Even though a household-wide cold got our 2014 off to a rocky (well, sneezy) start this week. We still managed to get our lower cabinets stained darker as planned. PS: Anyone remember this song? I had the whole album and kinda loved it.
The change isn’t as dramatic as last week’s upper cabinet painting post, but as you can see below – we did achieve our goals of making them a slightly darker and less orange color while reducing (but not eliminating) the wood grain. The process took us about five days total, thanks to one day of prepping, one day of staining, one day of sanding and restaining, a full day of drying, and then a day of reassembly (hanging doors, adding new knobs, etc).
You’ll also notice that the knobs are missing on the outside of that peninsula. We decided to remove them since the backside of the peninsula isn’t super functional – it just gives us secondary access to some of the cabinets that also have doors on the other side, which is always where we’ve accessed them from. So we thought it’d look cleaner / less busy without them, without really losing any functionality (you can still pull them open by just pulling on the lip with your finger).
So before staining anything Sherry wood puttied the holes, let them dry, sanded, and repeated. We always like two coats of wood putty on big holes like this to account for any shrinking or dips (after the first one and the first round of sanding it’s rarely ready for the next step, so going into it expecting two coats is a nice check-yourself-before-you-wreck-yourself step).
If you’re staining it’s best to use wood putty that matches the tone of your wood, but we made this lighter stuff work just by dabbing a little more stain on the puttied parts with each coat of stain.
The stain that we used was Minwax PolyShades in a color we’ve never tried: Tudor (in a satin finish). We used PolyShades in the Espresso color upstairs on our bathroom vanity back in November and really liked how it worked out for us, so we decided to go with the same brand for the lower cabinets, except in a slightly warmer/less dark shade (we were inspired by kitchens with wooden lowers and light painted uppers like this and this). We bought two quarts ($13 each), but only ended up needing one for two coats, so we got to return the extra one.
The first step listed on the can is to sand everything lightly to rough up the surface and remove any gloss. Sherry actually wiped everything down with some warm soapy water first, since kitchen cabinets can collect lots of grease and dirt over the years. Then we removed all the doors and laid them out on cardboard in the garage so we could sand them, along with the frames and the drawers in the kitchen (our drawer fronts can’t be unscrewed, so they stayed in the kitchen propped up on the counters like the other ones we painted last week).
After sanding and wiping off all of the sanding dust, Sherry rubbed everything down with liquid deglosser (just to make sure it was clean and ready) and once that dried it was staining time. As the first coat went on it was… well, underwhelming. PolyShades is supposed to poly and shade, right? It looked like we were just giving it a glossier finish. Note: the drawer fronts that you see here are fake, so they couldn’t be removed and had to be stained in place.
But having already started we decided to see the first coat through and then adjust from there if needed. Maybe it would dry darker? The first coat on the doors (which we laid out in the garage) was a bit more encouraging…
The PolyShades stuff is pretty straightforward, but we do find it a little challenging to keep it from looking drippy or streaky, so we came up with a pretty simple method of dragging the brush along everything after it’s applied to smooth it out. I filmed this quick video of myself putting one coat on a door so you could see it in action:
In case you can’t watch the video, here’s the gist:
- The stain looks pretty thick which you first brush it on – which is enticing if you’re going for a darker color, but resist the urge to leave it thick because it’s so watery that thick coverage is an invitation for drips to come live at your house.
- Focus first on covering the area that you’re working on. Don’t worry too much about brush marks at first.
- Once you’ve got the whole area covered, go back over the whole surface with long, even strokes. This will thin everything out and make your brush lines more even. Although do as I show in the video (not in the pics below – oops) and brush in the direction of the wood grain. This will help any lingering brush lines blend with the wood grain better.
The first coat did seem to dry substantially darker than it looked when it was wet. It still wasn’t as dark as we wanted, but it showed enough promise that we ditched our plans to buy a darker color for the second coat. We wanted to give Tudor a chance with that second coat and then if it still wasn’t what we were looking for we’d go with something else as a third coat, but we had a feeling it would be a “slow build” to the right color after the second coat was applied (and allowed to dry, since it does darken during that process as well). Oh and between coats you’re supposed to rub the existing coat with some very fine steel wood (000 grade), which doesn’t visibly damage the finish, it just roughs it up enough for the second coat to hold nice and firmly. Sherry did the frames and sides and drawers inside and I tackled the doors in the garage.
