apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I just bought a house with an awful kitchen. Ideally I'd gut it but it's not an option right now.

For reference:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=259y1cj&s=3

We bought new appliances and will be taking down the soffit(?) at the top. The cupboard doors have what seems to be wicker squares nailed to them, so those will come off. The floors are hardwood and that is authentic exposed brick.

What else should I do? Should I stain or paint the cupboards? Do anything else? Please advise me on my awful kitchen!

Are you open to replacing just the counters? Are you planning to retain the half wall?

Wow, those white appliance really pop, eh? What do your replacement appliances look like? I'm getting the feeling that you should paint, paint, paint your cupboards. I actually might like the brick in a different context.

I could be wrong, but it looks like your kitchen was well built which means that you probably will be able to work with the foundation of what you have here. Our kitchen has issues in that regard.

Maybe try:
Getting new doors for the cupboards.
Painting the brick.
Taking off the home depot fan, putting slick lighting over the bar/counter.
Take off leaf trim on side of cabinets.

Good luck, it's quite a challenge.

i would definitely paint. take off as much of the fancy stuff as you can. if you are up for painting the brick, you could go white brick, white cabinets. if you want to leave the brick, you could paint the cabinets one of the colors that are in the bricks. and i think a different light fixture would be a big improvement.

I have a door hardware question for all of you savvy folk. We need to updgrade all of the hinges and knobs in our home. We are now deciding between rubbed oil bronze and satin nickel finishes. Our house was built in the 20's, but doesn't really have deco or arts and crafts elements. It has pretty simple lines. We prefer to keep our walls painted in variations of white or neutral. We have lighter wood floors but are considering a darker stain to match the original fir staircase that we refurbished. The bathrooms and kitchen have polished chrome elements . Any thoughts?