Try putting this on the kitchen forum. They will have lots of great ideas.

Yes, post it on the kitchen forum, but include a to-scale drawing of the kitchen and surrounding rooms, with dimensions in feet and inches shown. You will be amazed at ideas for good kitchen design that you will receive. Personally, I love the vintage feel that it has now and would try to keep it.

Definitely strip the wallpaper and paint. I would hold off on any major changes for several months. Sometimes there are surprises in a new house that will require you adjust your budget. For now, you have a functioning kitchen with lots of cabinets and counter space.

There are some things about the layout that are not the best and you will want to see how much that bothers you. For example, the dishwasher is perpendicular to the sink and the range is across the kitchen next to the fridge - I can't tell from the picture, but if it is right up against the fridge, that is not the best. I would not like the double sink, but could live with it for a while if I needed to. You will need to determine, based on budget and how the kitchen functions for you on what improvements to make, or just wait to do a more complete remodel to improve the function.

Painting the walls a light green and changing the floor to wood, plus removing the wood valence, will help update. Here's a very quick and very dirty example of what I have in mind.

Start with the wallpaper and paint, removal of the wood bridge between the cabinets flanking the window. Replace the light fixtures and live with it for a while to see how it functions for you. If replacing floors throughout, you might continue them into the kitchen. Figure out an optimal spot for the micro, and consider replacing the louvered doors later on. They can be a huge cleaning problem when near kitchen grease. Could that closet be eliminated and the square footage incorporated into your remodeling plan? Perhaps it could function as pantry/micro/appliance area.

I'd start with simply replacing the light fixtures. I have the exact same cabinets and while they aren't the latest greatest style, they are very well made and mine are solid wood custom built in the kitchen cabinets. Not some prefab junk from Lowe's! I agree the wall paper would look better if it was just a painted wall. You are quite lucky that you don't have orange counters and green appliances! :) The kitchen is very tastefully done.

What type of look are you going for? Do you want to keep the retro vibe or make it more transitional? I love those little shelves on the end of the peninsula, but I've seen a lot of renos where that was made into a more functional peninsula/bartop.

I agree if you can move the appliances eventually to do that, although our 60's home has the same setup. There are a lot of very good remodels in our neighborhood that look even nicer than the Flip or Flop series on HGTV, but if you want more info on retro character try www.retrorenovation.com.

I agree that the layout could be better. but it isn't un-workable. I like the picture frame cabinets. They are unique and it is refreshing to see something other than shaker cabinets.

Strip the wallpaper, paint the walls, change the sink, and change the pendant lights. That is all I would do for now.

First, do no harm. This is a great house. Don’t remuddle it. Think restoration.

This kitchen needs a complete overhaul I would not waste money on painting the cabinets , chnge the lighting, remove wall paper and paint walls and save until you can do the kitchen properly. By that time you will know what you love and what you don’t in the layout and also if it is important to have an eat in kitchen since that space ir making the kitchen very small. If you need new appliances before the redo start with a counter depth fridge. Not sure why the oak trim is special I would just paint it all but that is just me.

Hi Dougy,

Agree with above posters, my first thought seeing your picture was what a great, solid, well built kitchen, wow!

The crap that was in ours when we bought was nothing like this, it was falling off the walls.

Do you use the microwave much? It looks huge and like you don't have any flat space next to the fridge/stove?...

What style do you and your wife like? (modern, rustic, farmhouse, etc.)

I like the cabinets and if you are freshening up, I would leave the cabinets as is. If you find the layout doesn't work, you may want to redo the kitchen at some point, but I would not touch the cabinets, I would start with the paper and other elements.

I could recommend a few tweaks to the layout, if these were individually-built box cabinets. From what I can see, though, they are very solid job-built custom cabinets. These are so much nicer and better quality than the standard builder grade cabinets used most of the time now. I agree with those who say just change the minor things for now, and save up for a total renovation after you live with it for awhile.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! We’re holding off on many of the changes to the kitchen, but the wallpaper is down and we are going to change out flooring.

My my wife and I like tiling, and we’re leaning toward a larger hexagon tile. We’re looking for opinions on if that would go well with the layout of the kitchen. Or is there a different flooring alternative you suggest?

thanks!

My only thought on tile in the kitchen..buy extra tile, and keep it somewhere. If you happen to drop something, it could break, or the tile could crack. Pictures of the hexagon would help..not sure if it has a pattern or is a particular color.

In a similar kitchen, I once removed a couple of the cabinet doors to make some open storage. I liked it, but you can live with it for a while before committing and replace the doors if you don’t like it.