Hi Leannafaith, If you are going to paint your walls a matte color then go over the matte paint with a gloss paint you do not need to sand the matte before applying the gloss. BUT when you decide to repaint you would have to sand the gloss paint.

-- Jumping off of your dinette set, you could install maple countertops - it is emerging as the "new granite". They are beautiful and tough at the same time. Then, add 2 maple counter stools at the peninsula - after removing the rocker, of course!.

The pass through should be emptied - the microwave and shelf should really go from there. Possibly trim the pass through in maple. Install glass in the upper cabinet doors beside the sink to add a lightness and a little "sparkle" to the room.

Can you turn your dinette set 90 degrees? It seems that it would fit the space better. If you decide to install track lighting in the galley, replace the fan/light fixture with another run of track lighting [on a dimmer] over the table

You might like more storage, and you could install upper cabinets on the long wall where the dinette is. Uppers and dinette would be parallel - I hope I am I explaining this clearly? Your cabinets are a simple design, and you could come very close in style, if not an exact match, with your existing cabinets. A narrow maple shelf below, would come in handy too. While you are at it, add an upper cabinet by the peninsula to finish that area over to the door frame. Change out your door knobs.

Afraid that you should remove the wallpaper and paint. Install track lighting. Your black/white floor will work just fine with these changes.

ive seen where the flooring was done in color blocking with vinyl flooring... I love crazy vinyl floors for matching cabinets from the 50's

Same concept

@leanafaith - I just came across your dilemma, and although there are different elements to your kitchen and you have a lot more options, I too have a kitchen dilemma - mine being an existing black and white checkered floor, relatively modern cherry wood and glass cabinets in a very old (1890) classical styled house and now I'm stuck deciding on a backsplash. Many people have been giving me very good ideas re the backsplash, so maybe take a look at the design dilemma we have going and you can see if there are any ideas that you like!

An awesome website with beautiful cement tiles was suggested by one of the ladies www.designtegels.nl (it's a Dutch site but you'll get the idea). Your kitchen would be perfect (in my opinion) for such tiles to brighten it up and add character, and you have a blank slate as a kitchen (unlike me) so you could really go to town with it!

If you click on my profile and then click on discussions you'll see the design dilemma that's mine. Think it's called @carolins backsplash design dilemma or something like that.

Hope it helps!!

Quickest and easiest thing you could do here is change out your cabinet hardware. I would go for something chunky, bold or interesting... or all of the above! You don't have a lot of cabinets so check out recycled hardware stores in your area to see if you can find something vintage. Be warned that it sometimes costs more to do that than go with new.

Cambria Quartz has some fun stuff.
http://www.cambriausa.com/en/designs/design-palette/
Cambira Minera has a textured metallic look with lots of texture and depth.. It would be way fun with some Chrome hardware.
Cambria Praa Sands is fun because it has an aqua color in it and you can play with that.
Parys has a reflective blue that would be fun if you went for a primary color look.
Soap stone is fun.. will darken over time and doesn't like oil.

Wall paper can be easier to remove then you think... I've done the tool that punctures and the spray and I have also done the steamer.. The spray wall paper remover is much easier and effective but the tool that is used with it can leave holes you would want to Spackle and sand after. Unless there are layers on layers of it or paint on layers. I strongly suggest your remove the wall paper.

Paint with a satin sheen would be ideal.. A high gloss paint is going to show every bump in your wall, if you roll on a glossy paint it's going to look like an orange peel..

I would not do a white countertop.. Your door profiles are flat and the room would just look too sterile with white counter tops.

I would for sure do a porcelain sink done in a bright color if you can cordinate it in with a color scheme that works for you.. Check out what Kohler has done!! Amazing ratings..

http://retrorenovation.com/2012/06/12/flower-power-kitchen-and-bathroom-sinks-new-from-kohler-jonathan-adler/


For a calmer eclectic retro look:

Gray porclein floor tile with wood grain mixed with the cement tile back splash (cement tile backsplash shown here: ) would be fun with a soap stone countertop... The texture of soap stone with cement tile would be fun!

Changing the countertop is a great way to add color without going overboard! Our recycled glass countertop line, GEOS has many different colors that could help improve your kitchen!

yup recycled glass if you want to pay $80 - $90 a square foot.. YIKES!! it's pricey stuff!! Cambria.. your are looking at $55 - $60 a square foot.. Consumer Reports validated my experience with recycled glass as being not very stain resistant opposed to quartz..

No offense EOS surfaces.. I would still put it in my house in a heart beat.. It's just cost a lot of money to be green.

