Need help - What would you do to this kitchen

[Liberty Belle]

on a minimal budget? This is in a house we're thinking of putting a bid on. I like the cabinets and they're fairly new, so I wouldn't want to change them (and I wouldn't want that kind of cost, either). I hate the floor and counter tops, but I think I could live with them for a while. The floor is a fake marble laminate and the counter tops are just a dark green laminate of some sort.

It is open to the family room which would be done in rust, dark red, and splashes of limish/fernish green. I could change that, but that's what I have now and, again, don't want the extra expense at this time. The whole house (2700 sq ft) needs new carpeting, so that's going to cost quite a bit, itself.

If you've put in flooring of approximately that amount, could you please disclose about how much it cost? I'm thinking it wouldn't be that expensive (depending on the type of flooring) and that might be one thing I'd want to change before we moved in. I know counter tops are expensive, though.

Oh, and what about the island? Could some kind of decorative moulding be put on the sides and back (the side facing the kitchen hold the drawer fronts and cabinet doors) or would that make it look worse?

 

[teacups]

The first thing I would do is paint all that blue gray area with vibrant red. If the floor and counters are black, that would look nice. So would yellow. Cover the floor with some red throw rugs until you can replace it. My kitchen is red and everyone comments on how cool it looks. It scared my husband when I first told him.. but in the end he loves it. There are places online where you could download that pictures and try different colors.

Hand a pot rack with some nice stainless/copper pots.

 

[teacups]

Oh... dark green counters?
YUCK.
That kills my red paint idea.

Maybe paint with a green? Pick up that fern color form the living room??

How much can you spend?
I put granite in my kitchen and I have about the same amount of counters as you but my island is really huge. 9' x 3.5' . We spend $3,000 and I thought that was very reasonable. (and I love granite! cleans so nice!) ALso... you can tile really cheap if you do it yourself. Maybe a new back splash all around the whole area?

 

[chris1gill]

I've put in lots of floors. You can order granite flooring online for less and then have your floor guy put it in, generally it will run you 10.00 a foot (5 for the granite and 5 for installation), well worth the money IMHO.... In fact I have enough granite leftover I could sell you some (half kidding).... I love my granite floors. If you want wood floors you can do that, I think I paid 2.50 psf to have my wood installed, plus the cost of the wood of course (again, you could look online and even order samples online before ordering if there's a big price difference).

Granite counters can be purchased for less if you have a granite yard near you, or, even look on Craigslist for someone who puts it in and has a source. We got very lucky, we were quoted 7900 by Home Depot for our counters and in the end found a guy who did it for half the cost. Looks like you have a lot of counter space though, so that will add up. I don't do laminates at all, so I'd go with granite counters and either a granite or very hardwood floor. I have had both, and I don't prefer one over the other as far as flooring in the kitchen.

This really can be done on a budget if you look around for sources other than the big boys.

 

[DawnCt1]

The first thing I would do is paint all that blue gray area with vibrant red. If the floor and counters are black, that would look nice. So would yellow. Cover the floor with some red throw rugs until you can replace it. My kitchen is red and everyone comments on how cool it looks. It scared my husband when I first told him.. but in the end he loves it. There are places online where you could download that pictures and try different colors.

Hand a pot rack with some nice stainless/copper pots.

I don't think I would like red with the green floor. Yellow I would like. If I could afford it, I would consider a wood floor in the kitchen to brighten it up or one that looks like wood.

 

[Liberty Belle]

The first thing I would do is paint all that blue gray area with vibrant red. If the floor and counters are black, that would look nice. So would yellow. Cover the floor with some red throw rugs until you can replace it. My kitchen is red and everyone comments on how cool it looks. It scared my husband when I first told him.. but in the end he loves it. There are places online where you could download that pictures and try different colors.

Hand a pot rack with some nice stainless/copper pots.

Unfortunately the counter tops and floor are a dark green. Yellow might work.

 

[720L]

If you could swing it, I would put a new top on the island that had a bar on the side facing the living room, that would make it look better. I've seen lots of kitchens that have islands with a different countertop than the others so I think that would be ok. What about gold walls? I would do a wood floor.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Hmm...ok. So, now I'm thinking possibly yellow for the walls, which would go well enough with the tile behind the sink (also dark green) and the counter tops (which, while ugly and fairly cheap, are in good shape). I think we could swing a new floor in the kitchen, too. I like the idea of wood. The family room is very bright with two big windows and a glass paned double door leading out to the patio, so that brightens up the kitchen.

Dawn, you'd definitely do wood in the kitchen rather than pergo or a nice laminate? I don't think I'd want ceramic tile, but granite is a possibility.

 

[teacups]

I didnt see the "green" until I went back and read it better.


I would get rid of all the green if possible, but thats just me.

