Some kitchen advice needed

levi

So I'm hoping that I might get some advice regarding my kitchen. We recently moved into a new house and we only have so much money to do everything we want to do. The kitchen is fine, it is just not my cup of tea - this makes it difficult to make it a priority when there are other things to be done in the house. That said, I would still like to make a few changes but on a budget.

Here's a picture of the kitchen so you will all know what I'm talking about.



First things first, I don't like the floor tiles - they weren't well laid, lots of wobbly ones, and the colour just, as I said above, isn't my cup of tea. The rest of the floors in the house need sanding so my plan is to get the wooden floor from the dining room (open plan with the kitchen) extended so there would be oak junkers flooring in the entire room as opposed to having this little bit of tile in the kitchen. I've had a quote to get this done which appears reasonable enough. I understand that wood flooring isn't the most practical in a kitchen but I might put down a mat under the sink and we'll definitely be careful.

My plan then is to paint the tiled splashback white with tile paint. I've heard mixed reviews on the success of this but it sounds like if you're thorough and take care it can turn out well, particularly with white because you don't have to worry about the look of the grout. The tiling job in the kitchen is awful but I just can't afford to get someone in to redo it. The tiles are really cheap looking and uneven (maybe a DIY job) but I'm hoping that painting them white might just give the room a bit of a lift.

My idea after that is to then to hand paint the cabinets. My parents did it in their old kitchen and it looked very well for nearly 10 years before they replaced the kitchen. I would love to replace the worktop because I don't like the black but again I can't afford it. It would require some retiling because of how the tiles have been tiled down to the worktop and someone to put back in the hob etc. I am thinking of putting a farrow and ball blue on presses and leaving the worktop as is. Something like this:



These are just initial thoughts - I would really like to hear from people who have undertaken similar projects themselves and how they worked out. Even if people had info on how to pick the colours of the kitchen presses or on their experiences of painting tiles.

Elottois

I think the wood flooring is a good idea. I much prefer the same flooring to flow from one room to another particularly if it is open plan.

I love shaker kitchen doors they are so simple and timeless. So that's a good start. I think any paint colour from Farrow and Ball will suit. I love Oval Room Blue in particular. I think it would look well with the work tops if you decide to keep them.

In relation to the tiles. I'd steer clear of painting them I can imagine it will be arduous. Is there any chance you could replace with a glass splashback maybe? If you wanted to replace the work tops Ikea do solid butchers block tops that look fab.

StarBright01

I'm undertaking a similar project at the moment! Do you know if you need satinwood or similar wood paint if its laminate cabinets or will any paint do? Anyway apologies for going off on my own tangent- I think the pic looks very well. We were thinking of a mink colour paint on the cabinets and the Dulux light and space in the rest of the room to make it look bright. I've heard tile paint can be tricky but white would look good with the colour you have chosen for cabinets

levi

Thanks for the advice - painting the tiles definitely worries me. I'm going to price a new worktop and new tiles and see what I can work out. I'll just have to balance everything out.

In relation to the painting of laminate presses, I am definitely not an expert but from what I've been reading no matter what the primer is really really important. After that, a lot of people online recommend Farrow & Ball eggshell...

If you do a search for Oisin Byrne, he seems to have a good bit of info on his website.

looksee

I recently painted a unit that had been supplied 'undercoated'.The painter put a coat of 'water based satin gloss' on it and it practically fell off, you could strip it with a thumbnail. I found out you need a special primer suitable for the lacquered finished, which I applied, then a coat of the paint and it looks perfect and is in no danger of coming off!

antoinolachtnai

The tiles are very neutral. It is really just the four accent-colour tiles above the hob that are giving it that 'look'. I would consider changing just the splash back section, leave the rest as-is.

As well as painting, changing the handles on the doors will make a big difference. Don't worry about getting ones the same size as the current ones. Just fill the holes. You won't notice after you have repainted.

Replacing the worktop is a lot of time and trouble and I don't know if you'd really see the benefit.

levi

The tiles are dreadful. Very poorly put in so all crooked. The colour of the tiles looks grand in that photo but looks really poor in the flesh. Currently waiting for a builder to come back with a price for replacing the worktop and re-tiling. How much do you reckon I'd be looking at in labour? Just want some level of expectation before he comes back to me.

Noisin

I have those same or similar tiles in a house I did up years ago, I don't think they were poor quality at all could be just the way they were laid in your kitchen. As far as I know tiles have come down in price, are a lot cheaper than the boom years. I don't think that bit of tiling would cost that much either can't be much more than a days work, it's not a lot of tiles. I got prices for kitchen in my home house for new kitchen, I choose PVC oak pippy oak so it's not solid and it was €2500 and he said I'd wanted solid doors would be another 400/600. That included the Formica work top with it in any colour I wanted. The kitchen is typical of an old house, I'd say it was larger than that kitchen, my point is price around, mightn't be as expensive as you think doing those tough ups could cost you a thousand, between paint getting someone to do it, would the units not look better if they were spray painted, that amount you could put towards a larger scale job on your kitchen.