it stinks that you can't paint. i would go for gray if it were up to me. perhaps, as elizabeth said, the landlord would allow you to paint the walls a crisp white - i think that would make a huge difference. in addition to elizabeth's suggestion of a bamboo window covering, i would also love to see some color up there - a red valance or tea towel curtains? you can also bring color in with a table cloth over an inexpensive flea market/garage sale table for the dining area. mis-matched chairs, maybe?

That countertop is amazing. Is it tile?

This is a cute kitchen - reminds me of old-miliraty housing...

It appears to me that the space above the dishwasher and to the left of the stove is a perfect place for some shelves and/or wall-racks for open storage.

You might also usine that massive soffit above the stove as a place to display a collection of wall-hung plates and/or an arrangement of unique tiles (just use foam double-stick tape to hold tiles into place.)

Other than that - some simple handles on the doors and drawers, and perhaps even a few small hooks to hold dishtowels on that big flat panel under the sink (Is there room for the dishwasher door to open and clear some small aluminum hooks?)

Have fun!

LOVE the tile! i think it, combined with your floor tiles, gives a very subtle spanish vibe, which you could play with. and you can bring in some color with cabinet knobs, if the landlord allows, and anthropologie has fabulous ones.

i think a tiny (yet major!) request you could make to the landlord is to paint the wood strip around the tile the same white as the cabinets. like the walls, nothing a new renter would notice, but it would be so much cleaner!

oh wow, thank you so much for featuring my kitchen! i was completely stumped.

the reason we can't paint is because the walls are the original 1920s plaster, not drywall, so paint buildup could be damaging. it's true for every other room in the apartment, not including the aforementioned office with the now-removed paneling. the paint seems a little fragile, so i MIGHT, maybe, convince the landlord to go over it with a clean coat, something washable.

the counter is tile, yes. it's growing on me. in general, i don't dislike it, but i think i found the wood trim a little jarring next to it, and the dark red floor isn't my thing. we have hardwood everywhere else (red brick in the bathroom). i could totally see going with a wood-white-black-gray thing--it's what i'm doing in my office.

(and for the record, those aren't our red curtains. they came with the place.)

and you read my mind about the docksta table! i actually had it on my shopping list, but we decided to wait until we had officially moved in. we have a table now, but it's an awkward size for the space. i was looking for a circular table, so you just confirmed my suspicions.

thank you again for posting this! i'm excited...

I lived with a boring rental kitchen for several years. We had great success (and fun!) changing up the look by putting different colored and patterned contact paper on the cabinet doors with no damage to the doors.

This may not be the right solution for you with the pattern of the countertop, but if you find the right one...

junathen--
i had thought about contact paper, but i was worried about durability and cleanliness/safety in regards to food prep. what about contact paper on the wood trim and leave the tile alone?

i think what's getting me is the red floor. i think i'd feel better with everything else if the floor was something else. maybe temporary wood laminate or something? keep it clean?

i'm hoping to teach my boyfriend how to cook, so whatever we do, it needs to be spill-proof. :)

thanks for all the feedback!

Paint buildup could be damaging? That's a new one on me, and I've lived in 7 or 8 1810-era to 1910-era plaster-walled. The 'no painting' rule makes me wonder, because if it's been more than 20 yrs, you could be dealing with lead paint. (Discontinued in '78 but supplies continued to be sold through '82, so it's possible.) Most houses, now, aren't quite as much of an issue since newer paint layers have sealed in the older layers by now; it's only an issue if you decide to strip or other major reno.

Basically, if the plaster's been a longtime speshul snowflake, I worry about whether that snowflake is lead.

However, you can paint! What you want is not latex, but oil paint. Yes, it's messy, and stinky, but on the plus side the colors are phenomenal, and will glow (even the light sheer colors) in a way that latex just won't ever manage. More importantly, the oil paint allows the plaster to breathe, helps strengthen the plaster against usual wear/tear of environment, while also sealing in any lead paint.

I highly recommend going and doing a few searches at the Taunton website, and see what freebie articles you can get on painting oil vs. water-based and dealing with old plaster. Alternate good source is This Old House, which should have plenty of info about plaster, types of paint, and so on. Those might be good for giving your landlord better information on a) maintaining and improving the home's interior walls, and b) not putting you two at risk in the meantime.

If the landlord says the plaster has never been painted, I'm dubious, but it's possible the walls were instead whitewashed. Not only is that easy to add another layer (and also good for plaster's needs, because whitewash must be redone regularly), but it's also a lot of fun, if you don't mind the DIY aspect to do it right.

If all else fails, try hanging a noren in the kitchen doorways. Won't block your travel but they do block the line of sight so no clients can peer in so easy. Great invention, and they come in a lot of fabulous styles and prints.

I'm with k02 -- paint "buildup" does not damage plaster. It actually helps strengthen it.