 

[Liberty Belle]

If you could swing it, I would put a new top on the island that had a bar on the side facing the living room, that would make it look better. I've seen lots of kitchens that have islands with a different countertop than the others so I think that would be ok. What about gold walls? I would do a wood floor.

Oh, I hadn't thought of doing that to the island. That's a great idea. I wonder what the expense would be. Gold walls? I think a paler gold would be pretty. Ugh, I just hate the color of the countertops.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I've put in lots of floors. You can order granite flooring online for less and then have your floor guy put it in, generally it will run you 10.00 a foot (5 for the granite and 5 for installation), well worth the money IMHO.... In fact I have enough granite leftover I could sell you some (half kidding).... I love my granite floors. If you want wood floors you can do that, I think I paid 2.50 psf to have my wood installed, plus the cost of the wood of course (again, you could look online and even order samples online before ordering if there's a big price difference).

Granite counters can be purchased for less if you have a granite yard near you, or, even look on Craigslist for someone who puts it in and has a source. We got very lucky, we were quoted 7900 by Home Depot for our counters and in the end found a guy who did it for half the cost. Looks like you have a lot of counter space though, so that will add up. I don't do laminates at all, so I'd go with granite counters and either a granite or very hardwood floor. I have had both, and I don't prefer one over the other as far as flooring in the kitchen.

This really can be done on a budget if you look around for sources other than the big boys.

Thank you for all that info. I think I'd eventually like to do granite countertops, but I just think the expense would be too much right now.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

on a minimal budget? This is in a house we're thinking of putting a bid on. I like the cabinets and they're fairly new, so I wouldn't want to change them (and I wouldn't want that kind of cost, either). I hate the floor and counter tops, but I think I could live with them for a while. The floor is a fake marble laminate and the counter tops are just a dark green laminate of some sort.

It is open to the family room which would be done in rust, dark red, and splashes of limish/fernish green. I could change that, but that's what I have now and, again, don't want the extra expense at this time. The whole house (2700 sq ft) needs new carpeting, so that's going to cost quite a bit, itself.

If you've put in flooring of approximately that amount, could you please disclose about how much it cost? I'm thinking it wouldn't be that expensive (depending on the type of flooring) and that might be one thing I'd want to change before we moved in. I know counter tops are expensive, though.

Oh, and what about the island? Could some kind of decorative moulding be put on the sides and back (the side facing the kitchen hold the drawer fronts and cabinet doors) or would that make it look worse?

You could get a nice wood laminate for about $1.59 a sq foot and they look nice, but a bit more cost effective than real hardwoods...

I love that kitchen....
Since you have reds in your family room, I'd do the kitchen in a friendly red, and splash it with the soft green lime/fern accents - if you throw that fern green in there, it will help compliment the dark greens of the counters until later in life with it's more budget friendly to change.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Hmm...ok. So, now I'm thinking possibly yellow for the walls, which would go well enough with the tile behind the sink (also dark green) and the counter tops (which, while ugly and fairly cheap, are in good shape). I think we could swing a new floor in the kitchen, too. I like the idea of wood. The family room is very bright with two big windows and a glass paned double door leading out to the patio, so that brightens up the kitchen.

Dawn, you'd definitely do wood in the kitchen rather than pergo or a nice laminate? I don't think I'd want ceramic tile, but granite is a possibility.

We had wood in our former kitchen and had no problems with it. Our walls were an oatmeal color, the trim a ferny green, and the cabinets were a barnhouse red! My hubby painted them while I was away for the weekend. Thank goodness I ended up liking them.

The kitchen in the house we're in now has a cheap vinyl floor and I hate it, being that we're in a log cabin. Why on earth the previous owners put in laminate is beyond me, especially when the hall and upstairs are hardwood. When we're able to, we're thinking of doing some type of stone or slate floor in the kitchen.

If you look at the above pic, the dining room has a blue and pinkish tile. The living room rugs are blue, and there is a different laminate in the bathroom, and a different tile in the downstairs bedroom which I use as my craft room. The bath upstairs also has a different cheap laminate. Crazyness! All the bedrooms up are wide plank wood as are the hallways up and down.

 

[DawnCt1]

Hmm...ok. So, now I'm thinking possibly yellow for the walls, which would go well enough with the tile behind the sink (also dark green) and the counter tops (which, while ugly and fairly cheap, are in good shape). I think we could swing a new floor in the kitchen, too. I like the idea of wood. The family room is very bright with two big windows and a glass paned double door leading out to the patio, so that brightens up the kitchen.

Dawn, you'd definitely do wood in the kitchen rather than pergo or a nice laminate? I don't think I'd want ceramic tile, but granite is a possibility.

