White walls & new pendant lights for now, start saving for the larger overhaul.

Paint the back splash a cream colour. Your blue counter stool upholstery emphasizes the orange tones, by contrast. Change them to cream too, maybe a print.

change the backsplash to something lighter.

get new hardware.

paint the walls in the kitchen anything but gold.

a newer, more modern faucet wouldn't hurt

that should be enough to hold you over.

I had that same exact granite and style cabs.

I lived w/it for 15 years. cabs were all custom, so they were fine. just removed all the 'tuscan' flair, and painted them (got new door faces) . Yeah. much better. and so much brighter.

10-15 years?? really? lol. Those cabs will be falling apart by then.

put $100 a month into a savings for the kitchen. after 10 years, you'll have a decent sum to purchase new cabinets. everything else will be extra, of course.

Wow, so much great feedback! Thank you so much.

I don't hate the idea of painting the cabinets, but I know it can have varying results as to durability of the finish, and I have six children. That picture above of the change after painting is remarkable.

Which is also why I'm leaning towards longer before a big change-- we're in the phase of being hard on the house (I have five sons) and I'd rather not put in new things until they're a bit older and more coordinated.

Which is also why I would love a bigger run of counter space-- I cook a lot of food all the time and also plate things frequently, which is difficult with the setup I have. It's not as much the square footage of counter, it's the layout. I agree the only realistic way to do this without a big redo is removing the bottom of the appliance garage cabinet, or removing the whole cabinet. I'm just not sure what the best thing to do with that wall would be if I did that.

A contractor mentioned the idea of 'reglazing' the tiles-- which apparently pretty much just means painting them. I'm hesitant, just because I don't want anything that looks tacky. The house feels....grand? In my last two houses I took risks and did some creative DIY and it totally worked--I'm not afraid of unique things, I just don't want tacky.

For budget, I don't have an exact number-- it would depend on what I was getting. I'd be happy to pay around $2000 for a temporary fix that would buy me time until I needed to redo the cabinetry to something more lasting (they're particle board boxes, though the faces are wood).

I'd prefer not to retile. I'll probably change the layout a little when we redo the kitchen and would rather not sink the money into it now. But if I could do an alternative I'd be willing to remove the tile. I was looking at raw brass because I love the patina, but even with different colored walls I'm not sure if it would be the right change.

Beth, your redo turned out amazing! I really like the different colored island.

I love dark blues and greens with raw brass because it goes with the rest of the house. Not sure how I could incorporate that without a total overhaul.

I agree with the thought to just cover up the mural with an interesting piece of metal.

A totally whacko suggestion is to buy a folding cart and to use that as auxiliary counter space. We bought ours to decrease the number of round trips between the kitchen and the dining table on which we eat our meals. But I discovered how handy the little extra counter space is. I frequently plate our dinners--the cart top holds three, but there is a bottom shelf if needed.

for the mural you dislike - ?

https://sefastone.com/blogs/s/4-easy-steps-paint-travertine-tiles#:~:text=%204%20Easy%20Steps%20to%20Paint%20Travertine%20Tiles,options%20that%20you%20can%20choose%20for...%20More%20

Or repeating a color around.

Smith's Kitchen · More Info

I searched and found burnished look in gold that might blend with yours - sand yours? and a pro could do the glue? :)

in nice simple pattern, not busy much -- copper, bronze,

https://www.questech.com/product-details/cs-b-2-x-18-tile/

I think the granite and backsplash are the worst offenders here. The cabinets are totally fine, if a bit dark. But that's ok if you don't have the money for a full remodel right now.

There's a solid surface material called Dekton Lunar that I just put in a client's project on top of walnut cabinets (see work in progress photos below) that is a tan-ish color with a faux concrete texture:

It's reminiscent of travertine, but with a slightly more industrial flair which might work with that range hood you have.

Pretty certain this material also comes in a slim thickness so you could use it as the backsplash material, too.

Dekton is a little tricky to work with, so make sure that (a) your fabricator is certified to work with this and (b) you go with a simple eased edge to keep it from chipping during fabrication. Once installed it's actually pretty indestructible.

I do love hearing about new products, esp. ones my future renovator might not know about - and that happens certainly. I like educating myself, and I have time.

I agree w/not painting cheap cabs. (UNLESS, you do it yourself. if you did paint them, they'd look brand new. I just wouldn't invest 6K to have a Pro do it on fiberboard bases)

just wait and get new ones.

