Name: Anna
Location: Miami
Rent or own? Rent
What does your kitchen need? A whole new look. It has pink tile counters and a matching tile back splash and old while cabinets.
What does your kitchen need? (cont.) I can paint but that ugly tile is still there. I really need a way to cover the tile so it looks updated.
What are your limitations? Budget less than $200.
Makeover Recipe
Anna, we know you were looking to cover up your tile, but we haven't come across any tile-covering methods that we can recommend. So, we suggest you embrace that pink tile and use it as inspiration for the rest of the kitchen.
• Our main suggestion is a simple can of paint (or maybe a few cans, depending on the size of the rest of your kitchen). We think a rich coat of paint on the cabinets and walls could make a world of difference, and we say go bold! Why not take a cue from the burgundy trim and create a deeply colorful kitchen around it?
• We'd also swap out the cabinet hardware for something sleeker and more modern, and the rental-issue blinds for some light, pretty curtains. Let that Miami sun shine in!
• Finally, we'd add some accents of gray and some pops of bright lemon yellow.
Inspiration:
• Living Big in a Small Space: Timothy Mather. We love the burgundy cabinets with pink accents and bold prints.
• Gio Lemon Twin Duvet Set from Dwell Studio. This was one of Maxwell's Daily Finds for the new Apartment Therapy Marketplace. Obviously, this is for a child's bedroom and not the kitchen, but we think the color palate is perfect. We also love Dwell's Gate Java Placemats as an accent. Though, at $96 for a set of 4, we're keeping those in the inspiration category.
Suggested Resources:
• Liberty cabinet pulls, $4.99 each at Home Depot
• Paint-By-Number Dessert Plate, #85 Inspiring, $12 at Anthropologie
• Enamel/Stainless Steel Colander in Lemon, $15.99 at Target
• Rose Bowl Set, $30 at Urban Outfitters
Those are just a few suggestions to start your inspiration process. Please check back in and show us what you do with your kitchen makeover. Readers — what would you do with this kitchen?
(Images: Anna via email, Timothy Mather Interior Design, linked retailers)





Red-and-Pink-Stripe...

I agree -- don't paint the tile. It will just look bad.
I think it would be gorgeous to paint the cabinets the grayish color shown in the pillowcase in the fourth picture, and use burgundy glass knobs (see link) in place of the current cabinet hardware.
Burgundy glass knobs: http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/exrubredglas.html
You will have a unique and beautiful kitchen.
I have a mid-century Florida condo and please keep, but shine the cabinet hardware if it is mid-century, and use color around them. Bright, yellow-green, gray with burgundy/pale rose (accents?) would be authentic. No vertical blinds!Crisp geometric or bold leaf patterned curtains or roman blind?
Definitely get rid of the blinds before you do anything else- I think when you get a cute curtain in there you'll be much happier. If you decide to paint the cabinets, I think the gray people keep mentioning would look good, but I also think that you could go retro bold here with yellow or aqua colors and it would look totally awesome.
I love your pink tile! Those cabinets are fantastic too. Have fun with your new kitchen!
I think the gray can also really work well with the shiny appliances you already have, plus a metal dish rack, and a retro fan to switch out for the one you have now. Shining up the hardware already suggested would bring it together even more.
I love your kitchen!
I actually really love the tile. I had a 50s ranch house in Portland and my bathroom tile was identical (except the burgundy trim in the shower had swans and lillypads on it). I think the idea of grey or more burgundy is nice, if you can't stand the white. Really, the only part that drives me crazy is the blinds. You could replace them with curtains that use burgundy, white, and whatever else you like. Good luck.
I second the getting rid of the blinds. Replacing them with color appropriate draperies will make a world of difference. And, not to offend, cleaning up the space will make it feel brighter. Also, a new faucet (under $50) may make the whole kitchen feel newer.
I've painted tile in many rentals and it looked perfect when it was done. So painting tile really DOES work but only if you use the proper paint and acid etch the tiles (people rarely use the proper products so it can come out looking awful). To do a basic older style kitchen cost about $125. Another method is to hire a reglazing company to paint the tile (the companies that do bathtubs). You do need to regrout afterward for things to look properly done.
If you don't want to paint the tile, figure out what the undertone of your tile color is (is it white, grey, black, greenish, etc) - then choose your favorite paint color - but make sure to choose the one with the matching undertone. Doing that will help balance the intensity of what you're trying to disguise (in this case the pinkness of the tile).
i agree about the blinds and general clean-up. let in the light and embrace what you have.
I have that pink tile in my bathroom as well, and I decided to go with grey paint to spruce it up. My advice - it is very hard to get a good grey paint. I went through three different shades of grey trying to find one that worked. The first one looked baby blue against the pink, the next one looked green. Finally I found a good brown tinged shade that looked decent! I wish someone had warned me beforehand!
I agree that painting the cabinets will really help. The current white cabinets are really making the tile stand out because of the high contrast. Whatever color you choose to go with (some nice suggestions above) keep the value of the color the same as the light pink. This will reduce the contrast between the cabinets and counter top so you don't notice them as much. Pick part or your kitchen you do love and make that the new focal point - perhaps the view out of the kitchen or some nice new curtains.
That's the exact color scheme (and the same tiles) used in my bathroom! I just embraced the pink/chocolate combination with towels and artwork and it wasn't so bad.
...but a bathroom might be easier to handle in pink than a kitchen.
I'd paint walls an apple green for contrast or a dark chocolate, leave cabinets white (or if I did paint them, paint just door faces not surround), but add cool pulls in chocolate or green, and last but so not least ditch that horrible blind and get shutters or curtains.
Pink and grey would be fabulous, and so authentically mid-century - and yes get rid of the vertical blind in favor of a fabric blind that picks up on the dark border tile. Maybe you can even keep the cabinets white if you have enough wall for the grey paint. Did you see the craftsman kitchen here earlier this week, with gray walls, and creamy cabinets with a pink interior? I think you just have to enjoy the pink and have fun with it.
But you *can* paint tile. It's called refinishing and I see it done all the time on home improvement shows. Miracle Method is one company that I've seen used. In fact, their website shows a before and after of . . . Pink tiled countertops!
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=226905&CategoryID=31769
Now, it's not about using a brush and just slapping on wall paint. I don't know if the paint is specially formulated but all programs that have filmed tile refinishing in progress show a spray gun type application.
I would buy a flat sheet of that kid's bedding and make curtains out of it, store your small appliances and fan, and buy some cute art to put on the counters. Done.
My husband and I painted our first apartment's kitchen pink--with the off white trim and cupboards and the brown floor, we decided pink would make it a fun, Neapolitan kitchen. (The little counter was a nasty gray linoleum thing, but that was always covered--dish drainer, piles of mail and recipes, etc.--so it didn't really matter.)
I don't know, if you already decided on your course of action, but I just wanted to warn you before, and if, you decide to paint over the tile. I had my bathtub done professionally about 3 years ago, and it already started to peel last year. It's quite difficult to make the border between the new and old paint to go away. I think your kitchen counter gets to be used much more often than a bathtub, so the wear and tear will be faster. It's funny that somebody mentioned seeing the paint used on home improvement shows, because that's exactly what got me to give it a try(Thinking of course they wouldn't recommend anything too flimsy, would they?). If you plan to stay in your place longer than 2 years, I wouldn't risk it.
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