Painting your kitchen cabinets is a perfect way to give a dated kitchen a fresh look, without splurging on a big overhaul. It doesn’t cost much and with the proper preparation, it’ll look great and last long. We’ve outlined each of the steps below, including a video recap of all of the steps that we used to updated our wood kitchen cabinets.
(Rolls up sleeves, looks into the mirror, smiles, fixes weird fly aways, and whispers “let’s do this.”)
It’s finally here. The day that we get to wake up and pad into a kitchen that used to look like this…
And see this…
So here’s how we did it from soup to nuts. Wait, first let me gush a little more. Seriously, it doesn’t even feel like the same room. Scroll back up and picture yourself standing next to the fridge in the “before” shot. The cabinets felt about two feet away from you on all sides. I can’t explain it, but it was like the room didn’t respect my personal space and was always inching towards me. It was all up in my area. Now when I stand at the sink or pantry, I literally feel like I could perform a small musical number (with a minimum of six Glee backup dancers). It just feels so much roomier. Plus no weird cabinet knob-eyes are looking over my shoulder anymore. Bonus.
But let’s get back to the present. Ahh, much better.
Our big cabinet-painting victory hardly happened overnight. We’ve been slowly working up to this sucker for a while now. First we painted the paneling, the fireplace, and the beams. Then we rearranged our cabinets a bit, got new appliances and, oh yeah, got a big beautiful hole busted in the wall. Then some cabinets came in, others came down, and eventually new counters made their way to us. Finally, the painting project was upon us. So first came the primer…
… and, at long last, the paint. Speaking of the paint, we used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Cloud Cover in a satin finish (it’s a soft tonal taupey-gray color, so it’s not quite as bright as our glacier white counters for a subtle layered look). Benjamin Moore Advance paint actually came recommended by a few pro cabinet painters that we know. We went with the satin finish because it’s specially formulated for cabinets (they actually came out with satin first and only added semi-gloss later to help folks who wanted more shine). We used it on our office cabinets a few months back (which still look great after Clara has beat on them relentlessly with wooden fruit) so it’s safe to say that we’ve been extremely happy with it. The fact that it’s low-VOC, self-leveling, and amazingly durable is pretty much the best thing ever.
Since a bunch of you have asked, here’s a rough timeline of the cabinet painting process (we just worked on nights after Clara went to bed and weekends during her naps, so it’s a good indication of what anyone with a day job might be able to follow):
- Day 1: We removed the cabinet doors (including drawerfronts) and hardware (including hinges), applied wood filler to cracks and hardware holes, let everything dry for a few hours, lightly sanded the putty spots by hand, and refilled them with a second layer of wood filler wherever necessary. We did the same to the cabinet frames. Our wood filler of choice was Elmer’s ProBond Professional Strength Wood Filler.
- Day 2: With the wood filler completely dry, we used a palm sander to smooth any putty spots and rough up all cabinet doors in the sealed off sunroom (it’s a dusty job). We then emptied out all the kitchen cabinets and covered appliances with drop cloths so we could also use the sander on our cabinet frames (roughing everything up = better adhesion). After everything was sanded, we wiped it down with a liquid deglosser (we like Next from Home Depot because it’s low-VOC and biodegradable). Read a lot more on the puttying, sanding, and deglossing steps of this process here (there are lots of pics too!).
- Day 3: Cabinet door backs and cabinet frames were primed (we love Zinsser Smart Prime which is high-quality, stain-blocking, and low-VOC – the primer trifecta). We applied it with a high quality 2″ angled brush to get into all the cracks and a small foam roller to smooth everything out and ensure that we were applying super thin and even coats (there’s a video of the application process a bit further down in this post)
- Day 4: We flipped the cabinet doors over and primed the fronts, leaving them to dry another 24 hours, just like the backs. Read more about the priming steps of this process here (there are extra pics too!).
- Day 5: With the primer all done and dry (be sure to read the can – ours said not to over-prime, so one coat did the trick), during Clara’s nap we flipped the cabinet doors over again and painted one coat of paint on the backs (we used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Cloud Cover). We applied it with a high quality 2″ angled brush to get into all the cracks and a small foam roller to smooth everything out and ensure that we were applying super thin and even coats (there’s a video of the application process a bit further down in this post). Clara woke up before we could paint the frames, so after she went to bed that night we put a first coat on the cabinet frames.