Need new color and stain the cabinets a dark brown and change the counter to something newer but don't spend to much

What ideas or style does your fiance have?
Your kitchen in general needs more light, as in a bright, freshly painted ceiling and full spectrum lightbulbs (to give you the daylight feel) in one bigger, or more fixtures.
I agree to remove the wallpaper and potentially make it into a galley style kitchen, meaning two straight lines of kitchen, without the jutout by the rocking chair.
When selecting a new countertop, make sure if it is a stone product, that your older cabinets can bear the weight. The formica ones are not as heavy as stone.
Another idea, for potential resale value, is to keep the kitchen updated but more neutral, but go crazy or vintage with some coloured chairs, they really give the place character and potentially painting a new, solid door into the garage the same funky colour, to draw the space together. Something that can be easily changed for very little money.
One last thing was your fridge looked a little tired...there are even paints these days for appliances to make them look better. Never tried them myself...but thought I would mention it.
Best of luck!

Forgot to mention the floor: yes I would redo it, probably in a 12x24 tile. You can add a cool runner down towards the door for excitement and have nice hardware on the cabinets.
Anthropologie has some really special ones, but again have not had them in an everyday kitchen setting, so not sure how well they would fare...

Hi Leanna!
You are on the right track with your observations. One of the commentors was right when she said your kitchen is calling out! It has a charming quality, ad the possibility of being a showstopper, with the right treatment.

First, there are ways of adding light to a room, without natural light. I think someone mentioned mirrors. Anthing that reflects light can help. And bright colors can do the same. They even have reflective paint, that is subtle, but does have some benefit.

As I read through the comments (skimmed) I see you are not an experience painter. If the cabinet exteriors are in good enough shape, I would suggest you not paint them.

People are often told by decoratiors, and they hear on TV that paint is the quickest, easiest way to change a room. But you have to buy a lot of supplies, and painting is tricky, and messy. And if you've never painted before, a kitchen is a real challenge. Kitchen cabinets are like trim, and require a lot of skill to get a smooth, even surface.
You have to take the doors off, paint the outside AND the inside, AND the interior sometimes ................it's never ending. You get one side perfect, and the edge on the other side has excess paint. This can be a never ending circle. If you paint a room, start with a small bedroom, to get the feel of it.

What I see is a darling room, with nothing that makes it special. The wallpaper is in one small space, and a very safe pattern that is too small, and bland. And then everything is white.

I see your room with some bright blue, yellow, and some red, with maybe a black ad white check (Always brightend a room)

I think you need to wallpaper every bit of wall, and space you can put it. It should be a medium size print, with a lot of white in it, and not a traditional floral pattern.

If the shelves in the foreground are able to be taken down, they attract little cluttery things. I would, again wallpaper that wall, and put a great mirror, and a large clock, in red, if possible. Those three things will brighten up that room!

Even though it may block some light out, I think you should use white shutters to close off both side openings, and also on the back door. You will be surprised at how bright the kitchen is with all that new wood, and just cleaning up the lines (the curtains) it will make it seem brighter.you can have the slats open or open one side or the other, but they add a lot of character, and look nice when the are opemn. (If there are building salvage yards you can go to, you can find shutters there for a fraction of the cost) Also, E-bay. I'm not sure if they are too long, if they can be cut down.

I would then get some cheap 4" square black and white tiles,with trim, to tile your blacksplash all the way around.

I don't know if they still use these, but several years ago, they were doing these tube skylights. They are for places where skylights would not normally work. if you have an attic, for example, and cannot have a conventional skylight, they cut a hole in the roof, and use a tube to run to the area that needs light, and that would be in the ceiling. I remember hearing they put out quite a bit of light.

Next, I would buy "bead board" and install it on the ends of your cabinets. Bead board is that white board that is in strips, used in wainscotting, etc. Then I would go to Ikea, and get some new cabinet faces. They are not too expensive there. Since the faces of your cabinets are one dimensional, you could stay with white, but bet a very plane style with simple molding. I think at least the cabinets on either side of the sink should be glass, if not a couple others.

If I were going to replace one or the other, I would do the counter tops, and the sink. The floors can wait. You also can buy inexpensive stick on lighting for under the cabinets. And even a really cute china lamp on the seating counter would be darling. If you have more china like I see in the little shelf area, I would use that , and others up above the cabinets, on the new wallpaper. It wouldn't matter if they matched. Also door handles in red.
white and red dish and hand towels hung, etc. A little red here and there just brings a kitchen, especially your style to life. You may need help with all this, especially the wallpaper, but it's such a small space, it shouldm't be too expensive, and the pros get it up in a hurry. Also, Maybe a basket etc to cotain all the stuff on the fridge.

Darling house. Good luck with it and your future wedding plans.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/2-phvw-vp~63775

A touch of red can brighten up any room. I love the bedroom above and that wallpaper would be great in your kitchen. A kitchen that style needs pattern. Also look at the glass cabinets the bright blue, the red back door, all possibilities!

