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:
Seth says
this project is on our house list too! SO glad to have you as a reference… this post will be our go-to guide! it looks amazing and the story behind how you tackled it makes it even more impressive! AMAZING! #DIY
Toni wife of seth :) says
It looks incredible. Now i’m going to try to convince seth to put it on our 2012 list, because last week he told me “we’ll see”. But he seems just as enthused as i am about yours, so I hope your posts inspire him to let me work on it soon
Ivette says
Gorgeous! You did a great job of course, and we will be using your technique to refinish our own cabinets this summer.
Erin @ One Project at a Time says
We actually just decided this past weekend that we are painting our cupboards white! We’ve lived with them for about 8 months, hemming and hawing about whether we would regret painting the wood, but in the end we think that they just don’t do our kitchen any justice. You can see them here: http://oneprojectatatime.blogspot.com/2011/10/our-updated-house-tour.html
I’m so excited I can’t wait to break out the paint!
YoungHouseLove says
It’ll look great with new painted cabinet – that way your kitchen transformation can be as good as your other ones. Thanks for the fun house tour!
-John
andrea worley says
thanks for posting this great video! it really cleared up a lot of questions i was having about painting cabinets! thank you mucho!! you guys always do such a great job of explaining things, and making them easier!
Lindsay says
Hi! This looks AMAZING!
We are about to undertake the same thing in our kitchen and for some reason the thing stressing me the most is what brushes to use. I know you send an angled brush and a foam roller, but can you tell me the exact brands/sizes you used? Thanks!!
p.s. not that I want to copy you or anything, haha.
YoungHouseLove says
Our angled brush was he 2″ one we use for most painting projects (Premium XL Tight Spots 2? Angle Short Handle Brush) and the rollers were 4″ Whizz brand.
-John
Paula M. says
Amazing job! Congrats on another expertly done job, getting fabulous results with lots of labor but few dollars!
One question (as I weigh painting my cabinets this year or next year):
What type of grit sandpaper do you use for “roughing up” the cabinets? I’m so accustomed to sanding to make things smooth (as in sanding down the wood filler to smooth it). By contrast, what do you use to “rough up” the cabinets later for better adhesion of the primer and paint? And how feasible would it be to do that by hand, not with an electric sander?
YoungHouseLove says
We used 60 grit to rough it up because that’s what we had around. You could definitely try by hand, but be sure to do lots of hand stretches because it’d be tiring. You’d probably appreciate the $30-ish investment in the electric sander, in my opinion.
-John
Stephanie says
You guys, it looks SO awesome in there! LOVE IT SO MUCH! Except… not loving the stools so much. They just seem out of place there now… like some random school furniture got misplaced in my dream kitchen. I will reserve any further judgment, however, until you’ve completed it all. Who knows… you might make a believer out of me. Was not sold on the living room, but with the addition of the new rug, ottoman and desk chair, I’m on board…
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we’re feeling they need a little oomph too, but are waiting to figure out what that is until more of the room is complete. The “unfinished charm” of them isn’t really making sense when they don’t have much finished to contrast off of! :)
-John
Marah says
Looks great! Just curious, why satin finish instead of semi gloss?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s actually just what the BM folks recommend. The glossier the finish, the more obvious the imperfections are, and this type of paint was actually formulated for cabinets in a satin finish first (they later added the semi-gloss option for folks who wanted something shinier, but they’re both durable and scrubbable – so it’s just a question of how glossy you want to go). So we went with the original (satin) because we knew it’d hold up and hide any imperfections a bit more. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mel says
I just love it. Great job. It is all coming together so nicely!
Alex says
thoughts are with you for that deadline!! you can doooooo it!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Alex!
-John
Natalie Derrickson says
LOVE IT! You guys did such a good job! I wish I’d had a jig for when I did my cabinets! That was truly the worst part.
Here’s the link if you want to check them out: http://derricksondish.com/2011/07/the-cabinet-transformation-its-finally-over/
I used Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations which worked great and I think could be the best option if people want to do dark cabinets.
So what I’m trying to say is: GO YOU!!!
xo
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for sharing Natalie! We’re always happy to hear experiences with Rustoleum’s product – we’ve heard good thing so we’re glad to see it worked out well for you guys too!
-John
Elizabeth says
It looks fabulous!
Jessica @ The Southern Belle Baby says
Oh my gosh, it is FABULOUS!!! I have been looking forward to seeing the “after” post of the cabinets, so I gave a little squeal of joy when I saw this in my reader. I need to touch up our white cabinets which the previous owners did a *lovely* job of painting white… to the tune of spray painting the hinges white WHILE STILL ATTACHED TO THE CABINETS. For real, you can see the little spray paint mark around them. Anyway, once I’m not pregnant any more, I am totally taking a page out of your book and re-doing ours, too! Congrats on your gorgeous new kitchen, it is so awesome!
jaj says
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Your hard work of typing this out will NOT go in vain!! Off to do our cabinets!!!!