- Day 6: We applied a second coat of paint on the back of the cabinet doors and the frames after Clara went to bed. As for applying any sealer or topcoat, the general pro recommendation for cabinet painting is to use high quality stain blocking primer and 2-3 thin and even coats of super high quality paint with ample drying time between coats (Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint is meant for cabinets without any top coat, since sealers can drip, yellow, and even cause things to stick/crack since they thicken the application).
- Day 7: We gave the doors a full day to dry before flipping them over and applying a first coat to the fronts (the reason we did the backs first was that just in case the backs got marked up while we painted the front, at least the front would remain pristine). The day of drying time did the trick though, so the backs look as good as the fronts.
- Days 8 & 9: We applied the first and second coat of paint to the front of the doors over these two days. Read a lot more on the puttying, sanding, and deglossing steps of this process here (there are lots of pics too!).
- Days 10 – 13: We let the doors dry and cure for the recommended time on the can (always read the can!).
- Day 14: We drilled for and installed the hardware on all of the doors (more on that in a sec). We also hung the doors but ran out of time before getting to the drawer fronts.
- Day 15: We installed hardware on the drawer fronts, put the drawers back in, and restocked the kitchen. A droopy but spirited happy dance also ensued.
All that info above (and those three bolded links to the previous posts on puttying/sanding/deglossing, priming, & painting) should be enough to get you going on any cabinet-painting project – but just because I always think a video is worth a thousand pics, here’s a quick one that runs through the process for you. Although at some points I’m so delirious that I make up words (putty brush?) and refer to primer as paint about a dozen times. But it definitely can be helpful to see exactly how to putty a hardware hole or how to prime and paint a cabinet door. Enjoy!
As for the hardware installation details that we promised in our timeline above, we bought these handy Liberty Hardware guides at Home Depot for $7 to help us place everything evenly (centered side to side, and consistently at the same height so all the doors match up). Let’s call it the best seven beans we’ve ever spent (it’s incredibly nerve-wracking to drill through your freshly painted cabinet doors, to say the least – so any tool to make it more of a science is a friend of mine). My only tip is to double check everything ten times before drilling. And see those white blobs on the template on the left? Those are small pieces of masking tape that we used to surround “the good holes” (the ones we were using) so we didn’t accidentally drill into the one to the left or the right.
We also realized that using a small piece of scrap wood would shift all of the handles a smidge closer to the edge of the door, which we realized we liked best (after holding the handle in various places on the template). So we used this scrap wood piece…
… for marking each door with a pencil…
Then John drilled a small pilot hole first (to make sure he was going straight into our marked dot and ensure the wood wouldn’t crack or splinter). Then we went back through with a larger drill bit that would allow the screw that was provided with our hardware to slide right on through.
By some miracle, everything ended up looking nice and even. Whew. You know how sometimes when you reuse something (ex: our oak cabinets from the early 80’s) you think it’ll somehow be wonky or look cheap after something like a paint job? I’m happy to report that they look so solid and amazing. We had completely new cabinets in our first house’s kitchen (to the tune of 7K – ouch!) and we’re just as happy with these. I guess sometimes solid oak from 30 years ago is just as good as solid oak from today. Haha.
Oh and our new hardware is from here for $3.24 per handle. We love the way the satin nickel looks with our stainless appliances (and we think the soft gray backsplash will only add to the fun. We got all the same hardware for every door and drawer, but just placed them horizontally on drawers and vertically on doors. Speaking of money, here’s our entire budget breakdown:
- Wood filler (Elmer’s ProBond Professional Strength Wood Filler from Home Depot): $7
- Primer (we used Zinsser’s Smart Prime from a local Benjamin Moore store: $22
- Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint (in Cloud Cover in a satin finish): $40 (thanks to a coupon)
- All new hardware (see that link above): $84
- All new hinges (from a local hardware store here called Pleasant’s): $89
- Hardware templates (by Liberty Hardware from Home Depot): $7
- Total cabinet makeover total: $249
Not bad when you compare that to the 7K total of the new white cabs that we selected for our first house’s much smaller kitchen. Le yikes. And we love that we added an entire peninsula with secondhand cabinets for under $95 (one of them was even free) – which is definitely one of those DIY coups that makes ya proud. All that storage and extra workspace is already coming in handy.
