Well... it's DONE! Minus the curtains for the sink window and the knobs and the bead board... but we'll get there.
This was something that after it was all done, I was like, WOW that really could have ruined our kitchen and cost us TONS to fix had this not turned out. I don't know if it's because all the blogs I follow about re finishing things that I was able to not think and just do... who knows... but we did it and Kev had full faith in me so that for sure helped... here is a glimpse into the journey of old but new cabinets!
I had been wanting to do this forever... and then I came across what Maria Killam said on her blog and I bought everything the very next day. She said:
"When I am standing in a kitchen that looks very much like this one, and I recommend that this kitchen be painted white or cream--as soon as the words out of my mouth--the wife's face lights up and the husband looks horrified at the prospect of painting THE WOOD! I'm not sure why most men have this reaction but it's pretty common. Men usually come around once they understand that it's not about the wood, it's about the fact that it's dated. And to be clear, I don't advocate painting ALL WOOD, just kitchens in this era. So for those of you with this kitchen, reading this right now, there's really just one thing you need to know: This kitchen IS NEVER COMING BACK. So the only way to extend the life of it is to prime it, paint it, and install new brushed nickel hardware. Period, end of conversation."
She obviously wasn't talking about my kitchen, but it felt like she was :)
Here is the before picture:
Here is the after:
1. FIRST OF ALL TAKE PICTURES... I always forget but mean to take before and after pictures. Kevin and I often talk about how we wished we had before and after pictures of our house when we moved in... BUT we don't...which makes me sad... so TAKE THE PICTURES. That's the first step
2. Wipe everything off with a wet towel...
3. We were told by some people that we needed to totally sand down everything. I read a lot of blogs that went ALL OUT on the sanding. We're talking plastic everywhere, everything taped down kind of a deal... We didn't do that. Kevin never thought that that would be necessary and when I went to the Benjamin Moore paint store in Kaysville, I got THE BEST help/info from their salesman. He said exactly what Kevin had said, sand down the uneven, rough, old parts till it's smooth with the rest of the cupboard. We already had a square of sand paper and it was done in minutes... no plastic required.
Here are a few pix of what we started with...
With all the decor on top of the cabinets...
without all the decor...
4. You will scrub down every single inch of your cupboards with TSP Cleanup.
This part made me sick to my stomach. I can't believe how gross these were. I did notice that they have a knock off at Walmart, but in the end, it will cost more because it doesn't go as far. This cost $6.10 and we didn't even use half to scrub it all down. But seriously, be ready to be grossed out. This cleaned the cabinets up so good, I was half tempted to leave them. It cleans great!
***For good measure, I washed them down again with a damp cloth...
5. Primer: When the salesman talked to me about primer and prices I about fell over. I was thinking I'd just use the Walmart brand we already had. The kind we got is amazing. We did two coats on everything and we still have over a half a gallon left. It goes a long way. It sticks well and washes off nice and makes for easy clean up with tools. Cost=44.03
6. Paint: We chose Benjamin Moore 0C-92 Mannequin Cream...
We started by taking the cabinets off the boxes. It seemed like it helped get to the tough spots, which it did but we just made sure we had them in an order so we wouldn't mess up what went in what spot.
I rolled seven coats on the boxes.
We painted two coats on the inside of the cupboards and seven on the outside. I painted until I couldn't see the grain of the old wood. So it may be different for you if you try it.
With it all down... yes, I've since cleaned out and re organized the insides of my cabinets...
This is before the glazing...
We chose a brown color to mix with the clear faux glaze finish. I just picked the brown that matched our tile back splash the best.
The glazing made me nervous, so I left that job to Kevin... he's awesome at everything so I wasn't worried...
Here is the color. He said once he got over the fact that it looked like poop, he was fine ;)
Here is the cabinet after glaze. Yes, we still needed to do the goof off on the hinge....
Here are the before and afters of each cabinet...
It was a great experience and I would totally do it again. We still need the bead board under the counter and the hardware, but we'll get there.
I will say that it definitely makes it easier and faster with two people. We had a system down were Kevin did the brush work and I did the rolling. It worked out great. It only took three days to do which I was so glad about. I love projects but I hate living in a construction zone!
I once had a teacher that gave the class a piece of paper and said "Write the directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich"
Let's just say I found it quite difficult to give detailed steps that were different from the song "First you take the peanuts and you mash em, you mash em. " :)
So if I didn't give enough info on the how too's feel free to ask, I know I'm not good at talking let alone giving directions.
As I mentioned before... taking pictures is a MUST DO. I wish so bad that we had a before to show of this after. If you saw the bathroom when we moved in. The counter top was terribly tiled and falling a part. We lived with it as long as we possibly could and then just took care of it... here is the bathroom now...
I have wanted to do this to the mirror or A mirror for forever! A little back story...
The theme that the people were going for that were here before us was everything daisy. I'm sure the woman was just thrilled with the fact that the knobs on the cabinets, the hinges holding the mirrors up AND the decorative tile were all daisy's.... I myself, LOVE when I find things that go together... so I will be kind and just say the owner before and I have complete opposite tastes... SO, that said, I was ecstatic when Kevin said that the molding around the mirror would be easy...and we could take the daisy hinges off!!! it took one Saturday to put the new counter and sink in, and to paint the cabinets black over a brown similar to what the kitchen cabinets were. I love the end result.
Now, I'm sure if someone were to move in tomorrow they would probably hate the powder blue knobs... but like the previous owner, I was thrilled that they matched the color scheme. How I love Hobby Lobby... :)
Again, no before pictures. We re did Dubby's room into a big boy room. We tried the bunk bed idea but neither boy went for it... so we decided we could do something new and just for Wyatt. He LOVES blue and loved that he got to pick the color of his room...
This is what you see as you walk in...
This AMAZING book rack was basically dropped off at my door free of charge. My great neighbors were getting rid of stuff so they asked if I was interested in this.. I was like UM HECK YES I AM!!! There were a few beams that needed to be fixed. So Kev put in some screws and slapped on some stain and wallah... my favorite thing about his room!
The letters are a fun story...I really like the trendy idea of the kids names being on the wall. Dax has it and he loves it. I wanted to do the same think for Wyatt but wanted it to be totally different from D's room... so I just searched out the letters of his name on google, picked the ones I wanted, printed them, bought some 8x10 boards at Hobby Lobby and modge podged them on. I really, really love them. I especially love that it's all different than Dax's room. It's all Wyatt's and he loves having his own room.
Little coat rack...
Ok... so that's what we have been up to. I love change... especially this time of year :)