Oh and CONGRATS on the hard work. The kitchen looks beautiful. Can’t wait to see the complete finished job!
beverly says
wow. you guys rock. i am so impressed.
Kate from zmombie.com says
Holy Canoli that looks awesome. What an improvement.
Heidi P. says
I just kept saying “wow” in hushed tones as I scrolled back and forth between the before and after shots. Amazing. So fresh and so clean clean. Congratulations!!!!!
Elizabeth says
Good job Youngsters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to see this post this morning. :)
Kim @ Yellow Brick Home says
Ooh, it’s looking so awesome! Wow, can’t wait to see the rest!
Your video made me laugh like one hundred times.
Amanda K says
check this out — i was googling for some kitchen ideas and came across this blog…with a photo of your first kitchen! i’m sure y’all find this sort of thing all the time, but i thought i’d send it nonetheless:
http://maisondecor8.blogspot.com/2011/07/readers-kitchen-dilemma.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! Off to check it out…
xo,
s
Celeste says
It’s a beauty! Awesome work.
Quick Question:
For white or cream cabinets do you suggest to paint the surrounding wall color the same as the cabinet color?
YoungHouseLove says
We actually like painting nearby walls with a contrasting color – we did sea blue in our last kitchen and you can see the grellow in this one. It helps the white cabinets really stand out against the walls. But if you’re going for a more subdued look, you certainly could paint a similar color – though you probably want a little bit of a contrast, even just subtle.
-John
Tiffany says
Well done guys! This looks amazing. I’ve been checking your blog everyday and watching the progress. So looking forward to starting our own house! You guys are a huge inspiration. My husband said to me the other day “why don’t we get that old farm house, so then we can renovate like John & Sherry!” x
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds like fun to us!
-John
Annie says
!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay, y’all!
Katrina says
So much brighter!! :) Love the progress
Megan says
The bottom two pics for comparison really show how much bigger the room feels! The fridge is definitely pushing itself into the middle of the room but with the new arrangement, it’s not the focal point! And the second view of the hallway makes the room feel much bigger just by brightening up everything! Don’t you just love the power of paint?!?!
Kitchens Ireland says
Some crown moulding would look really nice on your cabinets. Congrats and happy new year!
Christie says
I love the stools … had been looking for old school chairs just a few weeks ago.
Carli says
WOW!! Gorgeous! Amazing work you two. It looks amazing!
Quick question… the photo of the framed in fridge looks awesome, but have you ever entertained the idea of putting floating shelves on that wall? The wall space right above the counter space and beside the opening to your dining room?
YoungHouseLove says
We have! Though right now we’re leaning towards something a bit less heavy duty – maybe a simple piece of art or a narrow picture ledge. We’re kinda of enjoying how much the upper half of our kitchen “breathes” now without all of the upper cabinets so I think we’ll try to keep some of that feeling intact.
-John
Carli says
Ooooo art work would be perfect there! Good call. I agree, without all those cabinets above, the kitchen sure does have an airy feel to it. Love it! Keep up the great work.
Rachael@LovelyCraftyHome says
Looks great!! I can’t detect any seams at all in the photos. Looking forward to seeing the tile!
Cody says
Hi! Is anyone else having a hard time seeing the photos from Christmas and the cabinets? Mine have x in the corners and I’ve never had that problem on this computer. Any advise? (no, I can’t click “show picture”) :(
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry Cody! We’ve heard of this problem popping up intermittently for folks (still not sure the cause) but usually it resolves itself in a day or two. Let us know if it continues. You can also try a different browser or try emptying your cache.
-John
Marissa says
Amazing transformation!! So very impressive and inspiring. Question on your paint choice: why did you choose satin finish? I thought semi-gloss was the recommended finish for high traffic items like kitchen cabinets because it’s more wipeable.
Thanks for all the tips! Can’t wait to see the tile and shelves!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s actually just what the BM folks recommend. The glossier the finish, the more obvious the imperfections are, and this type of paint was actually formulated for cabinets in a satin finish first (they later added the semi-gloss option for folks who wanted something shinier, but they’re both durable and scrubbable – so it’s just a question of how glossy you want to go). So we went with the original (satin) because we knew it’d hold up and hide any imperfections a bit more. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Tara says
Fabulous fabulous fabulous! What an amazing transformation! One quick question – I’m looking to paint my old oak bathroom vanity & hopefully brighten up my dingy guest bath. Would you recommend the same exact procedure for bathroom cabinets as for your kitchen cabinets? Or would there be any differences given that a bathroom can have more moisture but not as much wear & tear as a kitchen.
Also I’m not looking for absolute perfection…..I think ‘good enough’ would be fine for me….so in light of that, are there any steps I can skip to make the whole process easier?