5 boys? oh you poor thing!

do you have travertine tile? you could paint it with something like Romabio in a nice white.

For the middle accent, chip it out and put in something else. maybe these hammered real copper tiles?

or maybe a diff tile design accent? these are pure copper designs. Tree of Life. not super cheap, but they would go perfectly w/your stone

you could even cut a piece of marble or granite to the same dimensions, and put it in place.

If you like brass, chip out the accent tile, use adhesive to set the brass onto a cement board substrate in the exact width / depth after you remove the accent tile, and just place that in the hole. use a similar grout to fill the joints (or a colored caulking)

Or, you could get a super thin piece of copper or brass sheeting, and glue it (with proper adhesive ) right over those colored tiles. use the existing border tile as your edging.

they done larger sheets for the backsplash, but i'm thinking your other tiles will telegraph through.

you could cut out all of the tiles behind the stove, spread the brass veneer on a cement board panel, and do it like this

or, remove all of the tiles yourself (it's not that difficult) and put up blocks of the brass shown here.

you could also get copper

they sell these copper sheets in all sorts of colors and patina

if you guys can DIY, remove all the travertine tile backsplash, and do something else. 10-15 years is a long time to look at something you don't like.

Heck, I'd even DIY paint those cabs myself. why not? take your time doing it. that wood finish is only going to get worse. Sand them, prime them, and use a nice quality paint like Advance or Cabinet coat. Paint them a light shade that works w/the granite.

You could even just do the island. look at the diff in how it lightens up the space

now get new hardware and new pendants. Maybe you could even find a deal on leftover granite or quartz for the perimeter at some point. would you redo that perimeter granite for say, 1K?

Is the wall tiled behind the appliance garage? If not, removing that is going to lead you to changing the backsplash anyway. I agree the bookshelf looks like it started life as a microwave cavity and it's distracting that the whole section is taller than the rest. (Where is your microwave??) If you're going to eliminate the appliance garage, can you move the cabinet down so that it's level with the others? Looks like that would entail making the book shelf shorter by a couple of inches to bring the bottom up to match. I'm guessing it would look odd to remove it entirely, and potentially not much better to fill in the space with open shelves, but maybe someone who is good at photoshopping could mock that up to show you.

I love that copper backsplash, Beth! We have done a lot of DIY, so that doesn’t make me nervous.

I do like the idea of painting just some of the cabinets. Maybe just the uppers that don’t get as much handling by kids?

my microwave is in the adjacent laundry room/pantry. I do not like microwaves, rarely use them, and think they’re super ugly. I’m not attached the the bookshelf hole though if it needs to go.

Get rid of the gold walls by painting them a creamy white like alabaster. New pendants, a good tile guy could easily remove your pic. My sister had a similar granite, tumbled marble backsplash. Her cabinets were creamy white though. She replaced countertops with Taj Mahal quartzite $8k and a copper farmhouse sink. Looks splendid

I love the patina on the metals for the backsplash.

I could replace the kitchen now, but I’d rather wait until the kids are bigger.

The pendants I love. They’re from anthro and unique and whimsical, which is what I gravitate towards. Here’s a stock photo because they’re tricky to photograph well.

If I did copper or brass for the backsplash, could I paint just the uppers? And the range hood? Could I get away with a darker color or just cream?

you could do darker. but w/the dark wood lowers, darker granite, I think it would be a bit overpowering. BUT, what if you did the uppers in black AND exchanged the center panels for glass? bring in some gold or copper hardware, and redo the center accent over the stove w/the copper? you'd get something like this (you'd have to repaint the wall color tho)

(I'd still redo that backsplash. it's not expensive and you guys could DIY it. )

To tie in black, I'd get a black faucet, maybe the copper sink (i love mine, see below) and for sure some new island stools/chairs. You like that?

the other option is to remove the cabinets altogether and do open shelving on either side of the vent hood

something like this, but not quite this industrial

maybe even paint the hood black and do a copper band around the lower portion.

Or, keep as is, maybe replace the doors w/glass, and opt to do a dark wall color.

