OMG.
I must admit this look isn't for me.
I am so dedicated to eliminating visual clutter in my under r-construction home that this almost put me over the edge.

I'll add that to my Died & Gone to Hell List
1) Smoking section
2) Central American "cuisine" of prechewed beans and avocados
3) hip-hop or acid rock music LOUD music
4) cords everywhere, holding me down
5) parents who think they've borne the 2nd coming & want to tell me about it over and over again.
6) kitchens with collage doors..

(stop me, it only gets worse)

My blood pressure just went up 20 points!!

That has sort of the "depression era bravado" flavor to it.

In that house, it works well. It fit her goals and her lifestyle.

Holy crap, I thought it was bad to have my fridge plastered with photos and souvenir magnets! My non-magnetic fridge is one of the good things about my new kitchen (consistent with my goal to minimize clutter).

I could see myself doing this on the inside, but not the outside. Yikes!

I dig it! I've lived in a few apartments where something like this would be a huge improvement. In fact, it would have been an enormous upgrade for my pre-reno kitchen.

Yikes!

And yet some of those cabinets (the open one, for example) are NEW!

I could see doing this, but I would prefer something less jarring. Maybe a tasteful wallpaper or some fabric or some stuff that has a color scheme or...woah! a designer put that up?

Now I feel smug.

Yeah, those seem to make my stress level rise for some reason.

I don't think the collage technique is entirely the problem, it's the execution of the idea. I think it could work in some kitchens, carefully placed (like people place cabinets with glass doors, for example.)

At the risk of sounding critical, I'm kind of surprised a pro designer didn't put more thought into the choices of how the collages were done. I think it was a missed opportunity. Even putting the brightly colored pieces into a pattern of all vertical strips would have helped the feeling be less chaotic...?

Torn paper collage by artist Nancy Standlee:

Collage by Derek Gores:

Collage by Cheryl Sorg:

In the right hands, executed with some restraint and thought, this could be a cool idea (come on, Christine, can't you see it, even a wee bit?) :-)

Reading the article helps me understand it more. The house owner did the collages in the kitchen, and she owns a gallery. She says, "I like collages; they make me happy."

So she probably chose images that mean things to her, and they likely trigger memories when she sees them. It's still too visually chaotic for me, but I'm all for people doing a kitchen that makes them happy...

Wow! (not in a good way). I know the homeowner of that kitchen may be happy when she looks at those doors, but it would just me dizzy and nauseous.

Sorry for raising your BP, but believe me, for some of the kitchens I've lived in, this would have been a major improvement.
Well, think of something along the lines of vacation pictures/mementos.... or a hobby.

Can't find the picture now, but I once saw a tiny white kitchen that had a black decal of the Manhattan skyline on the cabinets.

OK, I actually like the maps on the two file cabinets, but that's about my limit :-)

Dizzyness, nausea & a headache. I might have had more tolerance when I was younger & still able to ride rollercoasters. I do like the painted file cabinets & maps.

This post was edited by romy718 on Fri, Feb 28, 14 at 19:09

Paper surfaces combined with kitchen activities like cooking and cleaning - I dunno, just doesn't sound like that would work very well. The paper must have some type of clear finish over it but still..... I cant help but feel a visceral revulsion to the idea.

Some sort of painted stencil design in a repeating pattern - that would work for me because the surface would look hard and scrubbable. Glued on paper does not.

I think the reaction to paper in a kitchen is a valid point. They probably use something like Mod Podge to do these, and then coat with some kind of clear sealant on top. Still, I understand the "idea" of paper on cabinet doors is a little bit funny.

If I had an a special collage art piece I wanted to use on a cabinet door, I might consider protecting it with thin plexiglass. Then it would be totally washable...

These vintage, unused wine and liquor labels could be fun on a cabinet in a bar area (I think.) From Le Petit Poulailler.

Run away!

ll, it DOES make the clutter on the fridge disappear....and detracts from that annoying space between range and fridge.

Nancy

Lol Nancy, you're right, I never even saw that funny space between the range and the fridge!

I noticed that space next to the stove right away. Surprised she didn't fill it with something collage-y. Oh yeah, paper burns.

I think the kitchen was cute without the collages which remind me of a bedroom I had in 1970. I do like the little tiles on the short backsplash the goes over the sill. Yes to the painted file cabinets with maps. Very cute.

