Kitchen remodel advice please?

[Kitchenwitchery]

Could I ask for some advice on how to make this kitchen look nicer, please? We're buying this house and the kitchen was redone recently, however it's not to my taste. The wall tiles are white, light blue and mid blue, the countertop is gray, floors are beige and the units are obviously natural wood colour. I just think nothing really goes together.

It seems like a massive waste to replace a new kitchen for only aesthetic reasons. And I know there are companies that will do things like paint your cabinets or replace the doors, replace the countertop, etc. I don't like the tiles but I think replacing tiles is quite expensive - is that right? Or maybe I can just live with them? I thought maybe if the cabinets were painted mid-blue it might make the tiles look better. The countertops could be replaced with oak maybe? Or maybe a company could put a white quartz overlay on them?

Any advice really appreciated please.

I quite like your floor tiles 😃

just don’t think they go with anything else. If that is the element you like (and honestly that would probably also be expensive to change) I would work from there and pick colours / materials for the other elements that work with the floor.

The comment about cold and warm tones is probably it.
The units are a warm orange sort of colour which just doesn't go with the tiles.

I really like the tiles. And think blues, and greys are really fashionable at the moment.
If the doors could be dulled down to a cream to match the cream tiles or a pale blue to go with the blue tiles I think it would look much better

Remove the tiles and worktop. If you don’t want to plaster, You can get splashback wall boards to match worktops now. Or go for a completely different splashback board to be a bit different.
When we replaced our kitchen last year we went for a silver glitter backed glass splashback for behind the hob. Rest of the walls we plastered and had a small upstand matching the worktop.

I'd want to change the tiles more than anything tbh.
Still paint cabinets

Move in. Live with it for a couple of months and then decide.

It might turn out that the oven is terrible or the placement of the units isn't great and it may make it worthwhile to start again from scratch. No point forking out for tweaks and adjustments if the kitchen ultimately won't work for you.

Alternatively you may find the layout and appliances are perfect. In that case I'd change the tiles if you hate them, and maybe repaint the cabinets.

It's the tiles, they don't work at all. I like the cupboards (I have similar with a dark grey laminate worktop).

As per PP:

• remove the tiles, either replaster & paint or different tiles
• replace worktop with better quality. Plus upstand if not tiling
• glass splashback behind hob
• replace cupboard handles

You can tile over tiles if this doesn't interfere with anything else. Or you might be able to chip them off, soak the adhesive left behind and then scape off with a paint scraper to get a smooth enough surface to re-tile?

You could try this with the bit by the back door and then get that area skimmed if too rough?

Paint the cupboards a nice dark colour blue/teal. You might even find the existing tiles look ok with this.

And replace the worktop.

One thing to think about is if you need more sockets as that might require removing tiles to get to the wiring.

If you decide to paint the tiles use V33 from B&Q, there’s a bloke with some really good videos about how to apply it on youtube. Or consider a cut to size splashback – Ikea do some, so does Screwfix – plain white, marble look, blue & other colours - & there are others online like alusplash
alusplash.com/
or metals4you
www.metals4u.co.uk
I repainted the tiles and put metal behind the most used areas (hob/sink).
Morland
shop.morlanduk.com/
(annual sale on Black Friday) and Plykea
www.plykea.com/
might also be useful.
Wickes do really good push catches so you can eliminate the need for handles if you want a a streamlined look
www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Bumper-Push-Door-Latch-Cross-Mount---Grey-40mm-Pack-of-5/p/113640
and soft close hinges make a big difference IMO.

If you have to replace the worktop you might be better off replacing the hob too rather than re-wiring the current one (says someone who knows nothing about electricals).

Good luck with the renovations.

If you are at all practical, I'd paint the units - either the darkest blue in the tiles or even darker. Best way to paint cupboards is using a base primer such as this

ZINSSER BULLS EYE 1-2-3 PRIMER-SEALER WHITE - I've used it and it's brilliant. I still gave the furniture I treated a light sand down and good clean/degrease. Then you can paint directly on top. I'm a big fan of an online paint supplier called Tikkurila for their furniture paint (not cheap but easy to apply and coats well)

Remove the doors and drawers and paint away from the kitchen and then paint the rest of the carcases where visible.

Replacing the worktop is a no-brainer, as you don't like it and it's poor quality, so makes sense to change. I'd paint the cupboards as they're good quality and change the handles.

I don't think the tiles work with the floor, so I'd bite the bullet and change those, including removing from the other wall and getting that skimmed. Changing the colour of the units will help, but unless you love the tiles, they will always bug you, so makes sense to change them with the worktop.

Thank you so much everyone, you've given me so much to think about. I think I've decided to do the following:

1.Remove the tiles from the corner wall. We've got a plasterer coming anyway to skim the artex ceilings so I'll get that wall skimmed at the same time.