In that before pic I posted of mine, you can barely see it, but I did black walls w/those wood cabinets. I also have a copper sink. better shot of it

I painted the wall around this window area black. didn't have much wall space elsewhere.

you could also do any of these options but paint out the island to a creamy white. paint your walls white , and do one of the other options for the uppers.

here's a similar style, creamy uppers, and a copper color vent hood. ever hear of modern masters? you could do a copper patina paint effect on your wood hood. or get some copper sheeting and just do parts of it.

This metal backsplash material might be an option for replacing just the mural -

https://www.americantinceilings.com/colors-master-backsplash.html

English Cottage Kitchens IMO are typically a painted finish with some open shelves or cabinets I think you could easily move your Tuscan kitchen to an English kitchen with some paint. English kitchens are certainly a more haphazard way of arranging items, colors and materials.

Try to take off your American hat and replace it with an English bonnet. Maybe you paint the backsplash as a temp fix, maybe you add chickenwire to some doors, maybe your remove some cabinets and replace with a hutch or plate rack.

Here are a few more examples of features in cottage kitchens

These ideas are so great!!

Thank you all so much— this gives me so many paths to explore to really come up with a great ‘bandaid’ that Is beautiful.

I should have explained that I speak fluent Italian and lived near Tuscany in Umbria. So the faux Tuscan (my husband calls it Fuscan, haha) jars a little extra on me. I definitely don’t think this is an awful kitchen, and I don’t want to diva about it. But finding inexpensive ways to make it fit us and the house more helps!!

Beth, I love that copper sink! Our powder room has a copper sink (with a cool raised design) and it’s so gorgeous, but I never considered using copper in the kitchen.

Beverly, those pictures are so fun. I need to work more on a picture of how to incorporate the english cottage feel without going too far. The house design was inspired by English countryside homes and definitely feels that way, but shifting the interior from Tuscan to English countryside without getting too fussy is so tricky.

how wonderful! My mom was full italian and refused to learn to speak it as a child (a long time ago! lol) I picked up a little here and there, but never anyone around to keep up with it.

Why don't you draw on what you know of tuscany and use it in your design?

I love the copper idea w/the patina green shades. maybe you could replace the door panels with a seed glass? paint the inside of the back panel the patina color, and display any pottery?

see how they did on this one? w/the glass?

this is more of a modern tuscan style.

this one has a very similar layout to yours. more ornate. but they did the glass next to the stove.

I also like the black idea. another modern tuscan. w/the cream color cabs

creamy glazed cabs (which I don't like) but look at the island. a creamy patina green shade with butcher block island top. bright white tile backsplash.

another similar layout. When you're ready to redo, these style cabinets are nice. you have that beautiful tall ceiling though. I'd do double cabs.

as a thought, you could do more of a lantern style pendant. save those other pendants for another spot in the house.

bring in runner of some type that goes w/your design.

my copper sink? Coppersinksonline. I love that sink. going on 16 years now

It even works w/my redo.

following

?

Rivera Copper 32" Double Bowl Undermount Kitchen Sink · More Info

Google some dream kitchens. When you are done with that "saving"reinforcement concept?

Find an art print you love. Go to Michaels and get it float framed/glass and metal to fit OVER. the offending mural.Hang it up. Paint the walls

Failing a counter and splash change, and DIY cabinet paint job? Leave all else. Bank bucks. Including the 2k you'd be willing to throw at this. You may find you don't need ten or fifteen years to the real re do.

I'm into the idea of copper with patina-green accents in paint. Those are two things I've always liked anyway, and I think they mesh with the vibes of the house.

So, for a first stage:

Alter the appliance garage cabinet so that it's flush with the other two.

Paint the cabinets cream and the walls a lighter color (same color? Should I paint the hood too? Leave the hood dark? Or just go for it and paint the whole cabinet the patina-green? Too much?). If I repaint the kitchen walls, I'll need to keep going into the adjacent two areas (dining room and a sort of sitting room).

Get seeded glass inserts for the cabinets flanking the stove. Paint the interiors a patina-green. Will this work on the boxes-- they're a particle board with some kind of veneer or coating? I guess with a good primer?

Remove tiles, fit a thin piece of cement board and then cover with copper sheet. Replace hardware and faucet.

Does that sound like a reasonable first draft of the plan?