Oh and just for anyone who wonders how these coats “build” – here’s a shot that demonstrates how the various coats looked going on and as they dried. You can see how we were definitely making progress, and how the “wet look” wasn’t a good predictor of how it’d dry.
And here’s a side-by-side of two doors once all was said and done, er, dried. It was exactly what we were hoping for: still warm and woodsy in tone, but less brassy/orange than the color we started with. We really liked that there was still some visible wood grain (our Espresso vanity upstairs doesn’t really have much of that, but we wanted to see some in the kitchen).
And here’s the full room once everything was reattached, including the new hardware (the same $2 octagon knobs from Target that we used on those uppers) and the same ORB-ed original hinges (you can read more on how we did that here).
As a reminder, this is where we were last week with those redder and more knotty lowers.
Now the main things holding this kitchen back are the counters and the floors (though camera angles like the one below do a good job of minimizing the floor issue, ha!). We’ve been debating if/how to tackle those for the past few months, and are now leaning towards a few inexpensive fixes to round out Phase 1. We’re never going to turn this into our dream kitchen with little band-aids, but we’re already amazed by how far the room has come, and if it’s anything like our first kitchen’s interim makeover, it’ll end up being a lot more pleasant to hang out in for the year(s) that we save up for Phase 2.
We’re pretty convinced about making over the existing counter tops with the concrete finish that people like Jenny and Kara have blogged about (especially since so many of you commented last week with tips about which sealers to use and specific methods that you’ve been really happy with). As for the floors, we’re still torn. Sherry leans towards peel-and-stick, like we did for our first kitchen’s Phase 1 update (which was pre-blog, but nice and easy/inexpensive). I lean more towards painting, since it means less to demo when it comes time for the real floor, but we both worry about the durability of paint since it’s somewhat scratch-prone (more on that here).
Hey, but for now let’s just celebrate that our lower cabinets have been a bit more modernized. And we no longer have white eyeball knobs looking at us anymore. Although the stare-down wasn’t as bad as our last kitchen. Plus, we’re finally the owners of tuxedo cabinets (white uppers, dark lowers), which we’ve admired for years. I’m pretty sure these counters and that stove weren’t in our dreams, but we’re also debating appliance spray paint for the stove and perhaps some chalkboard paint for the fridge (we want to do a bit more research first though, since we plan to craigslist them in Phase 2, and we don’t want to do anything to devalue them).
Also, we all seem to be mostly over our colds. 2014 is finally looking up!
How did your first weekend of the new year treat you? Did you dive into any projects you had been holding off on until the post-holiday season? Are you still eating leftovers and humming Christmas songs?
Update – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button:
Starting to look like one classy kitchen! I bet you guys are itching to tackle the floors now and get rid of the faux brick :) Excited to see how the counters look with everything, too!
Yes, counter and floor updates are both things we think will make all the difference!
xo
s
Those cabinets look soooo much better! I’ve passed along your post on how you use this stain to a few friends and it has been so helpful! We got cabin fever because it’s been way below zero in South Dakota, so we took the opportunity to re-upholster our headboard with a gorgeous fabric:
http://www.krusesworkshop.blogspot.com/2014/01/re-upholstered-headboard.html
That looks awesome Heidi!
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This is looking great so far! I love the dark rich color. I am interested in seeing how you tackle the appliances. Even though this isn’t a complete remodeled kitchen it looks wonderful so far!
Thanks Vanessa! I’m thinking about appliance spray paint since it’s only a few bucks, but we want to make sure we get a good result with it, so we have to do some more research. Will keep you posted!
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Whoa! I’m impressed!! With new countertops and floors, your Phase I is going to look pretty darn “done!”. Great job.
p.s. Do you ever get to take sick days if needed? Hope so!
Aw thanks Constance! Thankfully we can sit on the sofa under blankets (or in bed with ourselves propped up on pillows) and still get work done, like sizing photos or writing posts, so even if we’re out of commission for DIY stuff, we try to keep up with blog stuff on our laptops since the internet waits for no one. Haha!
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We took a break from painting to tick off something on our 2014: Growing Beauty list…
Hiking in the Quinault Rainforest. We did short hikes to the largest spruce and largest red cedar trees with our active toddler who was awesome!
