Kitchen Ideas

[Scaryspex]

Hi,

Ive just bought a house and cannot afford to change the kitchen units for now. I really want to do something with it. Ive thought of painting the units white and changing the handels, but is that really all I can do with it?

has anyone got any pictures of their kitchen before and after they painted wooden doors? Im a very colourful person, I love eclectic looks so I want to something a bit funky.

Also the floor tiles and the wall tiles are horrible too.. Can you paint floor tiles???

I will post pics when I get started!

[Merienne]

Oh this sounds like it could be the start of something great!
If you want something more eclectic- go for a colour on the unit doors, and even on the kitchen door. My parents have painted their kitchen cupboards lots of times: deep red, 50's blue, custard yellow, and now- white.
I saw a gorgeous kitchen on younghouselove.com just the other day, here's a link:

http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/05/house-crashing-a-sleek-happy-home/

Something that seems very popular now is taking off some of the top unit doors, like in the kitchen in the link. Then you could even paint the shelves or back of the cupboard a contrasting colour, or even wallpaper the back.

I don't know about painting floor tiles, since they would have a lot of wear and tear, but google it!
You can paint wall tiles! I just googled paint wall tiles, and got loads of "how to" hits, so just look through a few of those sites to see which seems most thorough. I would be most worried about finding the right paint, I have had less than satisfying experiences when asking in Homebase and B&Q when I've needed advice on paint...

Good luck, looking forward to seeing the work in progress!

[Purplerain]

if you took some pics and post them here( as it is now)people would have more vision and be abel to give advice and ideas.you can paint floor tiles but it dosnt really keep, you would be better trying to get a deal on lino and you can paint wall tiles but you cant really give them a good scrubbing if they get greasy.as for kitchen you can paint with wood paint and put on new handles.all the best

[hackytza]

This could be of help:

http://www.hennydonovanmotif.co.uk/painted_kitchen.htm

Or even if you punch in "painted kitchen" in google images, you might get a lot of ideas.
Ivory kitchens seam to be the trend now.

[Scaryspex]

Hey... thanks guys...

I been googling painted furniture quite a bit actually. Ive managed to get a few odd bits of bedroom furniture from here and I was planning on painting them different dark colours. I have a beautiful dark walnut solid king size bed and Im thinking an old grandfather wardrobe painted dark blue (almost navy but not quite) and the drawers a lemon colour maybe. I also have an old chest of drawers my grandfather made in the 50s that Im going to attempt to do up with odd door knobs and paint it in pastels.


Google is definately my best friend at the minute!

Im loving the idea from Merienne, painting the inside or using wallpaper is a great idea!!! Will be doing that.

I have so many ideas... but no time just yet!! Should be getting the key in the next month so will post up pictures when I start packing up the house next week!

Thanks for your help!!

[Scaryspex]

Ive also added a picture of a bath. I have one of these baths in the garage and it will not fit in the bathroom. Does anyone know how to or were to find someone to cut out a couch like this??

Thanks

[BigDave]

Hi,
What kind of doors are they? If their solid wood doors I wouldn't recomend painting them if thier not painted, Quite often if their solid, with the right treatment on them, they can add real depth to the room, whatever colour the room is painted. wouldn't use varnish but there is a special wax you can stain them with.
If ordinary doors, What colour are you thinking of for the rooms? what colour are the carpets, floor tiles, timber, Curtains, Blinds?
I'm currently studying design, so if you give me some more info I might be able to give you some pointers ;-)

P.S.
As far as I know you can paint floor tiles, but to be on the safe side, consult your local hardware or D.I.Y Store for the right paint.

Dave

[Scaryspex]

Im so sorry... the kitchen picture will not upload for some reason. Keeps saying "invalid file" Ive resized it and its still not working. Ill take another picture with a different camera and upload one then.

The door are oak effect with a grove etched into them. Not solid no, so I really want to paint them. The worktops are barely black chipboard. The floor tiles are a barely black with some sort of brown streak in them (horrible) to try and make some sort of effect, perhaps marble. They are not glossy or shiny, more matted and uneven, but not as nice as slate or granite.
The wall tiles are peach/orange and will be the first thing to be painted! The wall tiles will probably be painted white or cream. I have stainless steel appliances and I also have a lot of lime green and red polka dot accessories for my current kitchen which I want to keep. My table is a solid oak, country kitchen style with some small porceelan decorations on the corners.

