PauperPosh's Profile

I found a shelf almost exactly like this on the street, it was in very similar condition too. All i did was take my orbital sander too it and take off MOST of the rust and previous finish, then wiped it down with Windex.

Now it's my favorite curio ever!! I suggest you try that before anything else, the sanding will be a good first start if you eventually decide to paint it anyhow.

There are lots of great ideas here, but...

I would caution you to ignore everyone who tries to make you feel bad about using your back yard for your dog. Its quite normal to do and it doesn't mean you don't walk your dog. Its simply impractical to NOT use if for this purpose.

Also, I would be careful about having a bunch of potted plants, if you've not had them before you might not realize they actually take MORE work than plants in the ground.

If you DO go with lots of potted plants, be sure to get one of those automatic watering systems and bake it into your garden plan from the start. If not you could be facing a world of dead plants that only make you feel guilty.

This may not sound humble, but this kind of situation is my specialty.

While I agree with the many comments about color and clutter,
I completely DISAGREE with the "wait and do it with the big remodel" school of thought.

As the owner of a fixer I know all too well how a year can turn into several, and frankly if you can do a quick cheap update you may be able to live with it longer and put your $$ and efforts into other projects.

The key here is to decide how much a simple update is worth to you from the start, if it were me I would give myself a budget of something like $500.

The next step is to figure out what is too expensive to get rid of, i.e appliances & counter tops would doubtless be on that list.

Then take the color of those "unchangeables" in to account, for instance, in this kitchen you could easily go black and white. I might paint the upper cabinets white, and paint the lower cabinets black, this will keep the room "light" yet grounded and add a bit of inexpensive flair.

You could follow that with a simple black and white (or possibly gray) vinyl flooring...they are the most cost effective, durable AND (if you get the "no glue" type) very easy to install.

For the back splash you need to get creative, removing the tile can open a can of worms you may not be ready to tackle, I suggest finding something you can cover the existing tiles with. I have used "Luann" plywood as a back splash several times (its called many things, "door-skin" or simply "1/8 in ply" its a single layer of unfinished wood that you can easily cut to shape paint anyway you like (perhaps a bright primary color?) and simply glue to the existing tile.

You might find VERY inexpensive handles and pulls online or at Target, but I would not spend much on those. Better to do something interesting with paint on your existing handles then to spend the money here.

IF clutter is an issue (not sure if this photo is your stuff or the previous owners) then you DO need solutions. They could be hanging baskets or standing bins etc. I suggest buying new accessories i.e. dish drainers, coffee maker etc, Just be sure that anything you leave out on the counter is good looking goes well with rest of the kitchen. Ross Dress for less is an amazing resource for the kind of stuff you will need.

Last but FAR FROM LEAST, I would pay attention to lighting. if you do not have under cabinet lighting yet, GET IT, its easy to install and you can get a great set of halogen under cabinet lighting for around $35 from LampsPlus.com, trust me lighting can make ALL the difference.

If you have any questions i would be happy to answer them or give you further ideas, you can contact me using the contact link on my blog:

http://pauperposh.blogspot.com/

THANKS & GOOD LUCK!!!

Rich