How I would paint it
Small living-room wall sections: Peacock teal with delicate gold vines climbing from the corners, incorporating a few stylized sunflower blooms.
Large dining-room wall: A hand-painted botanical composition with a few larger sunflowers, flowing gold foliage, and perhaps subtle terracotta shading.
Gold finish: Use antique gold rather than bright yellow gold, so it complements the Victorian chandelier and framed art.
Paint preparation: For Puerto Rico's concrete walls, use a compatible masonry primer and a breathable, moisture-appropriate wall coating. Check for moisture or efflorescence before painting, since even beautiful artwork cannot negotiate with damp concrete.
Ceiling: flat bone white
One artistic suggestion: make the gold vines asymmetrical, with larger flowers concentrated in selected areas. That will feel more like an original mural and less like a repeating wallpaper pattern, which is exactly the advantage of having an artist in the house.
I would absolutely lighten this kitchen, and painting the cabinets a warm ivory or soft cream is a strong first move. The existing cabinets are a beautiful example of older wood cabinetry, but the dark finish, dark glass-front cabinet, patterned backsplash, and pale countertops all compete for attention. Together, they make the room feel heavier than it needs to.
The good news is that I would keep your tiles. They have a distinctive vintage geometric pattern, and their olive, cream, and brown tones can become the foundation for a much more intentional design.
My recommended direction: vintage tropical with warm ivory cabinets
2. What I would change, in priority order
Paint both upper and lower cabinets warm ivory, including the solid frame around the glass-front cabinet. Keep the glass so your crystal and glassware remain visible.
Use a bonding primer suitable for the existing finish and a durable cabinet enamel. Test one inconspicuous door first because older cabinets may have veneer or varnish that requires careful preparation.
Your current dark knobs could actually work well with the tiles. If you want a more finished Victorian look, choose antique bronze or aged brass knobs. You don't need expensive hardware to make this change.
The patterned tiles are distinctive enough to serve as the kitchen's main decorative feature. Remove visual clutter from the countertops, group frequently used items together, and add just a few coordinated accessories.
The display space above the cabinets is currently crowded with decorative objects. Keep a few favorite pieces, group them intentionally, and leave some empty space. The glass-front cabinet will look especially good with a cream frame and neatly arranged glassware.
3. Should you paint the walls too?
Yes, but selectively.
The backsplash already covers a large portion of the wall, so I would use warm ivory on the exposed wall areas, not another saturated color throughout the kitchen. You can paint a small sunflower mural on an exposed section if there is enough room, or create a narrow botanical composition with olive leaves and terracotta-colored flowers.
That would connect the kitchen to your living-room and dining-room murals without making every room compete for attention.
One technical consideration: if the kitchen's concrete walls show dampness, staining, or peeling paint, resolve that first. Use a masonry-compatible primer and coating appropriate to the moisture conditions.
My verdict: Warm ivory cabinets, the original geometric tiles, antique-bronze hardware, and small sunflower and terracotta accents. This will make the kitchen noticeably lighter without stripping away the vintage character that makes it interesting.
BATHROOM:
1. Turquoise and antique gold
For Gladys room:
ZODIAC HALLWAY
3. Terracotta with a zodiac border
If you want the zodiac theme to be unmistakable, make the architecture itself part of the design.
Paint the walls terracotta or warm ochre.
Run a continuous gold celestial border along the upper wall, above all five doors and the closet.
Alternate sun, moon, star, and zodiac-symbol medallions between doorways.
Place a larger sunburst or zodiac wheel at the end of the hall.
Keep the door panels relatively simple so six openings don't turn the walls into a crowded astrological textbook.
How I'd arrange the zodiac details
Continuous zodiac border above the doors
Concept sketch: repeat a narrow band of zodiac symbols, with a larger celestial medallion at the end of the hallway.
My recommendation
I'd choose terracotta walls with antique-gold zodiac stencils, ivory trim, and a larger sun-and-moon design at the end of the hall. Use a muted, earthy terracotta rather than bright orange. It will feel connected to the gold details you like, complement the Mexican fixture, and give the hallway its own personality next to the peacock-blue living and dining rooms.
One useful design distinction: use the 12 zodiac signs in the border, then use suns, moons, stars, and constellations as the surrounding decoration. That makes the theme read as astrology and celestial art, rather than just a collection of decorative stars.
PAINTING MY SUNS AND STARS (like the bathroo I did in vady, but more mex-moroccan feel so wall is terracotta
Then I'd lean fully into your hand-painted celestial folk-art style rather than trying to make the hallway look like a professionally staged astrology boutique. Your version can be a little whimsical, a little mystical, and full of character.
I'd make the suns and moons the stars of the show, with the zodiac symbols woven into the design rather than dominating it.
My design recipe:
Terracotta walls with warm ivory trim.
Hand-painted sun and moon faces in antique gold, mustard yellow, cream, and touches of turquoise.
Tiny stars and constellations filling the spaces between the larger figures.
Twelve zodiac symbols incorporated into small medallions along the border.
One spectacular sun-and-moon centerpiece at the end of the hallway.
And here's the part I especially like: your Mexican blown-glass and iron fixture would cast light onto the painted figures, giving the border depth and making the whole hallway feel intentional.
You could make every sun and moon slightly different, with different expressions and rays. That handmade variation is the charm, not a flaw to be corrected by some overenthusiastic ruler.
One practical thought: with five doors and a closet, sketch the entire border on paper first, marking every opening. Then you can decide where the larger suns, smaller moons, and zodiac medallions belong before painting the walls.
