Mexican Kitchen Theme?

kathy Schofill

August 9, 20040 found this helpful

Hi, My sister lives in El Paso TX and has quite the "mexican theme" to her kitchen. They have many Mexian friends and additions to the family now. Anyway, depending on your "cost allowance" here's some ideas. For walls, stay an off white more to the brown like ivory or eggshell. It's the easiest to go with and most are like that. You'll see that in Mexican restaurants too. Now for courntertops.. they did a smooth formica kind of thing (no bumpy stuff, too hard to clean all those little grooves for a kitchen daily) corian (sp?) is great but expensive, either way a sand look or very slightly marblised pattern is great.

You're not Margo's friend Joni are you?

I have several Mexican friends and they LOVE bright bold colors. Do your walls in softer colors and use other things to accent in bright bold colors, or if you aren't afraid of a lot of color, pick two or three colors and paint your walls or cabinets, table, etc. You can find plastic chili peppers in bundles at Walmart near the silk flowers and fruit.

I would stay away from anything too "kitchy" or "cute"...after a few months, you amy want to change it up a bit, but you'll be stuck.
Countertops/Floors-terracotta tiles are expensive, but are SO mexican in a timeless. beautiful way...contact local tile retailers and wholesalers and ask the to save broken terracotta tiles for you...they can't sell them anyway, and if you're very sweet about it, they'll be happy to oblige. You can also request any broken hand-painted or imported tile.

Once you have enough to cover the countertop (or floor), sand the formica surface lighly, then slap on a coat of primer (no one will see this, so it doesn't need to be a work of art.Break all the larger pieces with a hammer, apply tile adhesive to the counter top (and perhaps the back of the tile) and arrange your mosaic...random is good, because it's easy...don't overthink it...you WANT rustic imperfection! Let the adhesive set, grout with dark colored grout, and seal the whole thing SEVERAL TIMES with sealer. If your countertops are straight, buy a simple piece of moulding and trim the edge with it. If they're curved, you can use iron-on wood veneer to trim the edges.

Windows-use simple bamboo/woodstick blinds. If you're itching for kitch, you can hang chili pepper string lights as a valance...fun, cheap, and easy to remove when you get sick of it.

Walls-Borrow a mere cup or two of paint from a friend who's wall color you admire (almost anything will work with the terra-cotta tile), make a very watery mix (3 or 4 to one) for a rustic, sheer, pretty finish. Use a large sponge, and just swoosh it on. Again, don't overthink. You want imperfection. I personall prefer just a freah "designer's white", but color choice is so personal!

Thrift shop for dinnerware that says "mexican" to YOU...don't worry about authenticity.

I could go on forever, but I'll stop here. Have fun!!

I have been thinking of altering the exterior look of my home to give it a German Theme appearance.
Where does one begin searching for architectural ideas?

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

November 28, 20040 found this helpful

Eric,
We added this as a Reader's Request:

www.thriftyfun.com/tf241093.tip.html

painted yellow with blue put saying from the heart like comadre saying just make it look from your soul I have my kitcken is yellow and blue I have saying on signs wood that I have made anyway my email is comadechingona @yahoo.com might want to look at becerrastudios.com also

Hi,
A couple of years ago we embarked upon installing the fan hood in our small kitchen with sloped ceiling, the entire upper cabinet had to be removed to install a beam. Not much money to do alot so we recycled and planed down the boards of cabinet. Settled for the used, rustic look. Painted the back walls turquoise blue and installed yellow pine open cabinet shelves in the step step pattern to flow along the sloped ceiling. The blue back drop with the yellow pine worked nicely. Recently got new appliance, black fridge and black and stainless stove. The black fridge stood out quite vivid. I played it down with red striped guatemalan blanket draped across the top and side with a terra cotta pitcher with sunflowers, basket, and gourd. I put a mexican art work on the upper door of fridge. Decorate with bright hues of red blue yellow, orange. Sites will tell you that bubble gum pink and lime is also festive but I am not into that. Splashes of bold colors are what makes it festive. I plan to put christmas light along the ceiling for extra lighting.
I bought colorful plates and hung them inside the open shelves to bring in colors along with my dishes.
I am seeing bright bold colors in dishes and accesories in Pier I and Target.
Good luck
Charolett Nolte pcnolte@sbcglobal.net
I am conservative and don't have clutter. Due to my deaf/blindness, I had to change my lifestyle and get rid of clutter. But I love what I have done.

after we came back from our trip to Akumal, Mex, my husband and I wanted to keep a little bit of the Mayan Rivera with us. Connect the two parts of our hotel was a shopping/nightly gathering place called Hacienda Dona Isabella (sp?). The colors were vibrant: blues, yellows, oranges, greens, reds. We decided to do our kitchen in the orange "stone wall" look. we started with a very very light orange base (like a white paint mixed with 1 part orange for 3 parts whites). After that dried, we used the terra cotta orange thinned with glazed. my husband brushed it one in sections of about two sq ft and i followed using a natural sea spong to "dab" excess of. The effect is amazing. we get hundreds of compliments on the work we've done. when the sun shines in the kitchen in the morning the room looks like it's on fire - reminding us of the warm tempatures in Mexico. We are lucky that our counters didn't need to be changed as they already look like brown and black granite; with the black appliances that we picked out for our home it was a great contrast to the walls. We were even lucky that the lino that we picked out when we bought our house four years ago, looks like 12 inch stone tiles with grey grout lines - they're textured so they look pretty real. the only way to really tell the difference is by walking one them with bare feet - its' not cold like tile. The kitchen is warm and cozy. So we got daring now and have done a polyensian (sp?) look in our living witha indoor water wall fountain and bambo around the entire room w/ palm trees...it's like our little oasis in the north (Calgary, AB, Canada)

Some great designs that I've seen have beautiful cobalt blue tile countertops. Consider bringing in a rich yellow on the walls or cabinets. Then a third color like green or red used more minimally can really pop as an accent (hand towels, curtains, etc.).

I have a Mexican themed kitchen inspired from my many trips in college. My walls are a terra cotta color and my cabinets are painted a mustard-like color called cajun shrimp. I decorated with all of the items I brought back with me focused on distressed wood, ceramic, wrought iron, etc. My floors are tiles in a beige color. I have a valance over the sink that has southwest colors and matching rugs.