What to do with the world's most hideous cabinets?

[Cherry Bomb!]

So I just moved into a new apartment. I love the kitchen, especially the brand new appliances, but it has the most hideous cabinets I have ever seen in my life. To make matters worse, they're not a flat surface so I can't just cover them with something like chalkboard vinyl decals (which is what I had wanted to do originally). It has to be removable or easily changed back to the way it is, since its a rental. The kitchen is white on white with a dash of white, and all the appliances and all my small appliances are white as well. >_< I'm a big fan of bright, cheerful colors. My current obsessions are red and aqua and red/pink/orange/yellow combinations. It's probably got something to do with being sick of winter. ^_~ Also, I have a pretty small budget, about $100. Any ideas?

[craftylittlemonkey]

I actually like those cupboards, lol.

If you love bright colours would you consider painting the hinges and putting on new handles? That would throw a beautiful splash of colour into the place and it would be easy to paint over with white when you move out again. You could use one colour for the top hinges and another for the bottom, I'd choose the same colour for all the handles to tie them together. You can echo the colour scheme with curtains, pot holders, oven mitts etc.
Have fun!

[sunshineBdog]

I think the cabinets are GREAT...I would use some red and white checked curtains and dishtowels with colorful prints to liven things up. If yo really wanted to cover the cabinets you might try painting cardboard cut to the exact size of the doors and then using a light glue that is removable to mount them. I think the look of old and distressed is great tho.

[jo_mama]

i too, kinda love the cabinets.  they have character, unlike my cheapo home depot ones.  if you owned i would paint the hinges and hardware, but that would be a pain to repaint when you leave.

when we rented i treated the refrigerator like a canvas.  it was always covered in anything fun and colorful i could find, and it is completely changeable on a whim!  and since there is soo much white you can get really loud, colorful curtains and it can balance out.

[tiffie1023]

I think that they are actually not that bad.  I think I would spray paint the hinges in a super metallic silver, paint the cabinet faces red, paint the doors aqua, and buy some sort of new funky hardware for the pulls.  I think they could be really beautiful.

  good luck! Put up pics when you figure it out!

[dillandavillain]

Maybe you could find some washi tape in a fun pattern or color you like and put a stripe of it in between all of the slats? it would definitely be cost-effective and easily removable.

[Cherry Bomb!]

These are all really good ideas. I especially like the idea of painting the hardware. I've done a little decorating since I took these pics. It definitely brightens it up. I also noticed that the hardware on one side is different than on the other. I'll post pics later.

[craftylittlemonkey]

...the hardware on one side is different than on the other...

That could be a good thing, you could paint opposite bits alternate colours, you know? Like if you paint the hardware blue and the small spaces red on one type you can do the opposite on the other type. So they are two variations on a theme.

[bethanael]

I think some bright dishtowels and curtains would really brighten the area, and it looks like you could put a small picture next the window. I think your kitchen looks cute the way it is in the picture though.

[Cherry Bomb!]

Bethanael: that's what I ended up doing, basically, but my drill broke halfway through hanging the curtains. As soon as I get those up I'm going to post pics. The curtains are orange!