It was absolutely gorgeous in sub 30 temps and surprisingly…reminded us of a spot in our backyard that looks very similar to it. Who knew our little house would be near the beach and have a mini rainforest in the back yard?
So cool!
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This looks so amazing! One idea for the floors – peel and stick at about $1.08/sf then grout. We did this in our half bath,and everyone thinks it’s actually ceramic tile!!
http://www.magentaandlime.net/2013/03/grouted-vinyl-tile.html
That’s awesome!
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s
I looked at those for our entryway but I ended up being able to refinish hardwoods I found under the gross linoleum we had. Great to see them since we may use them in our powder room.
SO LUCKY! We wish we had wood under these (we peeked when we bought the house, but no dice).
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That is brilliant. I have been inspired to redo my kitchen this way! We have old peel-and-stick in there now and there are yucky gaps, but have no budget to do any real renovation on them. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve noticed a trend lately. It goes like this.
Step 1: YHL does something.
Step 2: I’m skeptical of the outcome.
Step 3: I love the outcome.
I wasn’t too sure about the stained lowers, but I’m really loving them!
Aw, thanks Jess!!
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Me, too! I would never have anticipated how much I love this!
Aw thanks Julianna!
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i agree with those steps!
I chalkboard painted my old fridge while waiting to get my new one.
I miss that old fridge!
Also, I’m still obsessed with chalkboard paint ;)
Love that!
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Looks good! I always try espresso stain and depending on the wood, sometimes wood grain shows and sometimes it doesn’t. Good to hear a lighter shade worked out! I am going to try PolyShades for the first time on an ottoman I’m refinishing soon…
Good luck Brit!
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My brother painted all of my appliances for me before I had new ones…He used black paint and they looked amazing! Literally like new for decade old fridge and oven. I highly recommend it..A quick easy fix :)
That’s so awesome to hear!!
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I really like it! I especially like that the lowers are dark, but not quite as stark as if they were black.
Very nice!
OMG! The kitchen looks amazing already!! A few small changes already equal a huge difference! I love these “Phase 1” projects. Because when you are on a smaller budget, these are perfect!! So far this year I’ve done a massive house “purge” I’ve gone through closests and cabinets and been ruthless about things to get rid of. So when you walk into my home, you don’t see a huge difference, but it’s there :) :)
I bet that feels so good Natalie! I don’t know if it’s nesting or what, but I’m dying to do that!
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I agree, these Phase 1 project are so budget friendly and doable! And as good as they look i don’t think i would even miss a complete remodel! Although i do look forward to as many new posts as possible, beacuseYHL get read more often than a newspaper at my house.
Aw, thanks so much!
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I love doing that! Itching to start again in the new year!!
Looks great!
How did you get the stain to stick to the wood putty? I bought the “stainable” kind and used it to patch some wood counter tops I was staining. The stain just didn’t stick properly and definitely looks different than the rest of it… it’s difficult to describe really. It just looks off, and maybe even a bit yellow (I stained the lighter wood putty an espresso color).
In those spots we just dabbed a little more stain on with a very small brush, which seemed to work (it soaked in more and looked closer in color). The easiest method really is to buy darker putty if you want dark stain to look seamless with it, so maybe scraping yours out and redoing it with something darker will work?
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@lolly
Don’t mean to butt in, but a carpenter friend once told me to fill in those holes AFTER you stain and poly the rest. Since the putty often stains differently then the wood, doing it after the wood is protected with poly makes it easier to stain and adjust the putty only without effecting the wood around it. Make sense?
Smart!
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The cabinets look great but, more importantly, LOVE The Darkness reference! Permission To Land is an amazing album. I listen to “Givin’ Up” and “Black Shuck” when I run. Such jams. :)
My blog partner painted her washer and dryer. And they turned out great. Two thumbs up for painting appliances.
Love that!
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I highly recommend appliance paint. We painted our pea green trash compactor with the black paint and it is amazing! It matches our black refrigerator perfectly and has held up wonderfully. I use my foot to close the trash door most of the time and none of the paint has ever come off! (You can check it out here if you’re interested: http://rappsodyinrooms.com/2012/08/29/trash-talk/)
I love the tuxedo look! What a step up!
