For you DIY types...

[bluesilverkdg]

You know that pretty painted tile that you often see in Mexican restaurants? Does anyone know if that's just regular old tile? Or is it a specific kind, made just for painting? I'm thinking it's most likely an unglazed, terra cotta that would absorb paint, right?

Let's say you had a bathroom in an old house that had really crappy looking pink tile...oh, kinda like this:



Does anyone know if it's possible to paint tile like that, since it's already been glazed? Like, with just white, glossy paint? Or would that putrid pink come right through the paint? If it can't be painted, can anyone else offer any potential remedies for getting rid of putrid pink tile, that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg?

My realtor sent me the official listings for both the houses that I posted about yesterday. One is 4 BRs, 2 baths (and sells for $99,000). The other is 3 BR, 1.5 baths ($89,000). I'm almost leaning toward the 3 BR, though, as for things I like (with the exception of the putrid pink tile. Yuck.)

Pros of the 3 BR: It has a fenced-in yard. The kitchen is OK. Not great, but bigger than many kitchens in houses of that era. The kitchen also has a full pantry. There are gorgeous hardwood floors throughout the house, that look to be in excellent condition, although the bedrooms are carpeted. There's a front porch. The rooms mostly have neutral colors, as for paint.
Cons of the 3 BR: It has a garage, but it's detached, and I'm not sure if it's a full-sized garage (as in, "will my car fit in it?") There's no outdoor living space in the back, such as a deck. And there's this putrid pink tile. Plus, only 1.5 baths. Guests would have to share my bathroom.

Pros of the 4 BR: There are four bedrooms. Duh. And an "office" downstairs. Space galore. There's an extra full bath for guests. There's a lot of storage space, especially for an older home. It has a nice deck in the back. The garage is attached to the house (it's a drive-under garage, that leads into the basement) and appears to be full-size. There's an awesome huge deck, that would be perfect for grilling and having guests over in the summertime. The existing landscaping is very nice.
Cons of the 4 BR: The kitchen is bad. Not only is it small, with little storage, it's laid out very awkwardly, and remodeling it could be quite costly. There is also tile in THIS house, only in this one, it's green, not pink. Like...lime green. And the tile is not only in the bathroom, but in the kitchen, as well. The yard is not fenced. There's no front porch.

The lot size is identical in both houses..60 ft. wide, by 150 ft. long, and there's about an equal space of unfinished basement (approximately 300 sq. feet) in both houses. They are very equivalent in a lot of ways. Why were people in the early '50s so all fired up about that nasty tile, I wonder? And does anyone have any ideas as to what to do with it, if I do acquire either of these houses? I'm going to look at both of them over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Geez, how is the weekend over already??!

Comments

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

As for choosing between the two houses, I personally would go with the smaller one.

Yes, you would need to share your bathroom with guests, but at the same time, you would not be having to rip out and replace the OMGGREEN tile in the bathroom and the kitchen, which would need to be remodeled anyways to make it function better. Nor would you need to fence at least part of the yard for your eventual pooch's playtime pleasure.

Then there is the matter of having to heat/cool the thing. Larger house = larger heating/cooling bill. (I know this is not always the case, but generally speaking, it is.)

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I can't figure out quite what is going on with the four BR. The green tile IS indeed in the kitchen, and then there's another room that appears to be a dining room just off the kitchen, and IT has the green tile, too! Who puts tile in a dining room? Of course, I'm going from a picture and it might just be some sort of weird extension of the kitchen, not an actual dining room. Still...eww. Well, here...have a look:



Check out that flooring. Woah. The stove is just kinda stuck in there, seemingly right in front of a cabinet. NOT loving any of that. The only thing I'm thinking, is if that ISN'T a dining room...or if it's a really big dining room, I could use part of it to extend the kitchen. Still, we're talking major $$$ for that, whereas the other kitchen, with a coat of fresh paint (and a dishwasher) would be pretty much good to go.