A simple fix for the chairs (unless some of the stretchers are broken; that may take some more work) is to take wood glue in a syringe (like the kind that comes with kids' liquid antibiotics) and inject it into all the joints. Gorilla Glue would be perfect. Once the glue is dry you can prime and paint (spray paint would probably be easiest) them the colour of your choice and the chairs will now last you several more years!

You can remove the curtain @'D door and you clean up the display @ the fridge look messy.. Thanks

@Leannafaith........ Lots of suggestions ...@smdrovetto..... Love the wallpapers you posted ....Also that nice blue in the Beach House kitchen ..... Also the blue chair in the last picture you posted
Oh yes the kitchen is still CRYING out to be Retro......

Yes, pearlmelba! Great minds think alike! I felt the same way! That room really is like a fashionista, wearing a gray trenchcoat! :)

I would have loved going "all out" with a '40's Hawaiian shirt print, for the wallpaper, but I thought a guy might be persuaded with a more momochromatic, and I loved that wallpaper, too. What about you, Leanna?:)

@smdrovetto ...... Fashionistas , wearing a grey trenchcoat....
I love that.......I will use this saying
As for the great minds..... Well I have not lost my mind just yet
But ..
its yet to be proven.......to be a great mind ...... Lol

Wow! lots of comments and questions. Matt (my fiancé) wants to brighten up the kitchen a little without spending much money. He put me in charge of making it look good, but only by changing the wall, lighting, flooring, and fridge, and maybe the counter. He likes earthy tones, but he loves white! He either wants to keep the current wallpaper or get rid of the concept of wallpaper for good. We're leaning towards getting rid of the wallpaper. I honestly dislike wallpaper all together, so if we get rid of it- we're not going to get more wall paper. Thank you all for the suggestions about the wallpaper, but I'd much rather paint. I have painted rooms in a house before, and my dad is a fellow diy-er, and is more than happy to teach us and help. We will probably do most of the replacing on our own, except for the counter tops. My parents have taught and I have observed them remodel the house they designed and built. I will have to post pictures of their house one of these days- it's beautiful.
- I will plan to remove the curtain at the door when the roommates are gone (because it's covering up their mess in the garage).
- The fridge will be less messy when the roommates move out.
- I have to ask- the maple board counters... I have always heard that wood cutting boards house many disgusting germs and bacteria, so aren't maple board counters wooden? Wouldn't the same concept go for maple board counters as wooden cutting boards?
- I must say, I do like porcelean tile that appears to look like wood.
- @mveasey, love your ideas! sounds like something Matt would love! We're hoping to get a new fridge when his roommates move out. :)
- Love the bright blue kitchen!
- Love the soft yellow and soft colored green kitchens!
- I also would love to change those knobs on the cabinets to a different color... maybe something colorful/ silver/ or even some kind of vintage knob/ creative knob
- p.s. I have other dilemma discussions on my page- if you would help me on those, that would be great too!

There are studies on wood cutting boards proving they e contain many less bacteria than plastic ones; wood has natural anti Microbial properties. :). Honestly, I've heard the same concerns about EVERY countertop surface to some extent or the other.


You could do soapstone, as well...it's a soft enough stone to be a possible DIY project like the wood.

Good to know! Thank you!! I do like the wood block and the maple counter tops, but I wasn't sure how sanitary it was, but that's a good point you made about it being that way with them all. My sister just had her counter tops redone to black fermika (spelling?) and they look beautiful! I'm thinking of having the same guy do ours, because he's local and he gave her a great deal. The black fermika also looks very similar to granite without paying the expensive cost. I talked to Matt- we're looking at doing a wood look-a-like floor or black and white checkered or either tile.... still deciding. We'll plan to keep the kitchen sink style, but a new one, and will probably keep the cabinets white, but new knobs.

-- Hi LeAnna - Just a note re: hardwood maple counter tops.

I appologize for not being clearer in my suggestion to use hard wood maple countertops. These are not used as a chopping block. If you need a chopped up onion, you would use a cutting board for that. Hard maple counters are all finished to the 'nth degree and are as sanitary as any other kind of counter top product - ceramic, stone, formica, etc. All counter tops take a little care and most are beautiful. It's just a question of what will work best for you and your life style.

I have had a maple counter for over 20 years and all it needs now, maybe, is the second coat of sealer in the very center and I am the only one who notices this. I put the first coats on 22 years ago when I found this gem hidden under some red linoleum that was glued down big-time on top of it!

This wood countertop would be appropriate for when your home was built and yet, would look very modern at the same time.