So glad to hear these appliance spray “love notes” from so many of you! It definitely sounds more promising now that we have heard from people who have had good, long-lasting results!
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s
Wow, looks spectacular! I love that you stuck with staining the lowers. The color you picked is perfect. Really looks like a whole new room!
Thanks Angela!
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Wow, I think polyshades must have greatly improved there formula. This stuff used to be like a mucky glue and would streak and ruin the wood grain very easily. I remember reading a few years back it is best for very small projects (like a hanging shelf). I’m glad to see it works for large projects like this now, too!
Yes, we were a little nervous because it goes on kinda gloppy-ish at first, but if you brush it around and spread it nicely along with the grain (John’s video shows our method) it seems to work well!
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s
Chalkboard paint on the fridge?! That would be awesome! I hope you do decide to paint the stove. We considered doing that until we could save our pennies for a new one (which I got from Santa, aka my husband, for Christmas).
Thanks Sara!
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I love the stained-wood lowers. So glad you kept the wood showing!
-signed, an unrepentant wood-lover.
Haha! Thanks Kimberly!
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Do you know how long you will live with these cabinets and appliances (even in an altered/painted/stained state)?
I think you previously mentioned the cabinets being in rough shape but they look pretty good from these pics! Hopefully that means you don’t have to trash them anytime soon.
As for chalkboard paint – I’m not a fan. I can’t imagine it would look good or even clean for more than a few minutes. I contemplated painting our old junky fridge with chalkboard paint a few years ago when the fad first started but then decided not to. I couldn’t imagine keeping it clean/blogger perfect and looking at the dusty mess all the time! Haha. We just dealt with the ugly appliances for a while until we were ready to buy new – a decision that worked for us!
We have plans to reuse the cabinets in the garage as a workshop, so we hope never to have to trash them! They do have some gnaw-marks and deep dings in them that this camouflaged, but they’re still there in person (especially if you get close), but they’re great for now and for later in the garage! As for the chalkboard paint tip, thanks! I think we’re definitely committed to thinking everything through before altering these babies (John’s adamant that we want them to be easy to sell on craigslist for Phase 2 so we don’t want to ruin them). Will keep you posted!
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It looks really good!! I would opt for the peal and stick which will really brighten it up. You could go with a light neutral and it will really make those cabinets pop! I know, I know right, not what you wanted to hear.
My refrigerator fan stopped working and it marks 3 weeks tomorrow that we’ve been eating out of coolers. yikes. He’s coming out of town, and we just went through a snow storm, so fingers crossed that he will be able to make it today. X
My kids also got over the stomach flu that they got from someone who failed to mention it at Christmas. :( They’ve been vomiting since the 27th, and with no working refrigerator since the 17th, its been a ZOO to say the least around here! :)) Bleach is my new best friend.
Oh no! Sounds rough over there. So glad they’re over it!
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Gorgeous! Amazing what that Polyshades stuff can do. I used it on a coffee table and remember the whole “underwhelmed” feeling but stuck with it and was happy with the result too!
WOW! A subtle difference, but I love it. Congrats on getting it done over the holiday. I don’t know how you do it all. Way to go!!
Thanks Meg!
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Love the cabinet makeover – We had painted floors in our old (1867) family kitchen as we couldn’t get the old linoleum up. My dad the artist, painted them – & we loved them! Lasted for about 20 years, until cracks in the old crooked floors got the best of us…
That’s awesome to hear, Lisa!
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It looks great! Can’t wait to see how you tackle those floors. We had the same type in my house growing up. Mom loved that they hid dirt so well but hated everything else about them.
I have been wanting to do the same treatment to our new tiny kitchen since moving in a few months ago. The one thing I can’t figure out is that we have a pantry cabinet that goes from floor to ceiling attached to the upper and lowers and I don’t know if it should go white or stained or half and half. Any ideas?
We debated a tuxedo kitchen in our last house but had the same pantry issue (and built-in fridge issue) since we didn’t know which way to go with them. I lean towards white (the same as the uppers) but I’d try to picture it to make sure one side of the room won’t feel a lot heavier while the other side’s all white. We did the hutch area in the eat-in part of our kitchen all white here, and it looks great though! That’s not solid like a pantry, but hopefully it helps.