Anyway, to get back the whole putting-the-room-back-together thing, after we added the hardware, we just needed to reattach the hinges…
… and enjoy the view (don’t mind the clashy dishwasher- we’ll install our stainless one after we lay the cork floors so they’ll run underneath it).
I’ve totally been doing that thing where you spend way more time in a room than necessary, just staring at things. I keep gravitating towards the kitchen (ex: Clara, let’s go read this book on the floor next to the refrigerator!).
Oh and here’s a shot of how things look with the natural oak color inside the cabinets while the doors and fronts are painted. We don’t mind the two tone look at all, and this way we can toss things in there and pull them out without worrying about scratching or peeling paint (we did the same thing in our first kitchen and in our office built-in cabinets, and they really hold up nicely). Our tip would be to just keep a nice clean line around the frames when you prime/paint them (using a small foam roller sort of does that for you). That way it looks intentionally two-toned and not crazy-sloppy when you open the door. And yes, that is a slide out cutting board. Our cabinets may be old, but they still have their tricks. Haha.
For those who can’t watch the video above to see my shot of the painted cabinets up close, the picture below might shed a little light on the whole oak-grain thing. Using high quality primer and good self-leveling paint helps hide a lot although it doesn’t guarantee 100% invisible grain (we don’t see any evidence of grain on the oak cabinets in the office but do see a hint of it on the kitchen cabinets, so it probably just depends how much grain your cabinets have to begin with). We don’t mind painted wood that looks like painted wood though, so a little grain is ok with us, as long as the paint is nice and even and glossy.
Words can’t express how much additional function/workspace our little peninsula added to the kitchen. It’s amazing to think that none of these cabinets were here before our makeover! And the fact that we gained a 3 x 5′ counter on that peninsula already makes eating/baking/spreading out and doing crafts there a regular occurrence.
We mentioned in this post that two of the retrofitted cabinets were 100% seamless, and it’s these babies in the corner. We don’t think Sherlock Holmes himself could tell, even with his nose an inch away from them. Hurrah!
As I mentioned here, the three other retrofitted doors are tad less than perfect. By this I mean if you look at them from an inch away for five minutes (bobbing your head back and forth to catch the light bouncing off of them) two out of ten people might notice a tiny seam. The cabinet hanging above the cereal jars in the photo below is one of them. See how it’s almost impossible to pick up from far away…
But when you get super close and the light hits it just the right way you might be able to catch a super subtle horizontal line? In person it’s so unnoticeable that we can’t decide if it’s worth doing anything about, but we’ll keep you posted if we decide to sand them one more time and use some sort of buildable primer and a few more coats of paint to hopefully make them as perfect as the two corner cabinet doors are.
I don’t know why I love this shot but I do. John’s totally my hero for figuring out how to build in the fridge like that. Mah man.
Oh my gosh, can you even believe that room looked like this last December when we moved in? In case you can’t tell, it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around that.
The doorway to the dining room definitely helps bring the light in – and the glossier cabinets and bright white counters definitely brighten things up too.
Here’s the other side of Dark City:
And the same view now that I’m the Mayor of BrightVille!
Of course there’s still tons to do, like…
- hang our backsplash tile
- add floating shelves & a range hood
- redo all the lighting (two pendant lights over the peninsula + inset lights in the cooking area)
- install our mocha cork floors (can’t wait to balance out the brightness with some rich contrast!)
- install the new dishwasher
- add quarter-round and crown molding
- possibly tweak our stools (we’re waiting for the room to take shape a bit more)
…but it’s definitely progress. Hooray, progress. So who’s about to embark on a cabinet painting adventure of their very own? I hope this post full of details (and especially that little video we whipped up) come in handy! Have fun and don’t forget to make up words (might I recommend putty brush?).
Update: Our painted cabinets are still holding up great. Check out a little update post here.