@mudhouse

"37. Kitchen: Nancy L. Hamilton and Hilary L. Egburtson �" Aidan Studios
Unique coloring, decoupaged wine label cabinets and stove hood, custom dropped ceiling grids and an eating area convert an institutional kitchen to a vibrant residential kitchen." Symphony Show House

and some other ones:

And you gotta admit that the fridge with the London map is cool:

I'm liking the maps and newspapers. the busier collages might be cute on a small vanity but kinda made me crazy in the kitchen. Black and cream wine labels would be nice.

Nope nope and more nope (not even the refrigerator with the London Map).

Interesting! I think the fridge with the London Map is fun, and much more interesting than the boring white refrigerator I had in my last house. (Although I admit it wouldn't have worked in our 40s farmhouse.)

nosoccermom, I don't know if you found Jonathan Fong's comments about the decoupaged Andy Warhol cabinets he did for his own kitchen (shown in your post above.)
"This kitchen has gotten more than its 15 minutes of fame, getting coverage in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world, but itâÂÂs funny how it brought out the haters on internet comment boards. ItâÂÂs like I slapped peopleâÂÂs children, some people were so offended by it. They actually said I would regret this. (What, are they coming for me with pitchforks?)"
Jonathan Fong Style

Well, it does show that boring isn't necessarily such a bad thing...

Thanks for that Jonathan Fong link; no, I hadn't seen it. Have to say that his kitchen is growing on me.

I wish I had come up with the fridge idea when I lived in a rental with an old, formerly white, rusting fridge.

I agree with the stress and blood pressure comments. It literally freaked me out immediately.

Some beautiful examples posted though - seems like the sort of thing that could be beautiful on one piece.

I need some white cabinet pics now to calm me down...

Feeling better?

This post was edited by nosoccermom on Mon, Mar 3, 14 at 12:59

I can appreciate the this look is perfect for some people, just not me. It makes the area feel very small and closed in.

I think it is a great and fun solution to cabinets which have seen better days. If the cabinets are beyond the point of being pretty why not have some fun?

Many here describe their dream kitchen as being peaceful and calm so for those this would not work.

Others, somewhat like myself, want a kitchen that is exciting, fun, or even sexy.

No right or wrong, just different ideas.

If she is happy, then that is all that matters. You can see her viewpoint clearly expressed there, and in other elements in the home.

Although it is not for me, I loved some of the other examples, including the Warhol inspired fronts. I just found the other examples to be better executed than the collages. I'm also wondering if the entire family is short, because that oddly placed pot rack would be distracting to me working at the counter. The underlying cabinets actually seem to be pretty nice.

Maybe its not just a matter of taste, but how our nervous systems are wired? I know I just get kinda OCD about stuff stuck onto other stuff. Old paint drips from 50 years ago bug me too. After spending nearly 15 yrs in this old house removing old wallpaper and layers of paint I think if I saw those glued down paper edges in my kitchen Id want to get out my razor blade scraper and start peeling it off. LOL - just can't help myself!

I still believe that less is more, and IMHO, all these kitchen doors could use WAY less. But, do sorta like the painted file cabinets..pretty blue.

I think the question was also what to do with old cabinets, short of ripping them out.

Imagine you have a kitchen like this with old melamine peeling and the dreaded oak edges:

Then the Warhol kitchen looks pretty nifty....

I am a definite "no" for this style. I particularly don't like the one with the "screened ceiling" or whatever that was inside the kitchen. I hate to admit this but it reminds me a bit of a hoarder's kitchen.....I would wake up every day and feel visually assaulted. I admit that I am on the other side and fairly OCD...I like things so monochromatic and clutter-less that at times my friends have commented that it looks like no one actually works/plays/lives in my house. I think I am getting better though (wink wink).

But that's what makes things like this forum so interesting to me--so MANY different tastes. I love seeing (most) of it. Even if it's not my style. It reminds me that there's always another point of view.

I do agree with J. Fong though--why the overt haters? Can't you just dislike it without attacking someone else's taste? I am not sure why someone would feel the need to send him such angry messages. While NMS (not my style), I don't think it's insensitive or blasphemous or violent or offensive.....it's just not my style.