YoungHouseLove says
One thing you could do to make them more moisture resistant is go for a semi-gloss, not satin finish. That will help more it more bathroom vanity friendly. As for skipping steps, you may not need to sand or degloss as much in a bathroom (since you hopefully don’t have the grease issue you have in a kitchen) but if you’ve got the time it’s always safest so you don’t end up with chips or scratches easily (because they’re a bear to touch up). You also might get away with one coat of paint, depending on the color you’re doing. Good luck!
-John
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
Absolutely love, love LOVE!!! This is looking SO AMAZING! Great job, guys!!! There’s still a ways to go, but you’ll knock it outta the park, I’m sure :-)
Hannah says
TOTAL ABSOLUTE CRAZY AWESOMENESS! you should be so proud! i am halfway done with our kitchen(appliances, granite, backsplash) but i know the one thing that will make a huge difference will be painting the cabinets…and you have given me inspiration!!!!! great job!!! :)
jeannette says
the greenness of the upcycle — priceless.
vs. $7k? even if i had it, i’d rather do it your way.
the time breakdown is very helpful too, thanks. it breaks a real schlep down into one-day-at-a-time manageable-by-humans tasks.
and its durable, and looks gorge.
jeannette says
excuse me, it’s durable. grrr.
Jessica says
AMAZING!!!!!! It looks so good. I’ve been mentioning your kitchen to my other half (who is not interested in interior design) for the past few weeks. He also approves!
Keep up the great work. But take a breather first. :)
Susan says
Absolutely, positively, gorgeous & inspiring!
Mary says
Love and admire all your hard work. Not sure, however about the school stools – sort of liked your idea of maybe painting them as they are now looking a bit drab with the rest of your FABULOUS kitchen! Sorry for the negative comment. Mary.
YoungHouseLove says
No worries, we’re waiting to figure out what to do the spruce them up until more the kitchen looks finished.
-John
Karen@RestyledVintage says
Looks totally awesome, well done. We have recently moved from NZ to Australia and have just purchased our first house this side of the Tasman. It has lots of interior brick and timber and high-raked cathedral ceilings, which is exactly the character I was after in our next home (yay for finding it!) The kitchen cabinets are solid wood (Tasmanian Oak so I have been told) and like you, I am going to paint them white or off white. I was already excited and now I have seen yours finished, I am super excited! The house will be ours in mid-Feb, I feel like my kids did on Xmas Eve! Here are some ‘as is’ shots of the house, if you are interested :) http://www.restyledvintage.com/2011/12/merry-christmas-and-house-news.html
xx Karen
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure what we love more – that ceiling or that pool. We want both!
-John
Karen says
Thanks so much for the detailed instructions. They came out so good! I am seriously considering this myself.
Kellie says
I am dying – it looks soooo good! I have been loving following this project (ok, and every other, but this one is especially breathtaking!) You guys rock!
Yolanda says
OMG!!! This looks AMAZING!!! You guys are super talented. John with his crafty building skills and Sherry with your eye for design, you make a dynamic duo. This kitchen looks beautiful. This is has been my favorite DIY makeover so far! Congrats guys!
braelin says
Awesome– love it- what a change! Do you (or others) know of any good tutorials for painting metal cabinets? Ones with giant chips of old paint showing rust below?? Sigh….
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I haven’t seen any but maybe googling around will help? You could also remove a door and bring it to the paint store and ask what they recommend!
xo,
s
SM says
The cabinets look amazing! Very polished and professional looking. I am excited to see how the backsplash looks. I might get stoned for this but I am not really feeling the lemony yellow color you’ve got going on in there. For some reason, it doesn’t play well with the tube lights. Maybe its just that the photos don’t do it justice. Once the floor and the backsplash are in it will make more sense.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, there’s definitely a lot that’s not working together perfectly yet. And once those tube lights are gone even we’re not 100% sure how the color will look, so we’re just going with the flow.
-John
Margaret says
“…all up in my area” – one of my favorite phrases, along with “..all up in my grill” – apparently everyone stopped using that in 8th grade, I never got the memo, whatevs!
The cabs look great, congratulations! I was alternating reading memos and reading this entry – thank god it’s so long, it got me through the afternoon! :)
monica says
wow that looks great! can’t wait to see the final product. kudos to you guys for continuing to make your visions a reality! congratulations!
Emily @ NewlyWife says
I’m so thrilled for you guys! What a nice kitchen it’s turning out to be! Seriously, don’t feel weird for doing the lingering in the pretty room thing — totally normal for all the work you put into it. Thanks for being such an inspiration!
Monique says
Beautiful cabinets. Your kitchen is coming together nicely!
Amanda says
Love them! And I love the incredibly thorough instructions – I’ll definitely refer back to this when I finally get around to painting the cabinets in our guest bathroom!