I live in a 1928 bungalow in SF; it's the 6th house I've owned with plaster-and-lath walls. I've done extensive research on period restoration, including plaster, and I have never heard this particular wives tale. You need to find out what the real issue is.

hmm...interesting. i'll admit i know next to nothing about paint and plaster, and he's been upfront about everything else, so i didn't have a reason to not trust him. he's a good guy, but i'll ask about the paint.

First I would like to say I am jealous. No your kitchen isn't perfect but it is MILES beyond mine.
If it were my place would take down the doors on one or all of the upper cabinets and make some open storage. The doors could go back up when you move out. Would your LL let you put contact paper or temp wallpaper on the cabinet shelves?
You might consider getting a couple rugs for the kitchen I think that would help tone down the red, consider something jute, hemp, or something meant for outdoor use, it would probably be more resistant to kitchen stains and hold up to wear better.
I don't think you should worry about the floors to much, when you bring in the furniture it will distract from the color. The red tiles with the white walls and the tile colors has kinda of a Spanish Bungalow thing going on. I would decorate in that direction.

I wonder if your landlord would allow you to put knobs or handles on the cabinets? That seems like it would add some great detail. And, even though you can't really "undo" this without leaving behind a whole lot of little holes, your landlord might okay the idea if he gets approval on your choices.

samantha9484, I doubt it's malicious, since it seems pretty common for folks to get a "don't touch! might break!" attitude about old homes. Hell, even those in the know aren't in the know, like my cousin who develops polymers -- works with latex paint exclusively -- and the one time I mentioned oil paint, he seemed utterly floored when I explained that yes, sometimes, oil paint is preferable to latex, and why. It'd simply never occurred to him that plaster is different from drywall or that something as old-fashioned as oil might still have value, and he does that stuff for a living.

So I don't blame someone who's just an average joe swallowing a funky story like that your landlord's -- whaddaya wanna bet it was random advice from some ignoramus at a paint store who doesn't actually know anything about plaster, only that it's in an old house, so decided to err on the side of "you should just leave that alone, because it's, like, old, and stuff."

Unrelated to paint: what is that thing over the cooktop? Is it an extra-large soffit, or cabinets, or just a large chunk out of the wall? I can't tell at all. They seem awfully high for overhead cabinets. If it's wall, then a narrow ledge along the bottom, so you have a place to rest serving platters.

If you can find joists overhead, maybe hang all your pots in the center, over a small butcher's block table? Doesn't have to be large, as long as it reminds you not to walk right into the pots -- and having the pots and anything else (xmas lights, paper lanterns, old mugs) hanging there might act as visual distraction from the kitchen's more spartan details.

hi, sorry, just got back from a photo shoot. i'm a little numb but i didn't want to be rude and not respond to everyone. :)

rolen--
i've been playing the idea of open shelving, but i have to admit, i'm nervous about putting anything else into storage since we have one closet, albeit fairly large, for the whole apartment (not including the bedroom closet), and i already have lighting equipment that's fairly huge. i'd rather not put more away than i have to. but i'm open to it--i just have to visualize it somehow. i actually like the idea of open shelving along part of the opposite wall--it's totally open. something like this:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gQMChxMH7_Q/StXUlwgupII/AAAAAAAAQDg/nS2myT21KK8/s1600-h/090909%2520dish%2520collection%25201.jpg

marthag--
i want to, actually, if only to break up the monotony. plus, i always seem to have problem with cabinets with no handles. no idea why. i'm not an idiot, i just...seem to have a problem with cabinets. maybe that's a vote for rolen's idea to remove the doors.

ko2--
oh no, i never thought it was! our landlord is really nice, but he may have been fed incorrect info. seems plausible. as for the thing above the stove, i'm not entirely sure. not cabinets, though. mildly confused by what a "soffit" is, but based on what i found through google, it's plausible.

Even average joe landlords drink too much coffee on Sunday mornings and google their talented photographer tenants' names to check out their photography and stumble across pictures of their kitchen.

Anyhoot this kitchen has a lot of potential.

The situation with the walls is that they are a little fragile and it is necessary to take care with hanging heavy things because of the lathe and plaster's tendency to crumble.
Painting another shade of white is fine.

I've got knobs from Anthropologie in my apartment, and they look really nice and do a good job keeping finger prints from accumulating on the cupboard door surface...go for it...I'll pay and install.

Looking forward to seeing what Samantha comes up with!

uh-oh----i suspect i've been caught. :)

(don't worry, AJL, we're not doing anything terrible and permanent!)

for what it's worth, i started a blog about moving in and designing the new apartment. it has some photos of the kitchen, along with other projects/quandries/rooms/photos:

(not a plug for anything commercial, i just got tired to emailing the same photos over and over again):

ihavetolivewithmyself.blogspot.com