Ideas for tarting up a sad kitchen

[AllBoxedUp]

We're moving house on Tuesday (and I am starting multiple threads in my excitement). We have very little money to do things to the new place and what we do have is going to have to go on sensible things like replacing rotten windows, repairing lifted tiles and sorting out the fuse box (will cry if the electrics need completing redone but another story).

The kitchen is a bit grim. Walls are nearly completely tiled and very dated. The tiles then continue ONTO THE WORKTOP which looks grim and unclean. The actual fitted cupboards are then slightly shoddy pine affairs.

My original plan, as we can't afford to replace it, was to paint the cupboard doors and maybe replace the handles, replace the worktops with something else (maybe ikea wooden ones) and either live with the tiles (some might say they were quirky) or paint them as well. I am also toying with the idea of looking at the stick on tiles.

I've been researching what this would involve and I think replacing the worktops will be ok but I'm not sure if this will disturb the wall tiles and cause problems. I've also read several threads and blogs saying painted tiles and cupboards will look crap if you do them yourself.

Any suggestions as to the best way forward? I don't think replacing the kitchen is an option. Even if we could afford a basic Ikea kitchen, I think removing the tiles would be a big job involving replastering, so it seems sensible to wait until we can afford everything. I think I can live with everything except the tiled worktop if I had to but it must go!

Thanks Gherkins but for the worktops I think the idea of having them tiled is too faffy (sorry if anyone has tiled worktops). I just think they will be a nightmare to keep clean - having grooved surfaces where you prepare food seems wrong to me.

I would just paint the doors and replace the handles. I tried to remove the tiled work top in my kitchen. The tiles on the wall came off and with them, most of the rank plaster. It was a bloody mess. I wish I just left it as it was but I got an attack of "changing rooms" and thought I was Laurence Llewelyn Bowen but without the talent.

I would try really scrubbing the work top clean, using bleach if necessary. My advice from someone who fecked up her kitchen, is to wait until you have the money to do it the way you want, otherwise you may end up buying your kitchen twice!

I also recommend buying a massive work top saver, or two side by side that will cover up the bit where you do most of your chopping, preparing etc.

Thanks as well Swedish although that is almost exactly what I didn't want to hear. It sounds a nightmare and it's what I suspected might happen. Good idea about the worktop saver though.

it's quite common in Europe to have tiled work surfaces. I'm sure it is not too unhygienic.

Tile paint can look good. I stuck to white and it came up great. I would even paint your workbench and then but the wooden savers as mentioned. Clean painted surface will make you feel so much cleaner.
I also painted pine cupboards and these came up great too -pale blue. Didn't chip or look nasty at all.

I didn't know it was common in Europe - perhaps it's not too bad if you are cleaner than me! Perhaps this will force me to up my game in terms of kitchen cleaning. They are white/cream so wouldn't need painting but regrouting might be a good idea.

What sort of paint did you use newbiefurgalgal? Did you sand the doors first? Did you paint them while they were hanging?

Thanks for all the replies.

Paint the pine kitchen doors in a lovely Farrow and Ball eggshell - if the have unfashionable 80's moulding, get a carpenter to add moulding or tongue and groove.

Replace sink if really dated, replace tap (I got one from eBay for £8!)

And then get the work tops clad in solid 4mm marble (from www.granite-transformations.co.uk)

Now you have a solid wood/marble Smallbone looking kitchen for 500 quid.

You don't need to sand or prime the doors - use water based eggshell -easy to repaint if you get bored or to touch up.

I painted mine in situ, it was easy.

Oooh thanks - I was told about granite transformations but I didn't know how much it would cost. I would definitely have to paint the tiles as it would look a bit wrong together (think 80s poultry). I'm itching to get in so I can start trying to sort this out.

Thanks Laurie too.

I went into the local showroom for Granite Transformstions as d found them online and really liked the idea, but the woman said that the small display kitchen they had would cost £1500 for the work surfaces... I sad thank you and left. I was thinking more £500 for my kitchen, which is really less than 2 m of surface.

I can't replace my horrible laminate surface without re tiling and that too much hassle.

I like Laurie's ideas.
Are the units in good condition?

There are some pics of my kitchen on flickr

I had horrible 50s Italian tiles, grim greyish beige ones. I painted them white. It's been seven years so I might go over them again soon, but the paint has held up well.

I just plonked some cheap worktop (paid abput 150 euros for all of it) on top of exisiting IVAR units that I had, that came from our old house, cos this house had no kitchen at all, so I sacrificed our former bedroom storage to make a kitchen, painted the doors white, added handles and then got the Ikea black hangy on wall stuff to tart it up a bit.

I think the whole thing cost 300 tops including paint.

It can be done on a shoestring, and look nice enough not to make you cringe every morning when you make the coffee

Oh god those old depressed tiles, they brought down my mood twnety notches every single morning until I discovered primer and obliterated their inate saddness.

I would paint cupboards get a really plan matching worktop cheap and then tongue and groove over the tiles and paint in a toning colour.

Ooh I love a quirky tile! What's on them OP? I have tile stickers...my tiles in the kitchen are ok sort of but there are "feature" tiles every now and then with a lovely peach coloured bowl of fruit on them..they're SO bad it's not funny...I got my stick on tile things from Amazon and they're a bright 60s looking floral pattern. Much better.

Hmmm. That's a shame the granite transformations are so much. I think I found something online that said they were about half the cost of granite but I have no idea how much that is.

CarpeVinum your kitchen looks great. Good advert for tile paint! I would never have guessed how you made the units either.

Pannacotta I thought the units looked ok but the survey said they are of low quality . The kitchen desperately needs to be redone but we are going to have to do other stuff first.

NeoMaxi I think quirky might be pushing it - there are rows of chicken tiles I imagine it's what someone would say to be kind! One friend saw the pictures and said it looked country cottage like but it was at a distance.

It might be better to put in a laminate worktop by the sound of it.
NO point spending over 1K if you are going to change it later on.

I have to do the same. I have to 'lift' a very brown very laminate kitchen on a shoe string. I haven't moved in yet either but I have seen some nice grey paint for the laminate cupboards. It says on the tin that it goes over laminate. Then a paler grey for the walls. With white for the wall opposite the window. I will have to live with the laminate work counter top.

We were in a similar position although the cupboards were good quality (solid oak) but quite orangey pine looking. The worktop was tiled too but I point blank refused to live with that - I had 2 x 4yr olds and a baby and there was no way it would have been hygienic regardless of copious amounts of bleach.

I agree with noddy - remove the worktop and replace with a laminate. Ours is black, granite looking if you don't look too closely and need glasses but it'll do for the time being off the top of my head it was £70 for a 3m length. I then painted all of the cupboards in F&B French Grey. I wouldn't recommend F&B though, its not particularly long lasting (have heard Little Greene is much better).

I'd remove the tiles if its not too big a job and clad the wall in tongue and groove, although if you know anyone who can plaster, they might not charge you very much for a couple of walls.

I thought about painting the brown formica worktop black with a black paint, and then maybe a layer of varnish over it!? would that be a big big mistake??

Contact your local Dream Doors franchise. A friend of mine owns one and regularly has spare bits he sells off cheaply.

Thanks again for all the ideas and replies. Better get on with some more packing and cleaning! Very excited about our new house (though a little daunted by the work we're taking on!).

One question though - the ceiling of the kitchen has painted tongue and groove (again looked ok to me but survey said it was too a poor diy standard). Would this be a good or bad reason to put tongue and groove on the walls?

I put a couple of lamps in my kitchen, and it looked a hundred times better in the evenings. Instant makeover !