Psst – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button:
This makes me want to paint my kitchen cabinets white. They are stained that 80’s honey oak color. Ew. Our house is on a weird angle so we don’t get a lot of natural light in the kitchen and it needs to be brightened up! But, I was raised with my mom telling me not to paint wood. Ever. So, I’m having a hard time getting over 27.5 years of hearing her voice in my head telling me what I want to do is an abomination! Silly mom voice in my head. Gosh I hope that’s normal…
What I’m saying is: Your kitchen is beautiful! I wish I had half as much motivation as you guys have! Wonderful job! Though, I can tell you’re really going to miss your cabinets staring at you. Haha!
Is it totally absurd that I am weeping right now at how much your hard work has paid off? It looks AHHH – wait for it – MAZING!
Good Lord, if I am this emotional at the painted cabinets I may be in full hysterics when the backsplash is installed. Oy.
Great job you guys!
Oh Vanessa. I love you.
xo,
s
Is this the incredible growing house?! It seems to triple in size every time you make a change!
It’s so crazy how that happens! I keep saying “it’s the same room, we just moved stuff around and painted it!” but it truly feels so different to stand in the kitchen now!
xo,
s
Looks super awesome!!
LOVE it!!!
Okay now that my brain has had a minute to process everything, I can type. I think this spring we are going to take on painting our kitchen cabinets. I have wanted to do it since moving in 5 years ago because yellowy oak just isn’t my cup of tea, and everyone convinced me not to since they were “new”. Well guess what, it’s my house and I hate them, so I’m gonna do it!! :)
Now that that’s out of the way, I would probably paint them plain old white. Do you have a white paint you recommend? One that doesn’t have too much blue, too much yellow or green–just good old fashioned white? AND, did the people at BM recommend satin finish for kitchen cabinets specifically over semi-gloss?
Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White is an awesome classic white (we painted the cabinets in the office that color). As for the finish, they said Advance originally only came in satin so it was their recommendation for cabinets (they later added semi-gloss for people who wanted it shinier, but satin is easily wipeable and durable in the kitchen thanks to the superior formula). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
What a difference! Amazing face lift…I love a really bright kitchen. Y’all worked so hard and it shows. I would love to redo our cabinets in white, but don’t think I could convince the hubby (contractor by day) to do it for me just because I like it better! :) He knows how much work is involved. I truly enjoy your blog and all your wonderful ideas/inspiration.
Oh.wow. That isn’t the same room. Seriously… this might be one of the best before/after projects I have ever seen. What speaks to me in this space? The vision that you guys had…and are bringing to fruition! It amazes me that you can look at what you started with, and you guys made a plan and transformed that space.
Oh and that shot you love? It’s probably because it looks like something out of Real Simple, or Better Homes and Garden under a heading of “clean and simple”
Haha- totally! That’s totally why! Haha.
xo,
s
Did you say in your comment above that you are going to build a range hood?
Build a wood frame. We’ll use an industrial range insert but like the look of those wood-encased hoods so we’re going to give it a try. No idea how yet! Haha. We’re focusing on the backsplash first and then taking things one step at a time from there!
xo,
s
Love, love the super change in your kitchen! Since I’ve moved around quite a bit in my life, I’ve actually had a few kitchens like your old one and can appreciate your new one even more. You’ve done such a great, patient job of making those cabinets and hardware look seemless—-and I mean seamless, as I sure can’t see anything off at all. Wonderful new, fresh-as-spring look, Sherry and John!
Great job, as always!
Small typo for you to fix, it’s there a couple times even.. 2? brush… probably supposed to be 2″ brush :)
Thanks! Such a weird formatting glitch! Off to fix it!
xo,
s
it looks amazing! My husband and I painted our cabinets a few years ago, pre blog help, and we are so happy with the bright white! So impressed with all of your work :)
Okay wow. That came out looking tremendous! I love it! I want more of it! I can’t use anymore exclamation points without it getting ridiculous. But job well done. This page is now bookmarked in our Painting Bookmark Folder. Thanks guys…
My best, Lynn
*I knew that you had finally put this meaty post up when I went to refresh your page and my Mac sounded like it was eating Chex Mix due to downloading all your data. Haha!