I like the way wood looks, but then it is what I am used to. If I saw a good lamininate that looked like wood, I might like that. We bought this house "used", but it was only 18 months old when we moved in 22 years ago. It has red oak floors in the kitchen and three of the bathrooms, but it is finished with moisture cure polyurethane. (You need to have it refinished while you are on vacation, it has a strong odor) We have had them refinished in the kitchen and and the entire downstairs, (kitchen, living room, dining room, foyer, hallway, two bathrooms, once. That was about 5 or 6 years ago and they still look great. The cost was about $2500 but it was a LOT of square ft.

 

[luvmy3]

Liberty Belle, If you need to keep the counter top in the green I would definitly change the floor if its in your budget. You could go with a wood-look laminate for minimal cost. I would then paint the walls a nice golden yellow, not a sunny yellow.
They do make a paint for countertops, I don't know if you would be willing to try something like that.

Teresa, I love your cabinets. Mine are the color of your table and I have been thinking of sanding them down and re-staining them a red color. Maybe I'll just paint them instead, is that what your dh did?
I think we even have the same kitchen light too

 

[onelilspark]

I have pergo in my kitchen. It's wonderful!!! I love it.

And yes, if you can, I would totally replace the top on the island and make a bar out of it.

BTW: there's this company out there called Quality Doors that refaces cabinets. It's a lot cheaper to do it that way then replace all the cabinets if they're in good condition. I was looking into it for my kitchen.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Liberty Belle, If you need to keep the counter top in the green I would definitly change the floor if its in your budget. You could go with a wood-look laminate for minimal cost. I would then paint the walls a nice golden yellow, not a sunny yellow.
They do make a paint for countertops, I don't know if you would be willing to try something like that.

Teresa, I love your cabinets. Mine are the color of your table and I have been thinking of sanding them down and re-staining them a red color. Maybe I'll just paint them instead, is that what your dh did?
I think we even have the same kitchen light too

I just asked him and he said he only lightly sanded them, but if he were to do it again, he would sand them all the way down. They were your standard oak cabinets that came with the house. As I remember, he had to put on several coats, and he thinks the paint would have adhered better had he sanded them properly to begin with. Edited to add, yes, it was paint, not stain. My friend also painted her cabinets a cream color after just a light sanding, and her cabinets were originally very dark. It's a fairly inexpensive way to get a new look.

If you look in the background of this pic, you can see my friend's cabinets. They were also painted, not stained, and they were originally very dark.

 

[disykat]

I would pull the beige/mocha color I see on that wall around the corner right into the kitchen. I would want to de-emphasize the kitchen and I think that would best accomplish that. Then I would simply accessorize with jewel tones that complimented the color in both rooms.

I would wait a while on the counter tops and floors until I had money. At that point, I'd probably put pergo or something on the floor throughout both rooms. I would also extend the countertop on the island to have a bar with stools.

 

[Colleen27]

on a minimal budget? This is in a house we're thinking of putting a bid on. I like the cabinets and they're fairly new, so I wouldn't want to change them (and I wouldn't want that kind of cost, either). I hate the floor and counter tops, but I think I could live with them for a while. The floor is a fake marble laminate and the counter tops are just a dark green laminate of some sort.

It is open to the family room which would be done in rust, dark red, and splashes of limish/fernish green. I could change that, but that's what I have now and, again, don't want the extra expense at this time. The whole house (2700 sq ft) needs new carpeting, so that's going to cost quite a bit, itself.

If you've put in flooring of approximately that amount, could you please disclose about how much it cost? I'm thinking it wouldn't be that expensive (depending on the type of flooring) and that might be one thing I'd want to change before we moved in. I know counter tops are expensive, though.

Oh, and what about the island? Could some kind of decorative moulding be put on the sides and back (the side facing the kitchen hold the drawer fronts and cabinet doors) or would that make it look worse?

I really don't have a great grasp on pricing if you are't DIYers because I have DH as free labor, but we put hardwood in through this house for about $4/sq ft (prefinished oak) and will be spending roughly the same on bamboo for the new house. We don't do carpet - with 3 kids and two big dogs, it just gets too yucky too quickly.

Without knowing exactly what you mean by a minimal budget, my first thought is to get rid of that green ASAP, replace it with something fairly neutral, and then carry the red from the family room onto the walls. Granite tile is a nice option for countertops that costs about 1/3 of what granite slab does, and ceramic and porcelain tile flooring are both fairly inexpensive. Tiling is all about the details, but it isn't really difficult to do yourself. You just have to be careful and take your time.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

If you can swing it I would change the flooring. You can also put a new laminate on the countertops for very little money. My parents did it and it looks like grantie but it formica. It sticks onto your existing countertops. It looks like you had new countertops installed at a fraction of the cost. Maybe 2-3 hundred for everything.