The four BR has gas heat, which is a pro AND a con, far as I'm concerned. I love gas heat. I'd never had it until I moved into my old house in JC, but I quickly fell in love with the moist, cozy warmth it provided. And while it was still a cheap option, I really loved it. Pre-2001, I could heat the house very well for about $100 in the dead of winter. But now, of course, gas heat is completely outrageous. So, while I'd RATHER have it for the comfort, the price just seems unruly. :-/ And that's really too bad.

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Ok, the green wasn't so bad in the bathroom, I could've decorated around that with some effort... but ugh, not the kitchen. Nooooo......

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty rough. And it looks like they just decided "oh...we need a stove. Let's put it....hmmmm..HERE." I cannot envision myself cooking in that kitchen, the way it is. It looks like a dungeon. A green, tiled dungeon.

Does that second room look like a dining room to you? It's got built-in cabinetry that looks hutch-like, but WHO puts tile like that in a dining room? And that floor. *shudder*

[theldara.livejournal.com]

That really does look like the dining room... sometimes I'm glad I don't know what people are thinking when they remodel... bathroom tile in the kitchen is odd enough.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

OK, Bob Villa. Lend me some more of your expertise. :-)

So, this is pretty much my dream kitchen:



(And according to the ad, it's "functional!") I love the cream cabinets, the French country look. Just what I want. In person, they have a bit of a "distressed" finish, which just adds more charm.

This is the kitchen that is in the 3 BR:



Not great, but workable, and definitely better than the green tiled monster in the other one. I would like to paint the cabinets, and I know this is not hard to do, but I'm getting conflicting info. I've heard that it's best to sand them down before painting, although some sites recommend just cleaning them well to get any grunge and grease off of them. Any thoughts on this? As for the countertops, my ex and I got our old countertops from a wholesale/salvage shop in Elizabethton. We redid the counters in our whole kitchen, from nice remnants, for $48, and just installed them ourselves.

I would HAVE...absolutely have to have a dishwasher. I'm pretty sure that the cabinet to the left of the sink could be removed to install one there, do you think? That's obviously a job I'd need to let my cousin tackle, but I think it's manageble. I'd lose a bit of cabinet space, but..to gain a dishwasher, I don't care!

Again, thoughts and comments are appreciated. :-)

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

Ok. Here is my assessment, based upon the above pictures.

Yes, you can just clean them REALLY, REALLY well, and paint them. As in, make sure that get you get every single speck of grime out of every single crack. Then prime them using Kilz primer, and paint over it. This would be the cheapest way to change them, but high on the elbow grease factor. There is also the issue of potential for the new paint chipping and having the existing color showing through in the future, (and not in a "distressed" fashion like you would want) or if there is a clear coat finish on the doors currently, the clear coat flaking off after you paint over it. It also would NOT give you that "distressed" finish that you want.

If you want a distressed finish you have two options to get it done right.

The first is to sand it all down to bare wood, then apply a light coat of dark paint. Let it dry, then paint a couple of light layers of creamy white over it, until the dark paint is no longer visible through the lighter paint. Then you would selectively sand the surfaces, allowing the darker tones and the grain of the wood to show through the lighter cream color. You do not want to prime the sanded wood, as the priming would seal the wood and reduce the "graininess" that you like in the distressed surface.

The second way is the easiest way to get that distressed look. Pull the existing cabinet doors off. Purchase new, replacement doors with the distressed finish in the color you want. Sand, prime, and paint the cabinets to match the primary color of the new doors. Once it is all dry, bolt the new doors on with new hardware.

Oh, and regardless of which way you get the look that you want, you will have to add the crown moulding to the top of the cabinets prior to the painting step.

Now for the dishwasher.

Yes, there is room for a dishwasher in place of the cabinet beside the sink. But I am concerned about the "dead" space in the base cabinets under the corner. If you are lucky, the short cabinet that is beside the opening for the fridge is open to that dead space, and thus when you put the dishwasher in you could still reach and access it. However, what is most likely is that the access is through the cabinets you will be pulling out to put the dishwasher in. That is assuming there is even access inside the cabinets to that dead space.

Any more questions? ;-)