Hahaha- sorry about the noise!
xo,
s
It looks so great and the before and after is hard for me to wrap my mind around, too. Y’all definitely have vision!
Also, I only mention this because I know you’re sticklers for grammar and are way sleep-deprived, but I think you’re the Mayor of BrightVille instead of mayer! Feel free to delete this comment — I don’t want to be a jerk who comments to point out typos!
Aw thanks Katie! We always appreciate typo tips! All fixed!
xo,
s
Wow!! This could not be more gorgeous! I don’t blame you for wanting to spend every minute in that kitchen– the pictures make it seem calming and refreshing. I’ve loved following every step with you and can’t wait to see the floors and back splash installed! Meanwhile…did I notice a terrarium on the counter? Think you might want to do a post about how to make one? I’ve been oogling a few myself but aren’t sure where to start…
Oh that’s a $4 yard sale find that usually sits on the console in the frame hallway. I just popped a fake-o plant from Ikea in it. Haha. Those are surprisingly realistic looking and I have yet to kill it!
xo,
s
You should paint the cabinet wall by your fridge with chalkboard paint! That and the pantry both have large white side walls that would be perfect for it. Then, you can just write your grocery list on the wall next to the fridge!
Could definitely be super fun!
xo,
s
You can get it tinted too like a regular paint. A secret grellow chalkboard wall?!
Haha that’s fun!
xo,
s
It looks fantastic — all of your hard work and attention to detail paid off! The best thing about your blog is that you “tell it like it is” re: how much work can be involved in DIY. Projects like cabinet altering and painting aren’t for the impatient or faint-of-heart. And I could not see a line or anything on the pieced cabinet that isn’t 100% perfect; maybe in-person is a different story.
The lab stools as they came are perfect and funky — I hope that you decide to leave them alone.
BEST “before and after” ever….and its not even done:)
truly, truly remarkable…I have a feeling I’ll be referencing this page over and over in the near future!
LOL “Mah man” – I say that all the time about my hubby. “That’s mah man” :)
Cabinets look FABULOUS by the way! And I like the natural insides, though I might be inclined to line them with some snappy shelf paper – but maybe that’s old school?
I actually love that idea! Someday I totally expect to do a quick little update like that and share all the deets!
xo,
s
FYI-I bought some shelf liner from Bed Bath and Beyond that is awesome! It’s a tad more expensive than the usual meshy type stuff,but well worth it. Its a vinyl-ish material (white)with ridges….its not floppy and its WIPEABLE!You just cut it to fit your cabinets and it never slips out of place! I highly recommend it! I dont know the name…but its on the aisle with the rest of the shelf liner. (:
Sounds awesome! Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Thank you soooo much, this will really help us in the next couple of months when we tackle our 80’s kitchen! You guys are simply amazing. Love the new kitchen!
Amazing! I love the handles too. Well done!
looks fantastic! as usual, grat job!
wish we could have painted and reused our old cabinets instead of having to buy new ones when we remodeled our kitchen. unfortunately, our old cabinets were made of avocado green metal which had later been faced with a plastic, wood-laminate-looking material (http://alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-new-kitchen.html). So there was no way that we could work with what we had. But thankfully we got a pretty good deal on our new cabinets and we’re so pleased with the outcome (http://alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/09/kitchen-renovation-update.html).
Um yeah- AMAAAAAAAZING! What a fantastic transformation!
xo,
s
Looks amazing!! I wasn’t totally sure about how the peninsula worked with the rest of the kitchen before, but now it looks totally balanced– the L of the cabinets and the L of the peninsula work great together!!
It looks FAB-U-LOUS! Thanks for sharing about the Ben Moore paint. I’m painting my cabinets this spring, and I’d never heard of the paint before, but now I’ll go to my Ben Moore store.
So gorgeous! Can’t wait to see it with the backsplash!
Btw have you thought of using the Clara rug in the kitchen? It seems like it might look great!
I’d actually love to! I think it might be too big but it’s worth a try!
xo,
s
Love the painted cabinets! Great job! Looks so professional.
