Help with temporary kitchen design

[Dontpeemeoff]

This is just a fun one for some extra ideas!

We’ve just bought a house with a tiny kitchen that’s not to my taste. We are going to do a big Reno at some point but for now I’d like to make it look a little nicer.

I love cute cottage style kitchens. Does anyone have any idea that at cheap but effective for a temporary solution?

I’ve attached a pic of our kitchen

I would paint the cabinets a sage green colour. Maybe add some woodwork or beading to them and some patterned handles/ doorknobs.
Then in the window get a half curtain for the bottom of it. That always gives me cottage vibes.

@Row23 love those ideas. I’m defo going to do the little curtain idea!
Ive also thought about putting some vinyl on the surfaces because I really hate that pale fake wood but I know people hate that stuff 😂

I love sage green, do you think it will go with the other green tiles?

I might take down the top cupboards and put up shelves like this…

Boring though it is I wouldn't bother spending energy or any money on trying to make a silk purse out of sow's ear. Just concentrate on the new kitchen.

It’s the blue tiles on the opposite side to the sink that would annoy me as they look like the should have been another row and I think the blue colour is too powerful for a small kitchen. Also, if they were green prob suit better and box in the boiler. I think that would be 100% better. The end panel too can you do something to hide the screws or add on another panel or something.

however it’s functional so that’s all you need :-)

This.

We inherited a long galley style kitchen when we bought our 200 year old cottage in 2024 and knew we'd have to live with it for a while till we ripped it out/removed the wall between it and the adjacent utility and lobby.

Ours dated from the last time the cottage was renovated in 1965-70, but the units were timber with quite a few drawers so lent themselves to painting/improvement. Unfortunately the boiler (1972) was floor standing and didn't work.

Firstly, I repainted the base units dark pink, then added a gathered fabric 'skirt' in a pretty design, that ran across the defunct boiler and sink unit which had nothing - except evidence of a long standing leak - beneath it. We fitted new solid brass handles from Corston Architectural which we'd eventually use in our new kitchen.

There was only one wall cabinet, with sliding doors which I removed to reveal open shelving for our collection of copper pans. We added a wall-mounted plate rack (£25 on marketplace) and painted both that and the shelving a lighter pink. The flooring was awful '80s vinyl which we would have replaced, but within six months we'd removed the walls between kitchen, utility and lobby...and decided to relocate the kitchen to a completely different room 😆

@Needtosoundoffandbreathe
we won’t be spending much but it will make me happy haha!
the big kitchen Reno is going to take quite a while to save for- there will be walls knocked and steel reinforcement etc so it going to be pricy.

in the meantime it’s nice to have a space you enjoy especially when you send as much time in the kitchen as I do 😂😂😂

@LibertyLily loveee the sound of this! I’ll defo be looking on Facebook marketplace place for some bits… fabric Skirts sounds right up my street!

@easterholsfinally im not a fan of the tiles, they are dark green!!! We will eventually remove them. I have seen some tile paint which could help with my idea of painting the units as it’s hard to find a colour to go with them…

@Dontpeemeoff here's some pics from late 2024.....

We had wall-to-wall chick tiles plus some plain grey ones which I was tempted to paint over, but there were just soooo many!

And this was before....

@LibertyLily i love what you did!!! Those brass handles are LOVELY!
defo taking some inspo thank you!

I'd put wooden shelves up, theres lots of wall space. Add wooden chopping boards, earthenware containers.
Cottage core isnt my vibe, but of it were, I'd be looking at pinks to go with the dark green. In my kitchen I have a different green, with Tailors Tack from Farrow and Ball in the dining room. It's a very subtle pink (husband thought it was white for the last 3 years) that would work.

I'd add brass handles, a handkerchief light shade, cafe curtains and possibly some floral wallpaper. You could pit book shelves at the end of thw units foe recipe books, vases etc. It's small, but seems to have lots of available space. Gingham always screams cottage to me too. Oh, and maybe a tile or wood effect vinyl on the floor

None of that is expensive, and having a kitchen you enjoy shouldn't be underrated.

Thank you 😊