I suggest looking into paintable wallpaper. It's thicker than normal wallpaper, it covers a world of problems, and you can paint it any color you want.
Dee

I had a similar problem in my bathroom but once I started looking at the wallpaper samples, I felt good about it. Look at the textured ones first, they cover a multitude of sins and no one's the wiser when they're hung. You could even use a beadboard one which is very thick and good looking. It would go well with your tiles.

Look at wallpaper, be sure you are looking at ones that work in kitchens or wet areas if it will be near cooking or water. But look through new eyes. The paintable wallpapers are a great suggestion.

Other regular wallpapers come in all sorts of styles. Many have texture.

But whether textured or just a pattern, consider hanging them railroaded - horizontally instead of vertically. A stripe railroaded is a very modern look, tho you want to be careful that it doesn't become too contemporary for the tin.

Another pattern to look for would be something that picks up an element in the tin - perhaps a similar design shape or a small flower pattern in the center of each tile.

Finally, I know nothing about construction, but I think wallboard comes in different thicknesses. With the tiles below, you already have depth on the wall. Couldn't you just get the thinnest depth of wallboard and put that up on the wall? I am thinking you have a chair rail already between the top wall and the bottom tiled area, which would help the transition.

Like anything like these?

Thibaut:

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Also Check out "Flower District and Flower District Vine, by Waverly

wow guys, thank you! You know, I had heard of paintable beadboard wallpaper, but never any other patterns. I didn't even know it existed. Just after a short bit of looking, I already feel like I found something that I absolutely adore!

What do you guys think?

Palimpest, if I wasn't going to go with a paintable after discovering it existed, I have to say, your third suggestion down is LOVELY!

And Les- I wish I could say that our tin tiles were pretty... but they are not. They are very plain. I honestly thought the tiles were some kind of cheap composite board until I accidentally ripped one of the tiles off and discovered what they were.... oops :) and there is no chair rail... yet. It's a great idea though, and it would tie in with chair rail that I was planning for the DR.

All of a sudden, my motivation is back! lol

I don't know how complicated it would be, but if the tin tiles aren't pretty, and need to be repainted, could you simply take them down?

Then use the paintable wallpaper all over. You could still do a chair rail, which exists to help protect walls from being hit by chairs, etc.

I like what you have chosen. Be aware that when you get a wall full, it has a very definite square tile effect to the pattern - be sure it won't fight if you leave the tin tiles below.

You may also want to actually paint a sample and tack it to wall so you can get idea of what the texture will look like. Because of the pattern you need to consider what curtain, blinds and other decor might look like with any kind of pattern on the wall.

les- I wish with all my heart that I could take down the tile. But, there is this crusty, disgusting, old adhesive that remains on the wall behind it. Here's what I mean:

All the tile will come down in the big reno, but for now, to save myself the pain of removing them and the glue, I am just going to paint them. They are really, really ugly though, aren't they?

I am unsure as to if I am going to just paint them white again, or try to do some kind of faux finish on them to hide all their imperfections. I did manage to chip one when we were taking out some of the cabinets, and I saw that the color they were, before they were white, was a bright cherry red. I can't even imagine.

Shannon- that is a good idea. that way I can get a feel for how it works on the walls before committing.

I don't think the tile is that ugly painted white...its just kinda nondescript. You could put anything above it.

I have attached a pic from a poster (Patty Louise) on HGTV decorating board who has faux tile (angalypta or something like that). She did some type of painting with a glaze to achieve this look. I've admired her home for a long time. Hope she doesn't mind me posting this. The link takes you to her Shutterfly page - go to her kitchen. Perhaps you could do something like this termporaily to your tin tiles if you don't want to remove them. I have been thinking about doing this as a backsplash in the future.

I have also seen some very nice makeovers using paintable beadboard wallpaper. Looks real. I think Oceana has this on her stairway and foyer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Patty Louise's kitchen from HGTV boards

Make it

congrats on the wp removal - your hard work will pay dividends! See the end result while you are in the middle :)

I don't find the tin tile offensive at all - It looks fine in the pic! Try finding a suitable wp - and put it up, if you feel the tile needs something following the wp application you can do it then.

Have you looked into beadboard wallpaper? I know a few GW have used it with good results/effects

Given this is a temporary fix - I would choose something that would not require 2 step process - put up wp, then paint.