Jan, I see what you're saying. To be honest I have money to pay for a kitchen remodel now. However, over the next ten years our lives will go through a big shift. Right now our six kids range from 7-16 (oldest is a girl, then 5 boys), so we have a very busy, active household that gets a lot of wear and tear. All of our meals are big meals, and we entertain very large groups *a lot.* I don't know for sure what my life will be like in 10-15 years. Will the kids settle near us? Will we have lots of little grandkids? Will we still entertain large groups frequently? I am very reluctant to drop a huge wad of cash on a kitchen remodel now that might not be a good fit for the next life stage. Although my current kitchen isn't perfect in terms of function, it's not bad at all, so I'd rather just make it a little more to my tastes and wait for the big change until later.

Nobody has a crystal ball. A good kitchen is a good kitchen, now AND later.. Wear and tear? It happens with life, If I told you ..you were sentenced to prison for FIVE years? You would say, "can't do that!" . Live in the present. Live in the present. Nobody knows the future. Just make a realistic budget and stick to it.

3pinktrees that's exactly what I'd do in your situation - make some small changes and see what life brings before throwing significant money at what you say is a small manageable problem.

everdebz,,,,that copper sink? it's only 16Gauge. (mine is 14, hand hammered from Mexico) The two best places for copper sinks are mexico and turkey. and always 14 gauge. )

If this one that's selling on houzz is from china, I'd pass.

Pink trees, I'm with Jan on this one. IF you have the money to redo it, then redo it. doesn't matter if you have your kids! pick a custom made cabinet material that you like. A solid white oak would be sturdy enough. get the soft close hinges and heavy duty handles. it's not like the kids will go around and kick and punch the cabinets, will they? lol

do a slab front for easy cleaning, if you like.

get a quartz or granite and don't worry about anything.

The point it, 5-10 years from now, maybe the money won't be there. maybe something else will take precedence.

if you really don't mind the kitchen, then fine. But with all those people you have to cook for everyday, why not have the kitchen be the one that makes you happy enough to be in there? something that you enjoy looking at every day?

I'm with Beth. Don''t PICK/ PECK at a zit. ...........makes it worse every time. A " DE TUSCAN approach does not mean more of it....copper sinks, , copper faucets and ORB . No copper anything, really.

Hey, don't knock my copper sink Jan! I love my sink. I loathe SS sinks and would never have one.

but a copper sink doesn't mean it's 'tuscan'! (of course, if she leaves her kitchen as is, it would just add to the overall look. Up to her if she wants to embrace it or change it. )

I love that I can throw a hot iron skillet into that sink and not have to worry about one thing. when I want it to look shiny new, a scrubby pad and some comet. good as new.

Beth H! Agreed !!

I caution you. What people often find, they “start” and that sets off domino effect. One thing tends to lead to another. So figure out total plan and bite off phases in a sequence that makes sense. That way at the end you will have a cohesive look you like with controlled spending.

I hope you just paint the walls and new pendants. I had 2 girls. Your kitchen is going to take a beating. Let it. When they’re really trashed, remodel. I like your copper idea for the picture area by the cooktop.

Huh! As one of three girls, I'm trying to remember what took a beating. Nothing inside the house, other than the smaller oriental rugs. Mom would toss those out the door with a broom, and we'd throw the dry February snow on.We'd sweep the daylights out of them and she would declare......."Good job,, nicely brightened!"

Yup, that's it. .......oh wait. Our penny loafers and sneakers. Mostly because you only had one pair, and you walked to school. When you weren't sleeping you were probably outside.

Flo, that’s excellent advice. Im definitely going to put a lot of thought in before doing anything.

I laughed at the prison metaphor. My kitchen really isn’t *that* bad. I do understand the argument to just do it right the first time and not mess around with tiny changes. At my last house I redid the kitchen right off because it was truly awful in both form and function. But honestly I don’t mind going another 10 years in this one with just some little tweaks.

Jan, those are sweet memories. I also use old oriental rugs because those things are so durable! I buy vintage or antique furniture, and my favorite have been the vintage university cast-offs, designed to withstand thousands of students. In a house full of big, active boys *everything* takes a beating, even if they’re being ‘careful’—the paint and walls, the wood floors (fortunately they’re Brazilian cherry and very tough), etc. Recently my gigantic 15-year-old passed out (low blood pressure) and knocked a hole in the dining room sheetrock, ha!

I know that a good kitchen should stand up to wear and tear, but I’d rather just enjoy these years with my kids without thinking about what damage may or may not be happening.

