ODD kitchen cabinets, looking for ideas to disguise them
Hi! So we bought our home about 2 years ago. Before moving in, we painted all the walls a different shade as well as our kitchen cabinets that were so ugly painted. Our home is a 1950s ranch style that has white tile countertops and had the stove stand all by itself (the stove now has cabinets on the sides and above 🙂) but almost two years later and I cannot pass the fact of the weirdly shaped cabinet doors on the left side. They ARE functional, I store all ziplock bags, aluminum foil, plastic wrap etc. on the tall, narrow one and pans and lids on the two squared ones. However, the oddly shaped continues to visually bother me. Due to the tile countertops, replacing that section is not possible and if you ask what is underneath/inside, my husband drilled a couple of holes and it is all wood, like a supporting wood box. Not sure what the previous owners were thinking as it is definitely an add on and redoing the kitchen is not possible with our current budget.
Should we add similar shaped fake doors to make it more visually cohesive? Any ideas?
TIA!
Comments (10)
Travis Johnson
3 months agoRelated Discussions
Ideas for odd-shaped kitchen with awkward low window?
Comments (8)OK...I have uploaded some pics to Flickr set at the attached link. I tried and failed to figure out how to post a picture as part of this message, so if anyone wants to explain it to me, feel free :) Please excuse the mess in the sink. As you will see, the problem is leaving room for accessing the office. I put down a measuring tape in one pic, it's hard to read but the length of the window wall there from the current counter end is about 3.5 feet. I originally thought "window seat" myself, but realized that a seat of any length would cause problems. Same for a sink, etc. One thought I have is to do a short lower cabinet area ending in a curve or angle? Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of kitchen...See MoreForm vs. Function: does this look odd?
Comments (13)A little clarification (I'll be the first to admit I'm going about this bassackwards...): Originally, I only planned on painting the existing cabinets and painting, re-laminating, or replacing the countertops. Just a face-lift, no overhaul. Then someone suggested I switch the cabinet & fridge to improve the kitchen's function, and I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So, once I was already finished painting the upper cabinets, we moved the lower cabinet. Prior to moving the cabinet, marti8a made a mockup of what it might look like, and though not quite to scale, it does at least show you where the microwave is intended to go: If I'd known how much hassle painting cabinets and removing countertops and trying to squeeze form & function out of the current set up would be, I probably would have ordered new, self-assemble cabinets. At this stage, however, I'm so happy with how my painted uppers turned out that completely scrapping them would just about kill me (given the work I put in and the waste factor). And since I had already started the project, I probably should have left the lower cabinet alone, but it really is nice to have the extra counterspace, even if it's a pain trying to tie it together. I'm really hoping the uppers are "done", aside from adding in the microwave and making it look like it belongs. The shallow cabinet idea came from discussions about message centers, like this one: And from the fact that I'm not crazy about boxing in the fridge just for the sake of boxing in the fridge. I'd like it to have a little more purpose. In theory, the wee cabinet would be just big enough to hold a can of food or a box of light bulbs, and not so big as to jut out into the hall. Neither the cabinet nor the fridge box, should we go that way, would jut into the hall, even though it can look that way from a certain angle. They would line up with the wall and elongate the hall....See MoreHow to disguise holes in kitchen cabinet
Comments (28)There are a couple of issues that I don't see being addressed: 1) It's possible that the ends of the valance are also glued in place. If so, removing glue residue and trying to restain the areas to match will be much harder than suggested. 2) The areas on the cabinets on each side that are now covered by the ends of the valance may be a different shade after years of not being exposed to sunlight. If so, staining these areas to match the rest of the cabinet may also be hard. I'm not trying to discourage you, but simply trying to prepare you for the issue that stain matching may be more of a challenge than making the holes disappear. Instead of spot-staining, it might be easier and better looking in the long run to mount a simple, low profile 3/4" trim strip covering the area that will be newly exposed and running it from top to bottom on the two flanking cabinets (so it will look like an intentional design element). It will be easier to blend the finish of this trim with the rest of the cabinet than to deal with trying to make the isolated, exposed areas match the old finish....See MoreOdd shaped windows. Need Ideas to cover them
Comments (13)Wow, just wow -- never seen any quite like that. A pic from inside might help. First thought: Locally at least , Home Depot and Advance Auto Parts (and likely other places), carry a plastic tint film that will help block light and give you some privacy during daytime; however, with the lights on at night, you'll need an indoor window treatment. Edited: Forget the corner cabinet idea; unaware the windows were in a stairwell. Louvered doors (installed as if the windows were a corner cabinet) painted the same white as the trim might still be an idea worth considering....See Morebeeboo22
3 months agoherbflavor
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agothe missing edge profile is noticeable. Contact Scherrs and see if a full length set of doors for the right...then a single for the left.....can be milled up with the edge profile on other doors . You might try furniture toe kick at the bottom.... the differentiation is there so continue w making it look intentional..... You're doing such a good job...go the little bit extra
.
Toe kicks on these.... [I think Scherrs might provide also ]
Kitchen · More Info
SJS Kitchen 4 · More Info
Turn of the Century Style Kitchen- Remodel · More Info
Hammond Kitchen 9 · More Info
Sigrid
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agopalimpsest
3 months ago
Sherry8aNorthAL
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoeld6161
3 months agoNydia Berumen
2 months agoThank you so much everyone! Our home is slowly coming together and I’m proud of the progress we have made so far. We bought the hardware and will be installing it soon. I like herbflavor’s idea of adding toe kicks to the add on so it looks more intentional. And will for sure follow sigrid’s advice if I do decide to check out the bottom section. For now, I will see how much adding the hardware helps. Otherwise, I will go with something similar to palimpsest mock (thank you so much for that visual!) aside from the toe kicks.
- PRO
lisedv
last monthI suggest you replace the 3 doors with full lenght ones and have them milled with the same profile as the other doors.
palimpsest