That was taken in my kitchen. Yes, that's actually my counter.
When we first looked at what is now our house, three and a half years ago, a couple of things stood out. Let me preface this by saying that our house was built in 1975, and was sold to us by the original owners.
1. There's a Kermit-green sink in the half bath.
A minus? Perhaps. However, this Muppet fan says, "When life gives you a Kermit-green sink, turn the bathroom into the It's Not Easy Being Green bathroom," which I did.
2. The upstairs bathroom has blue everything. For now, we're dealing with them as long as they're functional.
3. That brings us to - you guessed it - the kitchen.
Somehow, when we first walked through the house, I made it through this kitchen into the family room beyond it without screaming. The spindles from the half-wall to the ceiling...the glaringly orange countertops...the floor that always looks dingy, even when it's clean...and the cabinets that had been painted a pale peach - to coordinate, perhaps, with the counter? I don't know. It does have a decent amount of space. I grew up in a house with a teeny-tiny kitchen with approximately four - okay, maybe six - square feet of counter space. Compared to that kitchen, this one is of majestic proportions.
Despite the faults of the kitchen, I fell in love with the house, and here we are. We've been discussing kitchen renovations pretty much since we moved in. However, we want to do them on a fairly small budget. Counters, floor, backsplash- no problem. Removing the half wall and adding an island? Check. It's always when we start talking cabinets that we hit a wall.
They're painted. Do we repaint, buy new doors, and replace the doors? That was the thought for a while. Can we put veneer on them and get new doors? Probably not over paint, and stripping the paint might make the plywood beneath delaminate. My husband could build them - but it would take months. (Then don't give me that as an option!) Around and around and around.
We have finally found a couple of potential solutions to the problem. IKEA cabinets are one possibility, and I'm on the trail of another company as well. Wish us luck. I feel like we're finally on the road towards saying a big "Buh-bye!" to the orange counters.
P.S. This is the wallpaper that used to be in the kitchen. I'm ever so grateful that it was gone when we came through for the first time!
8 spoons thrown:
I have a green sink (and tub and toilet) in the master bath. But it's not Kermit-green, it's John Deere green (the previous owners were farmers). It didn't bother me a bit. I gathered up some bright colored towels, shower curtain, etc. and gave the whole bathroom a mexican theme! LOL
It's going to be fun to see the results through all the stages- material choices, demo, etc.
I look forward to it.
PS. Chairs with cushions so those who keep you company when you cook don't get sore bums.
By the way, if you showed that wallpaper picture before, I managed to block it out.
You could try painting a couple of the cabinets white to match your appliances and see how you like it. (Not much to lose if you're thinking of replacing them anyway.) They look like nice cabinets.
We redid our kitchen last year with all Ikea stuff and we're very happy with it. I don't know if it's the same everywhere, but our Ikea contracts with a local group to do installations and they were much cheaper than other contractors would have been. We did the wood countertops and they are fun. We'll probably have to refinish them at some point before we sell the house, because they do wear, but I like how warm they are.
We've looked at Ikea as well. Our kitchen is from the 50's-metal cabinets, denim counter top and a Cadillac stove to boot. The stove died a couple of years ago-I mourne the loss to this day;). The appliances and counter top have been replaced over the past few years, but we can't agree on cabinets-a small budget makes it difficult to get the look you want.
Good luck with the renovations!!! T
Sarah, if the metal cabinets are in good condition (and you like them) they can be refinished. In fact, you can rent a paint sprayer with a compressor and do it yourself. I used to have a picture (wish I'd kept that link) of someone who did theirs in apple green.
Martha, I thought of one more thing, which may be obvious but is worth throwing into the mix: anything that can be easily changed later on(such as cabinet knobs) is a good place to cut the budget by going with something lesser for the time being.
And (I know, I just keep thinking of stuff) if you have problems selling the old appliances, see if you there is a branch of freecycle (a yahoo group) in your area or something similar where you can simply offer them to someone for free. You make no money, but you don't have to pay to have them junked, and they do not end up in a landfill.
@ Karen - love the Mexican themed bathroom. If life gives you limes, make Margaritas...
@ Charles - we'll have a couple of stools at the island. I'll make sure they have cushions. You hadn't seen the wallpaper before, as we just recently unearthed it when we removed a piece of the laminate backsplash. We do have freecycle here. The current fridge will get moved to the basement, and the old fridge will get given away. The stove isn't that old - probably about five years old - but it does not have a handle on the oven door, which you can see, if you look carefully. The previous owner discovered, after installing it, that you couldn't open the drawer in that corner because of the handle...so he sawed it off. Yep. So, that'll probably be a Freecycle item as well.
@ Kellie - we've thought about repainting the cabinets - that was the plan for a while - but they're really not in as good shape as they appear to be in the photo. They've had at least a couple of coats of paint, we think, and it's cracking and chipping. We're just done with them, LOL. If they were good, hardwood cabinets that we could strip, we'd do it, but they're not.
@ Sarah - Welcome!! :)
I feel your pain. When we moved into our house, the dining room walls were lime green and a nightclub-size glitter ball hung from the ceiling. There were fairy lights tacked onto the bannister all the way up our three-storey staircase. It was the campest house in captivity, but six years on we've made it our own. Like you, I loved it from the moment I saw it, despite it's cosmetic imperfections.
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