Shabby Chic; Volume III

irishgirl62

I am looking for inspiration for my kitchen tiles, I have a cream kitchen, black work top and cream floor tiles cream walls. sounds very bland but I like it as i can add colours at the moment I have red curtains red cushions etc i have been looking for a year now and can not think or decide what colours of tiles to do so that it would be shabby chic any suggestions please?

gingababe

Bibbity I love you kitchen its fab... Loving the doors. I would love love something similar as mine is dated but OH has said we only need doors & we have two that are odd shapes & we can't find doors to fit !!!

Have been a little quiet as of late, had a few challenges!
Great work guys keep it up !

GB xx

Bibbitybob

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my kitchen, so glad I've inspired you Thrifty Sister - make sure you come and show us when you're done!

We've actually done it all on a relatively small budget (well...compared to what you can spend on a new kitchen!). The doors were one of Magnet's cheapest trade ranges and they threw the handles in for free, tiles were from Topps Tiles (but because my friend's hubby is the manager we got them super cheap). We could have had a cheaper worktop (this was from Howdens) but I really liked the square edge as I think it looks more like real wood.

The wood floor for the entire downstairs came free with the kitchen, so I'm just waiting for that to go down now! We did buy pelmet and cornice for the wall units, but once we fixed some of it on it looked really naff so decided against it - I think the units look ok and not 'unfinished' without it (at least, I hope!). A bit annoying because we could've saved some more money there.

gingababe wrote: »

Bibbity I love you kitchen its fab... Loving the doors. I would love love something similar as mine is dated but OH has said we only need doors & we have two that are odd shapes & we can't find doors to fit !!!

Have been a little quiet as of late, had a few challenges!
Great work guys keep it up !

GB xx

Sorry to hear you've had a few challenges hun.

Could you replace your two funny shaped door units with new carcasses and just replace the doors on the rest? I'd suggest getting doors made, but I suspect it would be cheaper just to replace the odd ones unless you know someone who would do mates rates?

Bibbitybob

irishgirl62 wrote: »

I am looking for inspiration for my kitchen tiles, I have a cream kitchen, black work top and cream floor tiles cream walls. sounds very bland but I like it as i can add colours at the moment I have red curtains red cushions etc i have been looking for a year now and can not think or decide what colours of tiles to do so that it would be shabby chic any suggestions please?

I like the tiles in my new kitchen because they add a bit of colour (blue/grey depending on the light) but are still neutral, iyswim? Like you, I prefer to add colour with accessories (then I can change them easier when I get bored!).

My last kitchen sounds similar to yours, except I had black floor tiles and painted the walls pale green. I painted the cupboard doors cream, kept the old black worktop and then used travertine tiles on the walls. I used cream accessories, but you could have just as easily added coloured.

The tiles came super cheap from ebay, we ended up with something daft like three times the amount we needed for less than we'd been quoted for the room - I bought them for the bathroom in my first house, used them in this kitchen, OH used them in a bathroom of his old house and I think we still have a few left over! :rotfl:

irishgirl62

I love your tiles bittibob... i had bought cream tiles for the walls but went off them cos once the kitchen went in floor tiles went down walls painted I thought its too cream for the walls ... but never thought of walls tiles like yours...

I am still struggling with the painting of my drawers... can anyone recommend what paint brushes to use

Thrifty_Sister

irishgirl62 wrote: »

I love your tiles bittibob... i had bought cream tiles for the walls but went off them cos once the kitchen went in floor tiles went down walls painted I thought its too cream for the walls ... but never thought of walls tiles like yours...

I am still struggling with the painting of my drawers... can anyone recommend what paint brushes to use

I invested in a couple of decent paint brushes rather than the cheaper ones as I think they give a better finish. Also, if you paint first then go over with a roller it gets rid of any brush marks - somebody on here gave me that tip, I think. HTH:)

Bibbitybob

irishgirl62 wrote: »

I love your tiles bittibob... i had bought cream tiles for the walls but went off them cos once the kitchen went in floor tiles went down walls painted I thought its too cream for the walls ... but never thought of walls tiles like yours...

I am still struggling with the painting of my drawers... can anyone recommend what paint brushes to use

Thanks I use B&Q value brushes - you get a pack of 5 for less than £3 I think. I know they're cheap, but I find them excellent, no shedding bristles either. Have tried others but always come back to these, although I don't find they last washing very well (but at that price unless it's emulsion I tend to just chuck them once I've finished my project - I HATE washing brushes ).

Thrifty_Sister

Bibbitybob wrote: »

Thanks I use B&Q value brushes - you get a pack of 5 for less than £3 I think. I know they're cheap, but I find them excellent, no shedding bristles either. Have tried others but always come back to these, although I don't find they last washing very well (but at that price unless it's emulsion I tend to just chuck them once I've finished my project - I HATE washing brushes ).

Thanks for the info BB - I will give them a try. Always used the Harris ones (as used by my Mum) but the B & Q are very reasonable. I too hate cleaning brushes so will def get some next time I'm in there.:T:T

anguk

Bibbitybob wrote: »

Thanks I use B&Q value brushes - you get a pack of 5 for less than £3 I think. I know they're cheap, but I find them excellent, no shedding bristles either. Have tried others but always come back to these, although I don't find they last washing very well (but at that price unless it's emulsion I tend to just chuck them once I've finished my project - I HATE washing brushes ).

Me too! I've got a couple of Harris "No Loss" brushes that I use for emulsion, they're great and wash as new. Sainsbury's sell a pack of 3 for £5.99.
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/home_and_garden/diy_and_car_care/hand_tools/109179104_harris_no_loss_brush_3_pack.html?primarySku=120622947

I just buy cheap brushes for gloss and chuck them out after using.

Looby_Lou

Have a look at https://www.toolstation.co.uk for decorating bits and pieces they are a lot cheaper than the diy sheds. They are open to everybody and are similar to screwfix.