environmental standpoint too—no more stuffing the landfill with perfectly usable (albeit not your style) home items. Plus, embracing what you already have often gives way to some of the more interesting and inventive design statements.
To get started, study the culprit’s colors. Then, taking into account the existing color scheme, break out your two best weapons: paint and accessories.
Paint the walls (or a pattern on the walls) either the color of the culprit or one that compliments it. The same goes for your accessories. If it’s an avocado green toilet that’s weighing down your design spirits, try hanging some botanical prints or try a shower curtain with a green modern trellis pattern. If it’s a shocking carpet color that you’re trying to work with, use the color elsewhere as an accent such as in a border on your drapes, in a throw pillow, or in a piece of art. Repeating the color will not only take the focus off the offending object, but also make the choice look purposeful and confident rather than unfortunate.
Some of the best examples I’ve seen hail from Zoe and Trey’s Refined Eclectic Georgetown home. When they moved in, they faced the common dilemma of kitchen counters and bathroom tile that were in perfect condition but not perfectly in keeping with their style. Zoe, a DC based designer, chose to make them look deliberate.
In the kitchen (pictures 3, 4) she selected a paint for the cabinets that picked up the dark granite’s colors, making the counters blend in rather than standout as the focal point as a natural wood finish or white cabinets would have. Going a step further, she laid down a rug that picked up on the color scheme too. Zoe employed the same tactics in her upstairs bathroom (pictures 1, 2) where she was greeted by earthy pink ceramic tile and a grainy granite vanity top— certainly not terrible in the grand scheme of things, but not her style either. Shifting the focus from the tile, Zoe painted the walls in a bold chevron stripe pattern in the same color pink as the tile. She says that she wouldn’t have chosen to have a pink bathroom, but she’s certainly put her own spin on what she inherited from the previous owners.
If you'd like to see the rest of Zoe and Trey's home, be sure to check out their full house tour.
MORE MAKING THE MOST OF WHAT YOU'VE GOT ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• The Power of Distraction: Hiding Eyesores in Plain View
• Working The Vintage Bathroom Tile
• 3 Color Directions for Vintage Bathrooms
Images: Leah Moss
DIY Idea: Concrete Pendant Lamp
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
It's easy when the design in question is merely not to your liking, rather than just flat-out offensive. I've seen bathrooms with bright peach-colored tile. Embracing and working around that would really be a miracle.
Excellent advice
So many folks try to ignore the element they don't like by selecting colors & finishes that have nothing to do with the offending piece and end up with a space that's even worse than they started with.
We have an offensive pink bathroom. It is not just the color that is bad. The toilet is almost against the wall and the vanity is cheap wood with a cream colored sink. The floor tiles were not laid down properly so there are gunks of dried up grout everywhere. I did buy a fun shower curtain, but one day that bathroom will be redone because no, it cannot be gussied up no matter how hard one tries.
My offensive piece is what used to be a window -- my bedroom was added to the house 10 years after original construction. The original owner turned it into shelving, but it just looks heinous. I'm thinking of covering a large piece of lightweight wood with wallpaper and covering it, but am open to suggestions.
And MissFifi, I know your pain. You just described my kitchen, which is such a hot mess FOUR carpenters (one of whom I've worked with and know his honesty) told me to scrap and start fresh. Cabinets not plumb or level and built out of cheap plywood, 36-year-old laminate countertop & backsplash, same age vinyl flooring.
I too have the 80's bright peach-pink tile, with matching sinks, tub, and laminate vanity (with, of course, the pink tile as the countertop).
I keep looking for articles about incorporating it, and finding articles where the "offending" item is, well, not quite so blatant.
For the moment I am trying to pretend it's more peach than pink and think orange thoughts.
In the house I'm buying, the kitchen has these awful purple laminate countertops that we'll eventually replace, but in the meantime, the previous homeowners made them "disappear" by choosing an identical wall color and coordinating colors in the dining room. The kitchen looks totally fab even though the material itself is really not.
Madampince, could you do an entire wall of drapery, so that the offending window/shelves are hidden completely? Your bed and headboard would look lovely floating off of a wall that is end to end drapery. Go with lightweight disapearing hardware (thin rod in polished nickel), even thin wire that has been installed tightly. For the drapery panels themselves, go with a soft tone-on-tone pattern, or subtle patterns. The texture of the fabric will speak then instead of a bold pattern.
My new home had two-tone mustard-coloured carpet throughout. When I first moved in, I thought it was hideous but couldn't afford to change it. I painted the walls to match the lighter of the two tones of yellow and gradually became reconciled to the carpet. I figured, at least it's a warm, welcoming colour. It also doesn't show spots and spills - and you guessed it, it's still here! But it is going to be changed in the next 12 months.
Around here funky is something good, if in a slightly 70s way...
I recently inherited two 80's bathrooms. One has olive branch wallpaper and brass fixtures and hardware so we now call it "Caesar's Palace West." The other is mauve/peach-ish with about 200 globe vanity lights, a huge wall-to-tall beveled mirror and black/brass fixtures. So I've found brass accessories (vintage trays, perfume holders, etc.) to play it up including a Ralph Nagel print. Why not have some fun until we come up with the funds to do the remodel that we want? Our friends get such a kick when they get transformed back to days of "fun and fancy free."
@emjay, nothing says '80s to me like a Nagel and it brings back fond memories. I've toyed with the idea of incorporating the sunglasses one into my bedroom but... it'll probably never happen.
That is some SERIOUSLY...uh, distinctive... granite in that kitchen. :/ Why would someone pick a countertop material that looks like it's growing mold?
@ekmac116, I kinda like that granite -- rich and fossil-like...
It's fine to "make it work" if what you are striving to make work is in good condition and if the adaptations you need to make don't cost more than making a change would. If making an ugly carpet "work" requires custom draperies that cost more than ripping up the carpet and installing something different would, why live with the ugly?!
Leah -- every once in awhile I come here and do a search for your posts. I'm never disappointed. This is post has such great advice and is so apropos. I just finished painting our kitchen and our vinyl floor now looks even more offensive. I think the plan is to do a floor cloth to cover it, and now I am thinking of how to make those edges that will not be covered blend in with the floor cloth.