Love your blog BTW. You two are busy, busy, busy!
It is so bright and cheerful! I love it!
Yay! It looks fantastic!
You guys have me all excited to start painting my cabinets…I’m a bit nervous though because they are not in as good of shape as yours. They are plywood from the 1960s and some of the doors have chips. I am going to try and putty/sand them to look better, but I don’t know if it will turn out as nice as yours! Thanks for breaking down your timetable! I work full time so I will be doing this on nights/weekends. I’m planning to start THIS WEEKEND! BAHHHHH! On a side note, our local Home Depot did not have the Next deglosser, the guy there sold me TSP and told me the new formula was eco friendly, but it still says to wear gloves when applying it, so I am not sure how eco friendly it actually is.
I hope I can do the tired/happy dance by the end of January!
Oh yes, I think TSP is similar and should work really well! It’s a bummer that it’s so hard to find Next (we have had ours for so long). I hope they didn’t discontinue it! Good luck with everything!
xo,
s
you are the MAYOR (spelling!) of BrightVille ;)
Haha- thanks! All fixed!
xo,
s
YES!!! So gorgeous. Would love to hear what the former owners of your nest thing.
One nit-picky note, you are the MayOr of BrightVille :)
xox
Haha thanks Renee! Fixed!
xo,
s
ha ha – I nit pick you and then leave my own typo.
“would love to hear what the former owners of your nest thinK”
gaaaaah
Haha, I knew what you meant! We know they read our blog (or at least they did when we moved in last year) and seemed to love watching us “do all the work” – haha. They’re so cute about it! Just so excited to see us make it our own. It would be fun to have them over to see it someday… hmm, I wonder if they’d let us video tape that…
xo,
s
Renee, our former house was a 50’s bungalow that had been completely reno’d by the last owners. The man who built the house originally stopped by one day (I was working in the yard), and we chatted a bit. I asked him if he wanted a tour , because I was SURE he would want to see all the changes and updates. He said “No, I prefer to remember it the way we built it.” I was surprised, but in retrospect it’s a bit like saying “everything in your house was WRONG” to a former owner.
Haha, I can totally understand that!
xo,
s
This kitchen reno is to die for. As for former owners looking at their house post-updates- thought I would share this awkward little tale. The former owners of our house, in our opinion *ahem* did a fabulous job of tearing up the carpet and refinishing ever square inch of our 2 story, 1935 brick tudor’s original hardwood floor. They used a dark mocha a lot like you did in your first home. They painted every inch of trim in a bright beautiful white and redid the kitchen with new stainless, big sink, granite counter tops and best of all- new white cabinets.
One day a few months after we moved in (still totally living out of boxes with no furniture because we more than doubled our square footage) a neighbor rang the bell and introduced us to the owner of the house before the one we bought it from and they asked for a tour…. um… cut to me dashing upstairs to change out of my nursing tank while my husband let them in…
Well, he hated everything. “You’ll hate these wood floors they’ll be too cold!” I believe he called our beloved kitchen a “tragedy” and was almost in tears over the color of stain and all the white. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s best not to revisit the past, I guess!
Oh no he di-int! I can’t believe he called your kitchen a tragedy while you stood right there! And to show up unannounced like that! I would have fainted!
xo,
s
also, I would love to see you guys go back to your old house. (if the new owners are willing)
Oh yes, we have told them we’d love to do that and left the ball in their court! Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Simply amazing – congratulations on a job fantastically well done – and thank you so much for the tutorials!
OH MY!
Look at the difference! You must walk into the kitchen and feel so happy. The brightness will keep away the “winter blues”! I really love the work you’ve done.
Ah! I love it. I can’t wait to see what it looks like with everything finished, but it’s already gorgeous. Good job with the retrofitted cabinet doors, too!
You two have outdone yourselves again! Bring on the backsplash!! (Readers are so greedy, aren’t we?) :)
Congrats on finishing; it looks great. Any ideas how us mere mortals (i.e., those without a “magic” sunroom) could do this?
P.S. I think the computer put in “?” after the 2 inch brush parts (2? brush). And I think you want to be Mayor of BrightVille not Mayer (unless you mean John Mayer??).