I skimmed over this: "I love dark blues and greens with raw brass because it goes with the rest of the house. Not sure how I could incorporate that without a total overhaul."

You're comfortable with diy, so I don't see how metal instead of mural could roll into project after project. Also, how prominent is your kitchen?

Rub/ paint over the mural is a small project. And the paint seems a neutral that goes with the room that we see -- when will you post more photos? ;)

It does seem like just a backsplash update is doable without becoming a domino remodel.

I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow. It’s a little Christmas-crazy in here right now so you’ll have to look past all the garlands, etc!

Jan I’m one of 5. I just mean life. We had custom maple cabinets installed in a kitchen remodel in 2000. Remember that natural finish? Well it yellows, water spots, so painted them in 2017 as such good quality. It was not cheap and they looked beautiful. She can’t afford to hit right now, so I think the biggest bang foe the buck would be to de-gold all the walls, new pendants, and something to get rid of the mural!

4 years later and I'm coming back to this post. Drum roll....I've done nothing to the kitchen aside from replacing the oven and dishwasher that broke.

I'm a teacher, so now that I'm on summer break I need to tackle some house projects, one of which will be repainting the main floor. I'm planning for a neutral cream, but need to do some color analysis first since there are a lot of factors to take into account, so I don't have a color name yet.

Still not planning on a full redo for at least 5 more years. My youngest is now going into 7th grade and I'd like him to be in college before I put in a new kitchen. I know there are pros and cons to waiting, but I'd like to wait. I'm also still working out everything I'd like to do to change things up and am not in a rush.

While we've lived here, I've really come to realize that the worst thing about the ktiche is that the tile is busy and the counter is busy and then there's the mural. The designer of the kitchen really didn't take the 'one thing as the star' advice.

So, I've gotten to the point where I'm ready to take the plunge to quiet the kitchen down a bit. I'd like some opinions on my options:

1. Paint the backsplash tiles to calm them down. Cost-- very low, I am competent at diy and have done quite a bit of research on this. Cons-- might look tacky. That's why I've been reluctant. I've seen pictures of this that people have done and it looks great in the pictures, but I'm afraid maybe it won't in real life.

2. Replace the backsplash. Cost-- probably 750-1500 plus possible damage to cabinets since quite a few will have to get removed and replaced. Cons-- annoying to spend money for a backsplash I'll rip out again later. Pros-- possibly could make a huge difference.

3. Paint the walls and just leave it at that. Cost-- need to do it this summer anyway. Cons-- If I don't rip off the bandaid, I'll be living with a kitchen that's reallllly not my style for minimum another 5 years. Not a tragedy, but if there's a simple alternative?

4. Paint the cabinets and walls. These cabinets are definitely not staying when we do the remodel. They're getting kind of beat up. If I paint them myself (yes, I would follow the appropriate process and use cabinet paint) then I can just touch them up reguarly as needed. Cost-- around $100-150 for supplies, plus lots of pain during the process. Pros-- would make it much cheerier and brighter. Cons-- I'd have painted old cabinets.

My son made AI do mockups of sort of what the kitchen would look like in cream cabinets.

How fun to revisit this thread, not on Houzz anymore so it was surprising to get an email notification.

I vote #3!

Go ahead and simply paint, stand back, take a good look and see how you feel, leave cabinets and everything else alone for now.

The cabinets would look nice painted, but you'd still have the awful granite and backsplash. I wouldn't ruin my summer by painting the cabinets. Nor would I waste money on a new backsplash.

5 years is really not that long a time, so think and plan carefully for your eventual renovation. Think how fast these 4 years have gone!

If you have an extra tile or two, try painting them to see how they look. Or just use paint on a tile in an inconspicuous area.

:I agree with the “wait til you retire” concept…you may want to even totally redesign your kitchen …from the floor up …to address your total life change…

I would also say that light paint over dark wood..could lead to scratches and constant need for touch ups…never mind painted tile problems

As to the splash…a fairly small project…painting that …would simplify the stone statement a lot ….for the least amount of effort…even easier to touch up if needed

Most people don’t realize that spray paint in a can …has a high glue content…which makes it more durable for projects like your splash

Thanks all— this is the advice I needed! I’ll just paint the walls and keep brainstorming the eventusl bew layout. The splash goes behind the appliance garage, so if I get antsy I’ll experiment there and see how it looks.

I’ll be back in a few years for feedback on layout of the remodel :).