SFGate

olldbobbi Your stove looks a bit retro but in good shape. How about a great retro wallpaper for your backsplash? [houzz=
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ASVInteriors Not sure wallpaper would work with sauce and boiling water falling on it. But if you really fell in love with one, definitely cover with glass. Or you can just go with a glass backsplash cut to size and in the turquoise of your cooker.

I have no idea about improving the controls of the hood but a wild guess might be to paint the cream area, turquoise as well. Then you have a fully colour coordinated stove!!!

olldbobbi Actually, I have wallpaper over ugly tile for my backsplash. I used the paintable wallpaper which I painted in high gloss white, and it cleans up easily.

handymam Beautiful cooktop! Glad you aren't looking to get rid of it! I love the wallpaper print and colors, but I find that it would get dirty and stained really fast. Since it is such a small area, how about some small mosiac tiles, glass perhas that would pick up the color of the cooktop?

joanna1111 Thank you for all your suggestions! I had thought of the glass tiles, also.

justmejoanne I love the cook top---never see that color anymore! I think glass mosaic tiles on the back splash would look great. I also think that painting the cabinets white and changing the hardware could give the entire kitchen an instant facelift!

Jayme Hobbs Are u looking for something easy u can do yourself?

Jayme Hobbs You can always do a wallpaper and add a plexi glass cover over it to protect the wallpaper

joanna1111 There are soooo many updates we need to make that I thought we would start small and try to begin with areas we can do ourselves.

Barnhart Gallery This is repositionable wallpaper from Urban Outfitters:
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=24341869&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS
With one roll, you could just keep replacing a fresh panel behind the cooktop.

Jayme Hobbs One thing about plexi glass..have someone with a high speed drill put the holes in it to fasten it and/or glue it...if u try to use a regular drill it will crack.

twylahaj I don't think paint would work, but if you could find a product of some sort to cover the dark brown part of the hood to that great turquoise, that would be a small but noticeable improvement. LOVE your cooktop!

Can't tell from photo if area behind the stove is drywall or some other material, but it looks like you have tile as a backsplash on both sides. If you do, I don't know that a modern looking tile will fit in. If you can find a panel of stainless steel to fit that area, that would be in keeping with the retro stove. If you could find 'quilted' stainless like they had in old diners, even better. If you cant find stainless, then perhaps matching the color of the existing backsplash tiles in paint and then adding some details in turquoise that matches the stove could work. Something geometric so you don't have to be an artist and could do the design by taping off the areas and painting between tape lines could be fairly simple.

Don't know if painting the cabinets is on your list, but it would really transform the kitchen. It is a colossal pain to do, but could be especially fun in your kitchen if you did the doors the white of the backsplash tiles and the "frames" (the part that stays stuck to the wall when you take the doors off) in your stove turquoise.

Did I mention I LOVE your stove? Reminds me of a two-tone convertible with a round roofline and big fins on the back....

joanna1111 I am so appreciative of all your suggestions! The modern tiles with the outdated tile is a valid point. We were told several years ago that our cabinets would not be able to be painted. Along with that issue, we have the old fashioned gold speckled countertops and stick in floor tile over the gold speckled floor. I am so overwhelmed I can't get anything done!

twylahaj Not sure who told you your cabinets couldn't be painted or why. If it's because of the existing finish, it means you'd have to strip them first (like if it's shellac instead of something more modern), but it is possible to do. They make orange based gel strippers that, while pungent, are not as noxious as the old fashioned kind of paint strippers. I don't know of any kind of finish that really can't be painted, it's just a question of how much of a pain it is to prep. You can tell if it's shellac or some other easily damaged finish by dipping a cotton ball in denatured alcohol and testing it on an inconspicuous place (like the inside of the door of one of those over the fridge cabinets). If some of the finish comes off, you'll need to strip the cabinets before sanding and painting. If not, it may well be polyurethane and that should take well to deglossing and painting with a good oil based primer then whatever paint you want. Don't suppose you have funky and fun chrome knobs on those cabinets...sigh.

Gold speckled counters are cool! With the turquoise stove top and gold speckles, you are well on your way to a retro-diner inspired kitchen. I'm sure that installing chrome stools that spin is probably out of the question as they have to be attached to the floor, but they would be amazing!

Don't know if you have an eat in kitchen, but if so, a chrome dinette with turquoise vinyl chairs would be fabulous. If you can't find turquoise vinyl covered chrome chairs, any light color would work well. Red wouldn't be so great, but it could work if you carry it around the rest of the space and use the tile white with turquoise and red. It could look like old three color ads.

Did you put the stick on tiles down? If so and you like them. leave them. If not and you're up for a change, a black and white checkerboard pattern set on point (using stick on tiles) would also complement that retro vibe, if you like it. The old gold-speckled floor is probably too worn to revive, even if your could get the stick on tiles off, but it would have been cool, too.

Of course, if you don't like the embrace the retro idea, none of my suggestions will be very useful, but hopefully they'll at least make you smile. In some ways you have my dream kitchen. I love that retro diner look and would do what I could to play it up. Too bad the fridges they make these days have no soul like the great rounded ones did.

toni1959 You can purchase faux backsplash copper look or chrome look very inexpensive, both would look good!

Urbana ~ Designer Ellen Crystal take out the hood & clean thoroughly. Get a metal spray bomb & spray with a teal like you have on your cooktop. If you are able, have an autobody shop spray!

do a matching panel in metal for behind your range. the quilted as suggested above would be stylish too

A glass mosiac tile would be fab too.

kathleen MK They have faux stainless panels to peel and stick on dishwashers. I bet one could be trimmed to fit. I think the real quilted stuff would look better. Also the tile should be easy to match and cheap at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore or a surplus store.