Haha thanks for the typo tips- all fixed! As for those without a sunroom, any room that you can use to clear space (like a spare bedroom of even one side of a living room) could work and plastic drop cloths could even be taped up to “seal” it off to keep sawdust from going all over the house!
xo,
s
Looks amazing! One question for you guys, I have awful 80s cabinets (with the lower wood handles) do you think that they would be worth painting? I’m so inspired by you guys!!!
Oh yes! Ours were 80s oak ones too, so this method should work on any and all wood cabs (laminate stuff could be trickier, but if they’re wood, you’re good)!
xo,
s
it looks so great, guys!!! love it! i know i was not the only person that has been impatiently waiting for you guys to paint those cabinets since you moved in. i can’t believe how un-dungeony it looks now! so light n airy, and looks so much larger. the handles are very cool, too… can’t wait to see the cork floors and that awesome tile installed. get to work!! :)
Congrats! It looks great!
Did you guys think about installing the hardware to make the drawers close slowly? Is it possible to retrofit that?
Oh yes, we can always add that a bit later. Would be a fun upgrade down the line!
xo,
s
Wow! Totally looks amazing! I just love white cabinets in a kitchen! Speaking of your stools, I made it out to Pasture, a new Restaurant in Richmond last night, and the first thing I noticed was that their bar stools are the EXACT SAME as the stools you have! They kept theirs as is, but added a number in teal paint on the back of each. They looked uber chic in the space – just like in your kitchen! The food was great – check it out if you have a date night sometime soon!
Wahooooooo! I love it – we’ll have to check those out!
xo,
s
I definitely cannot see any seams where the cabinets were “magically” resized. Your kitchen is looking great!
This post gets me motivated to paint mine. Unfortunately, with a two month old on my hands I don’t see this happening any time soon.
I love how you were able to see such vision for this room. It has done a complete 180. I do think the bar stools would look great with splash of color on the seats though. My thoughts on that may change once the flooring is installed though. I guest that’s what you are waiting on too.
as i said in yesterdays comment sectio, holy %%%$$## ##%^^^$%! looks great! haha.:)
oh also i forgot to write this before……that new sandra bullock movie..extremely loud and incredibly close….well, i was watching the commercial trailer and john, you resemble him…haha.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/31/entertainment/la-et-thomas-horn-20111231
Haha, we’ll have to check it out!
xo,
s
Oh my goodness this looks sooooo good. So many people have said the same thing, but I’ll say it anyways…AMAZING! So much brighter and bigger and I’m guessing more functional. Love the new hardware too. Yay!
Wow! I am so hesitant to paint my oak cabinets, but these look amazing! I will need to rethink my kitchen now. Congratulations!
This looks Awesome and so much brighter. I’m working up my courage to talk to my DH about painting our cabinets. When we moved in I told him we’d have to do something about the kitchen (brand new btw) as it wasn’t to my liking, but he hates paint fumes so really have to show good cause. Was much easier when he was away all week and I’d just paint stuff and it was done when he got home.
To make a long story longer, your photos when showing the difference in the light will likely help my cause as I think it is too dark in the kitchen. The rest of the house is very bright light wise and we rarely have to have the light on during the day except the kitchen.
May I make a request to see a photo of the painted kitchen with a photo of the unpainted cabinets, but with the dining opening just to see how much lighter it looks with the light fromt he dining.
Sure! Here’s a post with a pic (at the end) like that for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/11/and-all-the-trimmings/
xo,
s
Thank you!! You guys Rock!!
That does it! Gray cabinets here I come! I think a light gray will look great with the light blue walls in my tiny galley kitchen, and contrast well with the black and white speckled Corian we have. I need a change and tearing down walls is not in the budget yet. But paint and a new floor – yes! (Just have to clear some space for 2 weeks of door painting)…Thanks for the gumption!
Looks amazing!!! I’m just trying to get up the umph to stain a dining table… :)
There are no words!! It looks so amazing!!! You guys did such a great job…I’ll do a happy dance in my house for you guys:) I can’t wait to see the entire transformation with floors and backsplash making their appearance.
Congrats on finally finding a little bit of balance in your life too:) You deserve it!