1. Get the units sprayed either white or the blue of the darkest tile.

1. Get new worktops, probably white but maybe oak. I'll have a look at different ones and price them up.

1. See how I then feel about the tiles. If I still don't like them, try painting them all white. Given the shape of the tiles, I think it would look nice if I could somehow get them to look like painted exposed brickwork? Like the photo attached (just found this one on the Internet to give an example).

1. If the tiles still look bad I'll get them replaced.

Any problems with this approach please point them out. Thank you.

I don't think the image attached? Trying again.

I think white or blue would look good. The only think I would add - and this may not be practical depending on the layout of the rest of the house - is would it be possible to move the washing machine elsewhere? Replace with another unit and have it spray painted at the same time. My personal preference is streamlined integrated units and noisy appliances elsewhere if possible!

Good advice. It’s always tempting to say that something is not to your taste, but you might find that it does grow on you - or alternatively that you really can’t bear it. Personally I would try to work with the tiles as they are probably the messiest and most expensive thing to replace, barring a complete refit.
If the cabinets are sound it Should be worth getting a quote from a re spray company, it’s a quick process and they offer pretty much any colour you can imagine. If you took a tone from the tiles it would start to ‘work’ harmoniously. You could also take the tone into the wall paint too. Replacing the worktops is not as big a deal as you might think, they can be pre cut so they fit existing sink and hob.

I have skimmed over tiles with a mixture of pvc binder , sand and cement and it worked pretty well, but they were in a bathroom and didn’t need to stand up to grease as they would in a kitchen.

you sound as if you have got it pretty well,sorted , OP. I hope,you end up with a kitchen you live.

I think it's a good plan you have there.

Me too. Good plan. Good luck!

I had a really old kitchen sprayed by a specialist company to a completely different colour, and changed the countertops and the tiles (kept the floor)... I think it looks fab. All in I think it was around £4k, but so much cheaper than having a new kitchen.

If you do retile, as someone who has just regrouted their bathroom, I would suggest having tiles as large as possible and/or that go with a light grey/beige grout colour eg like this
https://www.diy.com/departments/glina-white-gloss-patterned-ceramic-indoor-wall-tile-pack-of-34-l-297mm-w-97mm/5057741376920_BQ.prd
Saves you a messy tiresome job 10 years down the line.

Or, if your style tends towards unspeakable glamour, go for glitter
https://www.hemway.com/products/ready-mixed-glitter-grout-silver
(can’t speak to performance as my style tends towards cagoules rather than glamour). Or for those not only glamorous but minted
https://www.surfaceview.co.uk/ceramic-tile-murals

Whatever tiles you buy (if you do) IMO keep at least half a box spare for replacements.

Also, when taking out a bath, I’ve managed to make a mismatch less obvious by using a line of 45mm sq tiles (they come on a net backing about 30cm sq, I was replacing white but they come in other colours too). The only place I’ve found these is Tower Ceramics in north London (show room 89-95 Parkway NW1 7PP 020 z485 7192 warehouse/trade counter 9-15 Wenlock Rd ·N1 7SL) but there must be loads of places you can get them
http://www.towerceramics.co.uk/
https://www.iconwallstickers.co.u/wall-murals/forest-trees

Anyway, hope your plan turns out well.

I would repaint the cupboards in almond (soft cream) I did mine and it looks much more expensive than white. You can do it yourself but it requires a lot of prep work, more than painting. Do use a good primer.
The tiles look to have cream in them? so white units will clash. I love the idea of the dark blue, but I think it may be a bit overpowering in the space.

Definately take off the tiles by the door.

I would put a wooden worktop in. you might find the floor tiles tie in then, as they have brown tones in them. If not Lino.

If you then find you can't live with the tiles, you can repaint them, this is a bloody horrible job though as you need to sand them down to get a good adhesion, the tile paint is gloopy and sinks. I did mine and you would never know they are painted, but it took days. They have stood up to scrubbing and look like new two years later.

Forgot to add, if you want a feel for how the blue would look, buy some cheap card/ thick paper and paint it blue then bluetack it onto your cupboards.

Our kitchen was v similar to yours, colour wise. We had it professionally wrapped last month. Very happy with the results. We had to have new doors as well though, they said the shaker style doors don't wrap well. We went for a soft green colour for the cupboards and wood effect worktop.

We have those cupboards and have large silver grey tiles and dark countertops, the floor is a neutral tile with grey and cream in. I want to add another cupboard and update the cupboards, I'd like to have all the door and draw fronts painted a light colour at the tops and darker on the base units, in a cream and pale blue with newer handles.

I like your plan OP.
I think it would look better if you removed the tiles totally and just used eggshell paint and maybe glass behind the cooker and sink, too many tiles can make a room seem cold and commercial kitchen. (If you do want to keep some you could try painting them with the paints mentioned above which seem to be better than previous tile paints.)
If you are having a plasterer in anyway you can tie the work in. Just check you have enough sockets above the worktop first?

For now just either paint the tiles or replace them and maybe in spring you could have the door cupboards painted and it would look more stylish. Good luck in your new home.

Depends if it's ceramic tiles or vinyl- if it's vinyl, then it's cheap & easy to change!