Go in an edit your profile.

A fun profile name for you would be fortunecookie;)

thanks for the advice, I did change it

that is cute thanks margo

i JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR ALL THE HELP WITH IDEAS, I FEEL AS IF I WILL BE WORKING ON THIS UGLY KITCHEN SOON AND I WANT TO POST MORE PIC'S WHEN THE PROCESS GETS STARTED. I DO NOT TAKE ANY COMMETS PERSONAL, I LOVED EVERYONE OF THEM

I ORDERED A NEW TABLET AND I AM GOING TO POST MORE PIC'S WHEN IT COME IN

OK, but can you take the caps lock off, it is hurting my ears with all the yelling;) We will be here;))

sorry for cap lock and it is off now thanks

yea gumbo sounds good but I am making a different dish for dinner tonight

Well, don't keep us in suspense... what are you making?

baked ham and baked candy yam's

@dmillmer. I would start with cleaning every painted surface in the kitchen with TSP and then painting with primer. If you do not know what kind of paint was used for the mural (oil or latex), you might want to consider BIN shellac-based primer. Shellac encapsulates stains, paint colors, and even odors such as nicotine. There will be no "show-through" of color over time. You will have a clean, bright white kitchen until you are ready to renovate.
Best wishes.

thanks

My pleasure. Be aware that BIN primer is a drippy, smelly product.
I did not mind the smell as much as I thought I would. The drippy part - cover everything you do not want primer on! Hair, sink faucets, electrical outlets... Forewarned is forearmed!

I made a comment eariler then others commented after. I'm still not getting it! Am i brain dead. Per OP posting, i like thing it. Why ? "Don't take life to seriously or you will never get out it alive"...A quote from Bugs Bunny cartoon back in the 1970's. :))) I know i'm being silly, but this OP picture spells "FUN"

Oh my goodness ! I am sure that living with this kitchen is much different than just seeing it on this board, but it really does crack me up. Those yucky dead shrimp... Sounds like you have been working hard on the rest of the place so until you get the time and money to rip this out just laugh ! Don't be embarrassed about it, anybody with a sense of humor will love it. Maybe charge admission to see it and save up for the remodel !

lol : charge admission and save up for the remodel

Curt, what does I like thing it mean? Typo or did I miss something here?
D, did you take some pics of your floor when George came back with the iPad?

I was thinking, maybe a knitted couch might look good too... keep it quirky? thoughts?

where in the kitchen, if so I would of never thought of that... but thanks

Okay...lets just forget those shrimp. Can we do that please. I specifically like that scooby goo looking thing

when I get my new tablet I am going to post more pic's I wanted to use the back half of the hallway by the kitchen and the back door to expand the kitchen but there is a stairway to the upstairs in the back and the door going down to the basement. As soon as I get my tablet I am going to post more pic's thanks

I kind of like this scooby goo thing and was thinking about removing the whole board which is covering up the window that is like the other two on the other wall in the kitchen. I don't know why they covered up the window with this large board with this scoobby goo thang. I was thinking about removing it and framing some of it and adding it to the wall on the other side of the kitchen but not where it covers up the top of the cabinets. Just a though. What do you think...

I did not take pics of this ugly floor yet

Where is Elpelicano when you need her lol

I'm with Curt, this is a fun thing, hilarious in fact, but when you HAVE to live with something day in day out, I can understand how there comes a time too much fun does get hard to live with.

DM - put things in perspective, it sounds like you bought this old house knowing it needed a complete clean out and renovation. You saw the beauty of it and had a vision but without a money tree growing in the backyard, this vision will take time to evolve. Very few of us get what we want immediately we want it, so we are all in the same boat here, despite what the lavish photos on Houzz show. Accept the fact that this is going to take time, a lot of time and a lot of effort which can become very draining and depressing at times. Rooms like your kitchen will get you down from time to time, but you are moving forward with the house by the sound of it, so enjoy the new and laugh at the old. The old gives you reminders too of what the new used to look like so you enjoy it more and keeps your motivation levels high.

If this kitchen is really getting to you, sure slap some paint over the murals but otherwise don't waste time and money on putting lipstick on the pig, wait till you can afford your dream kitchen and can plan it properly. Of more concern to me though is the lino - if it is becoming dangerous, rip it up, clean the floor underneath it and just live with that. I am presently in that situation myself so I do understand how you feel.

Meanwhile, do not be embarrassed to have friends come, this kitchen was not your doing, no one should be judging you because of it so have your friends come in, laugh and enjoy the fun of it and focus on how your new kitchen will look. The added bonus too, is with living with this kitchen and the layout in particular is that you will get a feel for exactly what you need in your new kitchen and the best layout for your needs.

thank you so much for your comments I love them and appreciate all you said...

