Oh wow! Thanks for posting that, what a fantastic kitchen. I love knotty pine, always have since we bought our first house and the den was knotty pine. But not as beautiful as that kitchen. That stone wall is fantastic!

Oh Kiki, do try to keep your pine, unless of course you hate knotty pine, and then I'll try to understand. But maybe you shouldn't tell me if you paint it.

My little MoccasinLanding brick house had an original knotty pine kitchen. I think every house in that subdivision had one. Mine had the shellac orange tone to it, which it appears has been removed from the cabs in the redone kitchen you linked above.

I personally did not like the way my cabs were built, although I did like the knotty pine. I redid my kitchen counter tops, had a couple of extra cabs built to match the originals, and then put linoleum sheet on the floor. I put a tiny microwave butcherblock cart in the center as a movable island, and found an old brass scale to use as a pot rack over the little island. I took the washer and dryer out of the kitchen and moved the sink into a corner at an angle so I could look through the wall I'd busted down to give a view of the bayou behind the house. And then I had room for a really nice dishwasher and trash compactor. And a new almond colored (on sale) fridge/freezer. I also added a black glass cook top, and got my first Sharp microwave/convection oven because I threw out the built in coppertone builtin oven. And I made a tiny peninsula bar for two stools. The almond white formica countertops and the almond floor kept the place bright, even though it had no windows. Oh, I did get a new french door to replace the old door leading to the carport.
I did all this for about $5000, but that was back in 1990.
I really liked it. The cabs were very warm, and could take all that white without the kitchen looking institutional.

Incidentally, that was the first time I painted my kitchen with Behr's THREADED GOLD, and fell in love with that soft yellow. It sure does go with knotty pine!

Thanks Emagineer! Love those pictures! I'm sold on keeping the knotty pine -- it's the walls in the dining area. I wish the kitchen cabinets had it too, but they are just some type of ugly cheap wood. I'm planning on painting those and changing the hardware.

I am going to paint the cheap paneling in the living room though.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of floor to put in the dining area and kitchen. Everyone says to tile it, but I'm wondering if a vinyl floor would be more in keeping with the age of the house.

My take would be tile. The syle of your house begs for it. Although there are some really great faux vinyl now that I wouldn't turn my back on. I have one dog and would love to have vinyl for easier up keep, but the original wood is here.

Painting cheap paneling, yup I'd do it in a heart beat. Use TSP to clean and scruff up, then go for it. Your rooms will seem so much bigger and brighter.

That link seems to have a ton of other ideas too. The problem with your home is it is loved just as it is. Well, not a problem, but living in it for a while would give you more ideas and perhaps not regretting possibilities which could be done.

Your bedroom with the glass mirror doors. I took mine off and put 2 regular doors in. It really opened up the room and set with the style of my home. I also gained about 6" of space on the inside for storage on the doors.

I didn't realize the cupboards were not KP. They are oak. Oak is tough to paint. I'd look for matching door sizes and put new ones in, perhaps arts/crafts style. Or just plain ones to paint and new hardware. The little house doesn't need much in reality.

None of us really know your style and we have really taken ownership of this house. We don't know if you are a DIY person either. I think most of us here are and do a lot of repurposing. Some of the things we do a contractor would roll their eyes at. But we can really do it well. Apologies if we are going over board.

Kiki, when I redid my knotty pine kitchen, I put sheet linoleum (maybe sheet vinyl? I forget) over the old squares of asphalt tile. It was not so expensive that I compromised the entire project for the flooring, and it would have been easy to take up later should I win the lottery or something.
With the sheet flooring, I could also do the floors in the family room, which had NEVER had any finish on the plywood there, I painted the floor in there....and I also put the same sheet flooring down in the enclosed carport. It was much easier to keep the sheet flooring clean and I had 16 parrots to clean up after at that time.

I think the vinyl flooring will work fine. Either vinyl or linoleum. The tile squares of vinyl are easy to install, but they do have so many seams to make water spills grouty looking after a while. I like seamless look the best. It has a lot to recommend it in a house such as yours.

Just my personal opinion. Don't get so hung up on being true to the era of the house that you don't put your own likes at the top of the list. :)

Ok, this is just for fun but I think it is HILARIOUS!!

This is a house that came up for sale further up on my street, it has a knotty pine kitchen, cabinets, dining room, built ins, living room, trim, both bedrooms and bathroom...I don't think there is a vertical surface in the whole house that is not paneling! I just have to say I DO like knotty pine and painted paneling, I wish my house had more quality wood paneling as it's better construction than drywall anyway, but I just think this house is so funny!

Here is a link that might be useful: Paneled house!

Glad you plan on saving the KP walls in the dinning room I think they are lovely. Painting the cabinets will brighten up the space.

Like Emagineer said we have all taken possession of your lovely house.

Chris

I'm happy to share -- it makes me feel not quite so alone in all of this. Making all these decisions is exhausting, but I feel better with all of your help. You have such good ideas!

Now THAT is a lot of knotty pine, enigma! One thing about it, whoever lives there doesn't have to spend any time painting walls and woodwork. lol

I just saw a thread in the Kitchen forum where someone very successfully painted oak cabs....

Here it is, on Page 5! Those kitchen threads sure move fast. Kiki, be sure and read the last entry where the homeowner describes the process they used to paint and stain the doors.

Here is a link that might be useful: What We Did in 3 Weeks

Jeesh Nancy, those cupboards look great. I wonder how they got rid of the oak grain, sure can't see any. And having someone else do this makes so much more sense considering the amount of time involved.

Enigma, the house next to me is small but every room in the house is KP. It feels claustrophobic when I visit the 96 year old lady. I'm sure she feels safe and comfortable in her home of 60 years though.

"we have really taken ownership of this house."

yeah, we have- lol!

i think when they paint the oak cabs they fill in any grain unlevelness (?) with wood filler, sand and prime first.

the KP might change a bit if you give it a good washing down too.

I'd be for sheet vinyl. easier to keep clean and easier on the feet, legs and back. i need to get out next wk and look for some myself!

I'm definitely leaning towards sheet vinyl. For all the reasons you mentioned, plus when I drop things I have a better chance of them not smashing to pieces. :)

I'm going to try cleaning the KP the way those people did in the link. Although it looks pretty decent, I'm sure it's dirty due to its age.

redid my knotty pine kitchen with black lacquer and quartz impossible to clean it... although my neighbor sanded hers.. i put in a wood floor to match the rest of the room

Are you saying the counter top is quartz and it is impossible to clean? From what I can see the black on the cabinets looks great. Makes the kitchen look more modern.

gosh no.. i meant i couldn't clean the cabinets they were so gunky so that is why I had them lacquered... paint wouldn't stick to the varnish but lacquer did. The quartz gives a modern look and cost about the same as granite. It cleans well but chips easily on the edges. I am careful not to put anything hot on it but the manufacturer says it is not resistant to very high or prolonged heat. I also installed roll out shelves to make the cabinets more accessible.

this is a better photo of the kitchen

Darling kitchen. Glad to know the counter is not hard to clean.

I had a house once I had to use paint thinner to clean the gunky cabinets. Such a mess. Not a fun time.