I am very much a vintage girl, but my partner is not, so need to find a happy medium. I Have a lot of clear glasses jars and bottles for pastas, teas and oils so I would like to have a shelving area for all that too. im thinking underneath the wall presses.

I also have a utility room and toilet that I want to make more use of this space. The toilet is very large so Im on the hunt for a press to put in there for all my cleaning bits and bobs.

I took two beautiful pieces of furniture yesterday from JTer, Tashlaw (see below). These will be repainted and put in my bedroom. Will post before/after pics when thats done too. Im thinking of painting them dark blue of navy and might get some crystal knobs for the drawers. Thanks

[mondubics]

Years ago, I got paint for floor tiles, but it was intended for the old-fashioned hearth type, and you could only get red and black. It also wasn't very good because it gradually comes off over time. Probably not worth the effort involved.
I'm re-doing my kitchen at present, and one thing I've been doing is looking at the ads for houses for sale on Myhome.ie, and checking out the pictures for ideas. There is an amazing range. What I do is look for houses in my own area, as they will be similar in style.

[jennycat]

Have been thinking of painting my table and cabinet dark grey and very bright yellow but chickened out. After seeing the young house love kitchen pics am going to go for it. Scaryspex - painting wall tiles is fine but definitely not floor tiles. My friend took up her tiles, put a levelling compound down and painted the concrete. It looked amazing when it was finished. The bath pic is cool. Keep us updated if you go for it. Jenny

[Scaryspex]

Hi,

Sorry it took me so long to put up pictures but here's the kitchen!!

I have a stainless steel fridge, oven and hob to go in yet. Im thinking of painting bottom doors grey and top ones white or something like that. Im open to suggestions!

Thanks

[Gormal]

if you google images "colourful kitchen cabinets", it will give you some inspiration, I'm quite partial to lime green and turquoise.
Use some bright colours to make it look bigger and brighter. Good luck can't wait to see what you do with it.

[Scaryspex]

if you google images "colourful kitchen cabinets", it will give you some inspiration, I'm quite partial to lime green and turquoise.
Use some bright colours to make it look bigger and brighter. Good luck can't wait to see what you do with it.

Lols... I have been goggling for the past 3 months!!! I would be interested to see if anyone has a simalar door shape painted though,.

I did come across a very good design website though, www.dornob.com It has some very interesting deisgn ideas. Hours of entertainment.

[MuddyWitch]

How about picking out the indent bits? (dead technical, me!)

Paint the whole door your main colour such as white or cream & then paint the indented outline a bright colour. As there would only be a small amount you could go for something really bright like fuchsia pink or emrald green! (Or both!!!)

You could use a good emulsion, as they come in far more interesting colours than gloss. You would just need to give the cupboards a couple of coats of hardwaring varnish afterwards. (I'd use shellac.)

Looking forward to the 'after' pics. Good Luck!

MW

[melissabell]

Hi,

I have to be honest and say that I absolutely love your units. Mine were a horrible melamine that was peeling. I love 1970's things but I couldn't go as mad as I wanted as my other half would've killed me :)

I did my kitchen on a very small budget. I had to use melamine primer but yours would need a different primer, then undercoat and a gloss etc. Use rollers that are for gloss as being an amateur i didn't know the difference and the finish wasn't as good as I wanted.

I couldn't afford new handles so I took the separate surrounds off and spray painted the handles to match. I would advise giving the cupboards and the handles a coat of clear gloss as they can wear. ( I wish I had)

For tiles keep an eye on adverts.ie, here and in tile shops for end of line stock. I got tiles for a bathroom splash back in my bathroom for €2 in woodies, they always have a clearance section.
I'm still looking out for new floor tiles

I got new work tops but you mightn't need to we had to as I wanted to extend the units and our worktop was discontinued so we couldn't get more. I wanted a display unit and was watching out here for one but my mother in law was getting rid of hers so I painted it to match. My brother in law then extended the units using MDF and put the whole thing together for me at a discounted price.

I'll add pics, I know they won't be to your tast but It might help :)

[melissabell]

ok this is how they are now I can't find the before pics. They'er chocolate brown :)
I paid full price for the tiles unfortunately.

Cupboards were originally a really light fake wood with black handles and the tiles on the walls were green and terracotta. I still hate the floor tiles but before i started it looked really bad :)