What is a good way to decorate an apartment kitchen?

Question

I'm 18 and out of the house, I just BOUGHT an apartment of my own.

The house is really dull and unappealing. The kitchen is the part I'm having trouble fixing, since I just got it, I'm in no where near of thinking of purchasing my own fridge, so I'll have to stay with the one it brings.

The kitchen is small, like the size of a large bathroom. The drawers are white and the handlers are black; the fridge is is cut in half to a 90 degrees. And the walls are pretty undone.

[it would be helpful if you'd answer the questions by numbers to know which you're talking about]

1. Can I paint the handlers? If so, what color? Black and white don't look good in this kitchen. Would a cream brown look good?

2. What kinds of things can I do to the fridge to decorate it besides photos of my/family/friends/pets?

3. What is the best color for a kitchen? White just blends in TOO much which is why it looks dull.

Answer 1

3. I think yellow is a nice color for a kitchen, but it might be a bit much in a small apartment. You should go to the local hardware store and browse their paint chips and pick out ones that appeal to you. Then bring them home and hold them up in different parts of the kitchen, and in different lighting conditions, to see what looks better to you.

2. For the handles, buying new ones might be easier than painting them.

Answer 2

why is BOUGHT all in capitlas???

why dont u take me with u, i'm an 'estilista italiano'  

Answer 3

1. Are the handles part of the cupboards (like wood) or can they be removed? If they are metal and can be removed, I suggest going down to your nearest hardware store or department store to find some new ones. You can find some really nice door handles real cheap, some in different finishes - black, chrome, white,etc. If you like the ones you have now, it really depends on what you end up painting your kitchen.

3. You could always paint the cupboards rather than the whole kitchen. Cream brown (as you mentioned in 1) would be a nice color.   It also depends on what color your appliances are: White fridge and stove - i'd suggest painting the cupboards.

It really depends on your likes - for me I would paint the cupboards a light green color - but then again my likes and dislikes are obviously different. I also tried coordinating my appliances and utensils (I have a bamboo leaf pattern dishes, green cookware and other utensils - so a light green worked out for my kitchen).

Good luck I hope I've been of some use to you!

Answer 4

green is an awesome color especially with black and white a fun green color. I think you should pick a theme like space, or strawberries or rock theme ya know and go with that get fun stuff and stick with the theme it always looks so cool

Answer 5

1. Eh, it'll probably be easier to get new handles. You can get some really inexpensive ones from your local Lowes/Home Depot, and all you do to take them off/put them on is unscrew the s***w from inside the drawer. Then you can get silver, or wood, or whatever.

2. Not sure. I like useful stuff (white board to write a list, calendar, etc) so not much in terms of decorating tips, there.

3. My kitchen is sort of a burgundy red. I'm a big fan. Don't be afraid of a little color, but don't use yellow. The one yellow kitchen I ever saw, even the person that lived there said it gave her a headache.

Answer 6

1. You could try just cleaning the handles first. They may come up nice. They could be painted by tying a bit of string around the part that screws into the drawer and dipping the handle into a small container of paint. Or just replace them with something from the hardware section of your supermarket or variety store. You could go for green, yellow or blue with the white drawers.

2. You can get enamel paint to redo your fridge, remember to sand back the old paint first to give a smooth surface. You might like to get a few colours in spray cans and go "crazy artist" on the fridge ie just spraying all over with no particular pattern or what about a rainbow?

You could also check out the range of  "Contact" adhesive vinyl. I know friends who have covered their fridge with this and it has come up great.

3. Before repainting your kitchen give it a really good wash down with sugar soap. This will get rid of all the old grease and stains on the walls, ceiling, cupboard doors etc. Wash every surface. You might like it when it is all nice and clean. But if you still decide to paint, use a good quality paint that you can wash clean regularlly. Because the kitchen is small go for a light colour on the walls and cupboards to make it look bigger. Blue is a nice, clean colour. Light blue for the walls and the cupboards and darker blue drawers as a contrast. Our kitchen is pale green with wooden (pine) handles and bench top.

Paint your ceiling white, that helps to enlarge the look of it.

Answer 7

Make everything blue. If you are up to a massive paint job. Too many shades to count, but I like the sky tint. As for decorating the fridge, why not paint that too! I've seen it done. Maybe do some artwork instead of a plain blue. But if its a short-term living space, I'd just suggest a basic coat of blue.