Palimpsest posted by fav wp company
http://www.thibautdesign.com/
They are pricey so, unless you don't need much or can find your choice - it may not warrant such an expense.

Good luck you will have your kitchen refreshed in no time

Here is a link that might be useful: images beadboard wp

Here's a different idea. Why not do a faux paint job on the walls using the Venetian plaster technique? It will allow for some of those uneven splotches on the wall. Since it's just meant as a band aide fix you don't want to spend alot of money on paper and products that are just going to come down anyway. Wall paper especially the nice quality stuff ain't cheap! Paint is much cheaper even with this technique added.You could then paint the tin the same color as the walls to unify it.

I ran into some wall trouble when I took wallpaper off of our kitchen. The upper part was not too bad, but the lower part of the walls had been repaired with just the drywall and no texture, paint, or anything. I cleaned the walls really well, filled any spots that weren't even, got some spray texture that dries and creates the bumply wall texture preferable under paint. And painted. It looks great, and it was not hard to do or incredibly costly.

You could also faux paint with pieces of paper. Those would hide you lack of smoothness and could be done in an old style.
When do you plan the reno? It it is not too long out, then keep it simple now. Don't spend money or energy on walls that are coming down. I repainted our hallway knowing some would be disturbed in our reno and I wish I hadn't. Seeing more of it ripped out than I expected made me realize how much effort was wasted. Sigh....

Dianalo- I am seeing the reno being in the 5-10 year range, but who knows. Kids may be thrown into the mix between now and then, and since hubby and I don't make much money, it could be pushed back further.

Re patching the cracks and noticable holes....please don't think that a can of spackle is going to do the trick. It just doesn't work well with plaster ( don't ask me how I figured this out:)) If you don't fix the walls properly, any new wall coverings aren't going to look right.

If this was my house, I'd bite the bullet and learn about plaster and how to correctly fix the damaged areas...instead of a not so good solution. I'd go this route especially since you aren't sure as to how long this solution will be in place.

If you'd like DIY plaster info, I can point you in the right direction.

I had tin tiles in a bathroom in my old house. They were ugly and rusted, but I painted them anyway. Made a HUGE difference and lasted several years! I think we used epoxy paint, but it was a long time ago. I'm sure a paint dealer would sell you the right stuff. It was not hard at all...just like ordinary painting, looked flawless and there were no brushmarks at all...had a high gloss, mirror finish! Easy to keep clean, too.

As for wallpaper, I love the stuff. I have it everywhere! I have vinyl type in my kitchen, where I do a LOT of cooking, and it washes easily and well. I have it in my main bathroom, too, and despite all the steam four of us could put it through every day for the past 9 years, it still looks terrific. And those walls were (still are) awful underneath the paper.

I think paintable wallpaper is a good suggestion, but why not just use wallpaper and eliminate one process? You will always see the seams on wallpaper, paintable or not, but done correctly, printed wallpaper seams are almost invisible - IMO, they are far less visible on printed than they are on paintable wallpaper.

If you didn't notice the bad walls under the old paper, you probably won't be able to see the bad walls under new paper, either. I also think 5 years is not long enough for such an expensive investment as good wallpaper. But, then, I'm not much for change in my house. And whatever paper you use, be sure you size it first!

I don't think the paintable wallpapers will work with your real tin backsplash, just thinkin'.

If you look in our Gallery, there are many pix of modern wallpapered rooms. Not too sure about the kitchen thread but I think there are a lot in the Foyers and Hallways thread.

You can also type in words like "birds wallpaper" or "tan wallpaper" or whatever and hit "shopping" to see what's available. Ebay is another place to browse wallpaper.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Gallery Link

Hi we have painted over the kitchen tiles with propper paint now im thinking of wallpapering over can it be done

If all you are looking for is a temp fix till you can do the job you really want done in the kitchen then why not try a faux paint technique like Frottage.
When you get lemons you make lemonade. You do the same when you have crappy walls. Instead of trying to cover them up make them look like they belong. With the tin tiles it should be a easy tie in. Paint is a heck of lot cheaper than wallpaper and you can always play around with it till you get a look you are happy with. Paper will either look good or look awful there's not much swing room once you start putting it up.