Just bought the blandest house ever, with a really, really bland kitchen. Ideas?

[Callmecordelia]

House was chosen for a number of reasons - budget, proximity to schools, DH obsession with being warm. It was not bought for its decor.... The whole place is magnolia, brown and black. I think I can sort out most of the house, but I am a bit stuck on the kitchen.

I don't want to link to the actual listing, just in case the vendors find this and get huffy before we exchange contracts. The closest match I can find is this one in B&Q. It is paired with grey/white fake granite laminate worktops, white tiles and white walls, with cream porcelain floor tiles. The house is only a couple of years old, and it was chosen by the first owners - the cupboard doors are even worse than the B&Q picture, they are a greyish brown fake wood colour. I hate it.

What can I do with it? I am sure I could buy new doors, but then what do I do about the end panels (there are some next to the hood extractor, and by the side of the fridge freezer)? They also have an extra bit of edging to cover where any white bits of carcass might show where two cabinets meet in the corner.

I could paint them - I don't hate the shape of the doors - but I'd be worried about getting a good finish.

It feels wasteful to rip out a kitchen that is only two years old, but it really is quite awful. Reusing the appliances is a possibility though I suppose.

Any tips MN?

Could you paint the walls bright colours? Or have really brightly coloured blinds/curtains. Our old house was magnolia all over with a beige kitchen, and red blinds and accessories made a big difference. Stuff like a brightly coloured kettle & toaster, brightly coloured tea towels and utensils? That way, it won't seem all so samey and bland, but you won't have to replace the kitchen itself.

live with it for at least a year, until you have worked out how you will actually use the space - you may find the kitchen layout just doesnt work for you, so you dont want to remodel straight away and then realise the kitchen doesnt work for you.

I would second poshme's idea of bright accessories initially

You're both right. I really should live with it for a bit.

I will miss my current kitchen so much (sob).

You could also think about changing the tiles and/or the worktop. Laminate is fairly cheap. It just sounds as though ALL the choices are very safe which results in a pretty bland end look. However you don't need everything to be all singing all dancing to give it a bit of character. Find something you really love as a starting point - it could be tiles, it could be a beautiful wall colour in one area, or fabric for blinds, or a great large picture that could act as a focal point.

I wouldn't paint the kitchen - I think it would scratch. A light worktop with a more even tone than the speckled granite could look very good with those units - quite light and fresh, leaving you many more options to add colour elsewhere.

I'd second the living with it for a year. Painting the walls could help; the blue wall in your example makes that kitchen look better. If the tiles in your real house look as bad as the ones in that photo, I might have to take a hammer to them.

How long do you plan on staying there?

Could you afford to rip it out and start again?

Though it seems a waste of a perfectly good kitchen, if you were going to do it at some time in the future you may as well do it now and get the benefit of it.

Are you sure you want to buy this house though? It sounds like you're not convinced. Kitchen for me is one of the key selling points of a house. Does it really have to be this one or nothing?

Better is right, every single choice they made is safe and very, very neutral.

On the plus side it is a blank canvas and I could go really wild with the paint choice; it couldn't look any worse! Thanks for all the ideas.

I do like the house. There are lots of good points to it and we have been looking for a while. It is a five to ten year house, not a forever one, and I am happy with that.

I've never bought replacement doors, but I'm pretty sure those places also do end panels.

Or one look I always think works well is the end panels and worktop both in the same material so that it makes a surround for the carcasses. Could be solid wood, or granite if the units are tough enough, or possibly even some laminates.

Dueling - I was being a little tongue in cheek. But only a little.

Whoops, wrong thread!!

We inherited a kitchen which I hated and was filthy. We changed worktops, tiles, hob and extractor, sink and taps, blinds and floor and painted the walls for under £1000 (it's a big kitchen) and bought a lovely table. I didn't love the cupboards either but we had to sort the whole pigsty house and couldn't afford to do the whole thing. It looks totally different and I love it.

I painted our f'ake wood' kitchen a creamy white colour and added new handles from Ikea (country kitchen style). Used a mini roller, primer then fired earth eggshell paint and found the key was lots of thin coats, very lightly sanded in between. It actually looked really good, it has been done for almost 4 years now and is starting to get a bit tatty - it could do with a good sanding and a few more coats, but I've gotten by with just touching up any chips or scratches so far. As a short term solution I'd say give it a go, ours looked perfect for about 2 years.

I have painted my last two kitchens bright orange. Looks lovely. I suggest as others have to start by painting the walls a vibrant colour, eg. bright green, orange, pink, turquoise or purple and using accessories like coloured kettle/toaster etc.

Big picture on the wall, change the blinds, coloured runner on the floor... Then live with it and see if you need to change the tiles or worktop or even the doors on the cabinets before redoing the whole thing.

Live with it
BUT
bright coloured blinds, storage jars, utensil pots
and on the tiles - have a look at these
stores.ebay.co.uk/Wallsticker-extra/Kitchen-/_i.html?_fsub=4099162012&_sid=408674752&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

temporary, not too expensive but make it feel like yours ASAP

You could take the door fronts, drawers etc to a car sprayer (achieved an immaculate finish in our previous kitchen) and paint the carcasses yourself; change the handles. Buy lamps that you would normally have in a living room and place on redundant worktop, get a massively oversized ornate mirror and plonk cheap but posh TKMaxx candles on surfaces and piles of horizontal cookbooks- try not to make it look too utilitarian and kitchenified. You might find yourself with no room to cook but won't be bland . Disclaimer: obv I don't have children.

you could also get some really fancy/modern or different door handles. thus can make quite a difference to cupboards. and yes you do get matching end panels etc.