By -the-by - If your dad is a DIYer, ask him about adding a few more cabinets in the kitchen. He probably knows how easy it is, how economical it can be if you shop around, and how much value you would realize, for you working in there, and for resale. . .

Hi Leanna!

You're welcome. I just throw everything out there, and offer a little buffet of ideas people can pick and choose from as desired!

That's great you have experienced teachers/helpers!

My husband and I bought a house that was built around 1918, as our first home many years ago, and the kitchen was my very first painting job. (My husband is a very talented person, but the most UN-handy man I have EVER seen!)

So, I painted the kitchen by myself while he was at work. At one point I had one foot on the counter, and one on the part of the stove without the burners, painting an upper cabinet.

I guess my weight on the stove made some wires touch together inside, and it started shooting blue flames out of the burners. And the colors I picked, after ALL that work, ended up looking like the inside of a bus station!

Fortuntely, I've learned a little bit since 1974!

Thank you for your acknowledgements. It's very nice to hear.

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions! I'm sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I have put these projects on hold for a while. I'm busy preparing for an 11 month mission trip that I leave for in January 2014. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! You can follow my blog: http://leannatruesdale.theworldrace.org/

Well, thank you for checking in. Good luck on your future endeavors!
smgd

Wall paper goes. paint a blue gray like Revere pewter by B Moore. Remove curtain on door add a bamboo shade. Home Depot sells but to fit just window keep rolled half way up. Can you add granite. Would help more than floors. Go creams with grays. Backsplash in black subway tile. White grout. Put in recessed lights 4 in a row should work. Add a color like yellow in canisters to counter. Change pulls to long brush nickel.

Add two counter stools instead of chair.go a color. Ikea has some or go woven. Remove that shelve on wall just clutter. If changing floors try a light solid gray. 14-16" tiles. Nothing says dated like 7-10" floor tile.

Find another place for trash can or go stainless. Stainless appl would be nice, if in budget.

Remove everything from top of refrig, no clutter.

Remove all items from refrig. Get baskets and put over sink to put items in. Keep out of sight. White cabinet in corner by table not working. Can it go in a closet? Hang chandelier over table. Drop to 36" above table. A big lantern style would work in bronze 24" long and wide.

Spray paint chairs black. Green is dated. As is wall paper. Add a big mirror 36" x 24" high to big wall. In a dark wood frame.

Paint all trim white. In a small area like your kitchen clutter is a killer. Hide stuff. If you have to keep corner cabinet place on longer wall behind chairs and center don't angle furn.

Is that a pas though over sink? If so open up put micro on counter.

Agree with suggestions and also can change the cabinet hardware to something that pops with a darker metal.

Painting your cabinets as shown above is a great idea too. Yellow would be great.

I'm think of something along the lines of these photos--might try wooden flooring or tile/ linoleum that looks like wood.
I love the light blue color in these pics.
I think I plan to keep the cabinets white, and make the counter tops black or a contrasting shiny color.
I'm also looking at painting the walls glossy to bring in more light and paint the paneling bright white. We both love a clean, bright look vs a soft, yellowish, light look.
I plan to get rid of the corner cabinet, and hang up a mirror where the shelf with pegs is.
I might even paint the table legs to match the color of the walls:)
Oh and I love the idea of making the cabinets around the sink, glass front.
I also love the idea of getting a new kitchen light! I might paint the ceiling fan white or just get a new fan.

@travisinteriors the outlet on the counter to the left of the sink does not work anymore, otherwise the microwave would be there. Right now I have no control of the clutter on top of, on and around the fridge. I have no control of the clutter. I do not live there yet, we're not married, but he asked me to come up with ideas on how to fix up his house. So when I do live there, I will definitely take are of all the clutter. No worries there--it bugs me just as much as it bugs you, but thank you for the suggestions:)!

His cabinets are flat across, so I thought I might add some trim and paint over it to give them definition. The cabinets really are vintage.

Here's an idea of adding definition to them:

@Iris Design Studio, I love all of your photo suggestions!

What do you think of these counter top ideas? Do you think they would work/ look good?

Replace the freestanding white cupboard with a sideboard (or similar type of piece) long enough to go along that entire wall. If you can't find a one piece furniture, look for two identical pieces and put them side by side. Also, see all the fun stuff that turns up when you do a google images search on "DIY sideboard"!

Hi there! Last time I posted was 2013, wow! Well I am married now (have been for 4 months) :), we haven't painted the kitchen, nor have we changed the flooring or lights, but I did find that accessories bring fun to a kitchen. I also got fiestaware as a wedding gift, so that also adds fun color.

e're still in the process of remodeling, check it out so far:

Sorry it added one picture twice...

Repaper with a light floral/vine paper on a silver background. Pick up the paper pattern for the curtain.