Kitchen cabinet redo Before and After

Before

After

Before

After

Kitchen cabinet redo...DONE!!!!!!

We did it! Yeah! It's finally finished. We got all the cabinets hung, hardware on. I love it! The project took longer than we had anticipated. But I thought that might happen. I've lived long enough to know that everything takes longer and costs more than originally planned. It also was not as difficult as I thought it might be. Tedious, for sure. But not difficult. I'm taking a break for a couple of weeks and then I'll paint the woodwork in the adjoining family room. I'm already excited to see the whole space finished. We have been looking at grays for the wall color. Our home is very beige /neutral. I'm kind of tired of beige and tans. The kitchen has by far the most woodwork/cabinets than any other room in the house. We have also learned a lot during the kitchen redo. So the next rooms should be easy peasy... Painting the hardware.

Here's the finished project.

Fall beauty

Had to take a break from painting (on my last coat!) The Autumn Blaze Maple tree in our backyard reminded me to stop and smell the roses. Or in this case stop and admire the beauty that Fall brings. Gorgeous day here, about 80, sunny , beautiful bluest of blue skies. Enjoy...

kitchen cabinet redo, day 10

Just finished the 3rd coat of paint on the inside woodwork. The doors in the garage have 2 coats on the back and 1 on the front. Tomorrow I will try to do 2 more coats on the front side and then...DONE!!!!! The inside looks great. I'm very happy with the look. The only problem is that the new paint makes the walls look awful! I knew that would happen. We plan on painting the walls as well. The kitchen is open to the family room and there is oak wood trim and cabinets in there as well. So that is the next project. I might take a couple of weeks off painting duty before I tackle those. When all the oak is painted then we will paint the walls. Right now we are thinking of a warm grey. We'll see...

Been painting all day...you can see my celebratory glass of wine awaits...

Kitchen cabinet redo, day 47. (seems like it, anyway)

Actually it's day 8. Just finished up the last of the priming on the doors in the garage. I've painted 1 coat of the semi-gloss on the inside woodwork. We changed our minds on the color. the "creme fraiche" looked a little too creamy, antiquish...So we went with White Dove by Benjamine Moore. Looks just like I had imagined it should. I know I will be happy with the finished product, but right now, I'm tired of it all. [See, I told you I would whine!] I'm tired of painting. Seems like there is never an entire day where I can just put on my painting duds and work until it's done. Every day this week there has been one thing or another that interrupted progress. All of it, my own choosing, but that would mean I have to blame myself... Anyway, just popped in from the garage and now will put coat #2 on the inside. Hopefully by Monday afternoon, all painting will have been completed. That's the goal.

Day 5 ????

This is the dining room. Where we are keeping everything from the kitchen drawers and countertops and the cupboards that we removed. There's stuff all over the floor as well. This is the stuff that you don't see on blogs. We always see the before and after. Seems like magic! That's why I am writing about this project. There's a lot of ugly in between!

First coat of primer on one side of every door and drawer.

Kitchen cabinet redo day 2

Yesterday we successfully removed the upper cabinets over the breakfast bar. I washed all the cabinets with TSP, then rinsed them all. Today I sanded them lightly and wiped them down with a tack cloth. I am really getting to know my cabinets! I use the word "all" lightly as I have only done these steps with the wood work inside. All the doors are still in the garage untouched. My plan was to clean, rinse and sand them this morning after church...but it was freezing in the garage today! I decided to work inside instead. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be warmer, so I'll work on the doors then. I applied the 1st coat of primer today in the kitchen. I can sort of get an idea of what my kitchen will look like with painted cabinets and I love it! So far so good...

No more upper cabinet! Yeah!

All sanded and ready for primer...

1st coat of primer.

Kitchen cabinet redo, day 1

Creme Fraiche is the color we have decided to go with. Just a touch of grey to go with the counter and backsplash. Yet is will look "white". I took some "before" pictures...

So much oak...I know it will look awesome with painted cabinets. Then the hardwood flooring will pop! We decided last night, after choosing which white to go with, to remove the upper cabinets over the breakfast bar counter that separates the kitchen from the family room. We have talked about this before as well, but we are just chickens when it comes to actually tearing out stuff. We decided to be bold and go for it. Always with the knowledge that the handyman's phone number is on the fridge just in case... So far we have removed the doors and shelves as well as the trim. It seems to be all one piece, so we will have to cut it before we remove the screws holding it to the ceiling. Bede is at the hardware store as I write looking for a saw to take care of this. I have already been there to purchase a little trim crow bar to remove the wood trim in a way that we can use it again if needed. I told the guy there what we were doing and promised we would see him again soon! I'm sure we'll be BFFs by the time we are through!

Painting the cabinets and trim...

And so it begins. I have been thinking for a few years about painting the wood trim and kitchen cabinets in our home. Because we have lots, I mean lots of wood trim, I have been unready to make the commitment. No longer! This summer we visited Jody and Mike in Ca. They have painted their kitchen cabinets and oak trim in the adjoining family room. It looks great! Even after we returned home, I still just "thought" about it. I know I will hate myself, I know I will complain, whine, wish I had never started the project. I know this because I have a short attention span. I'm great at short jobs, I like immediate, or at least quick gratification. I know this will not be quick, will not be easy, will not be fun. I also know that I really want the oak painted. Our home is 25 years old. Totally 80's. That's great if you're watching MTV, but not so great in the kitchen. We've updated bathrooms, added granite countertops, new sink, new paint, etc. But the oak keeps it 80's. So I commit! The painting shall begin. Today I went to the paint store and browsed whites. There must be 2000 whites! I picked a few that I thought might be good. Check it out...

Really! I laughed out loud when I saw them in the kitchen! Does it really matter? NO! Any one of them will be fine, as they are all almost identical. Swiss Coffee, Dove White, Marble white, Fresh cotton, White light, Clean white, Creme Fraiche. I probably will just ennie meenie minee moe it. I'm sure not going to agonize over which of these colors will work. I'll show Bede tonight and ask him to choose his favorite... Then I'll tell him I like the "white one". Hopefully this weekend I will get the cabinets cleaned and prepped for painting. Wish me luck...I'm going in!