If I want to have more spirit about my Kitchen I am very glad to of found all of you because ya'll have just made me feel better about everything,,,thanks,,,thanks,,,thanks

worked on the hall way upstairs tonight and it is looking better and better starting to love the upstairs more and more

Houzz support can change your screen name for you if you send them email after trying it yourself.

Any chance you can try dissolving the artwork with paint thinner (turpentine) this weekend?

Another thought. Is the mural painted on a surface that was put up to cover the window(s)? Would it be possible to remove the whole mural and sell it? I am thinking cut through the drywall and remove the portion with the mural...???

Wow! Wasn't there a TV show at one time where people competed for the ugliest kitchen (they did bathrooms too) and the winners got complete make overs? If it still exists, I think you may have a contender!

Joking, of course. I love the sense of humor of it, but it would take a very special personality (like Curt maybe?) to live with.

When (not "if") you paint over the cabinets, make sure to sand because you don't want ghost shrimp showing through the new paint!

Good luck. I can't wait to see the transformation.

Keep just one dead-shrimp cabinet door as an homage to the creativeness!

...or at least include a nicely-frames photo of the room before in the finished kitchen. This is definitely one you want to memorialize in some (small!) way.

thanks for all these comments I have really enjoyed the advice, I love reading all of the ideas that you all have

@dmillner: how's the shrimp kitchen?

Well, congrats on your new house. It sounds very charming. I have redone a few homes and know exactly what you mean. You have no mentioned your budget, but I think the cheapest thing to do would be to add paint now. You will need to sand and prime both the cabinets and the wall and get advice on the best primer to use. The cabinets look like wood. I think I would sand the painted areas with a hand sander to get as much dark paint off as possible, and then put several coats of bright white paint over it. Maybe a pastel would be nice for the walls, like a light blue or very light yellow. You have beautiful tall ceilings and the tall window is lovely! You could decorate the area over the cabinets with a plate collection, maybe in whites, which would be a lovely contrast to the colored walls. I bought most of mine at good will, for 10 cents each and maybe grab a couple of special ones from ebay. If you don't like plates, you might consider painting some wide horizontal stripes on that area, which would be pretty as well. I would make a pretty curtain for that tall window, maybe in a pattern of the same color as the walls, and get cute matching knobs for the cabinets- or just paint the current knobs. It is not easy to lay linoleum yourself unless you are really handy, but you could glue down the areas that are damaged and then cover with peel and stick tiles, maybe in a diagonal black and white. It would look amazing. You could also just paint over it and put an area rug in the middle. As far as the cabinet covering the window, if the cabinet has no back to it, you might be able to remove the doors and back and be able to see right through the cabinet. Then you could put something in that space, a beautiful bowl for instance. These ideas would cost almost nothing and might really cheer you up until you have the cash to for a total re-do. Good luck!

I see you have very high ceilings. That's great. You could take out the header above your cabinets and make cabinets or shelves that go to the ceiling. I've seen many pictures on houzz where a sliding library ladder is used to reach the uppers. I know it's expensive, but if you do it slowly and diy if you can it's a fraction of the price.

http://houzz.com/photos/1765731

http://houzz.com/photos/7007952
http://houzz.com/photos/7007952

I do have 11 foot celings, I believe all this kitchen is going to end up in the trash soon.

I think your kitchen could win a makeover contest. It's unfortunate that most contests are just fishing scams. Take lots of pictures.

HI Deborah- long time no see;) You know I think this kitchen has come to grow on me;) How have you been?

I went back to work at the prison but I got a really good position, I am a unit sergeant and I come in at 7:30 am and get off at 4. This is better than when I first started there I came in at 2 pm and got off at 10. I was off wed and thur but now off Sat sun and holidays. Like this much better. Just always wanting someone to work ot and I don't want to do some times intill 6pm. Only had this new position for 2 weeks but have always been a sergeant there. These hours are much better and not I can go to my grandson's football games on Saturday. Thanks for asking.

Kendra i JUST WAS WONDERING who did win the kitchen contest on this site...

I didn't know there was one on this site. But like everybody, I would love to see pictures of any progress.

Deborah- how's things?

If you like color I'd paint those cabinets a fun color you can be inspired by till you can gut the place. Color is totally personal so go for it remembering it's only till you can fix it. You've lived with this so go for turquoise or orange or cobalt , just something to make you smile!

thanks guys I don't have any progress pictures to share, no progress done, I will not win a makeover contest but the person that won it had a way better kitchen that I did

Deborah Millner- what fun this little kitchen was;) BuT what became of it ??