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We did a white/dark grey Phase 1 and had the same issue with the fridge surround and the adjacent oven/microwave area. Because our appliances are black, I went with grey so it would be more blendy. I wouldn’t go half and half. Could you maybe make it look more like a piece of furniture? Maybe add feet in the kick space?
REALLY SMART! Never even thought of that, but love it!
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Sounds like I am just going to have to pick a color and go with it. This means I’ll probably stain them all since my husband thinks it is a sin to paint wood. This is just a temporary fix since we will eventually bust out the back wall to enlarge our kitchen but that is probably at least 5 years out unless I go crazy with no counter space before then. Thanks for the advice!
Candice, that’s a good idea but I don’t think it’s possible. It is a narrow cabinet attached to the others, one large door on the top and drawers on the bottom. I think I need to post this on the forums with a pic. That would probably help.
Are the ends of your cabinets also wood, or do they have the plastic faux wood veneer? We’d like to paint or stain our kitchen cabinets to get rid of the aged golden oak color, but I don’t know what to do with the plastic ends to make them blend in with the cabinets, especially if we decide to stain them a more contemporary shade. Will paint adhere to the plastic ends? What do we do with the ends if we decide to stain?
Hmm, that’s a toughie. Ours are all wood, so they all took the stain the same way, but I’d worry that something that’s not wood (plastic ends) would react very differently to stain. Anyone tried it?
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I wanted to ask the same question, Jen! I daydream about staining my oak cabinets instead of replacing them, but I have the faux veneer cabinet ends too and I’m terrified of how awful it will end up looking if the stain doesn’t stick.
Does anyone have veneer cabinet ends who has tried this! I don’t know how well it would take the stain, but it would be awesome to hear from someone who has tried it!
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Maybe cover the plastic with thin wood veneer and stain that?
We’ve painted the ends of our cabinets (veneer) and the result didnt differ from the rest of the kitchen! You just sand it lightly and then use a deglosser to make the paint stick.
Don’t think stain will work though, my mom tried to do that with some old IKEA tables and had to save them with 2 layers of paint afterwards :)
Good luck! :)
P.S I love it, John and Sherry!
Check out the Magenta and Lime blog. You can link to it from their comment above on peel and stick plus grout. She stained her kitchen cabs with beautiful results, and in the pics the ends looked like laminate, but I’m not certain.
So awesome!
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My kitchen has the plastic-y ends (which are just the sides of the cabinet bases) and my om mentioned recently that they sell thin boards that are designed to cover that up. Sure enough, I noticed that the face of the cabinets even stick out a little from the side as if to create room for one of those boards. I wasn’t able to find one that’s a match to my golden oak cabinets (and the laminate is probably as close as I’d get staining something to match), but if I ever stain my cabinets I think I’ll get them.
Great tip Kate!
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Wow! your kitchen looks so different! I like the mix of dark and light. Great job!
Great update! – the kitchen is looking amazing!
Thanks Kristen!
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I wasn’t sold on the idea of stain but it looks great! I know it’s only a phase 1 update but I hope you consider a similar look when you do phase 2.
I spent the weekend bundled up (it was freezing out) and working on getting organized for the new year.
I spent about an hour working on our meal plan for the whole year-so I’m grateful that’s done! You can see how we do it here: http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/2014/01/2014-meal-plan-and-printables/
Today everyone is back to school so I’m wrapping up some organization and diving back into work.
Glad everyone is feeling better!
Woah, you’re a meal planning master! I love it!
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s
Looks great! I can really use your tips on staining.
Happy New Year.
As always, swoon! I really like the idea of painting the fridge with chalkboard paint for an interim fix. Can’t chalkboard paint be made in any color now? It could be cool to try, especially since its only temporary.
I’ve been making big progress on my craft room now that the holidays are over. Was looking forward to a ton more projects yesterday, but a smashed finger sidelined me. That’s what I get for trying to shovel in Chicago! -45° wind chills today!!
http://doubledoorranch.com/2014/01/06/goodwill-hunting/
Yes, I hear it can be tinted in a bunch of colors! Wouldn’t that be fun? Just gotta get John on board and be sure it wouldn’t hurt resale or end up being something I completely regret (aka: a big chalky mess).
As for your finger… boo! So sorry!
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I continue to be impressed with your success using the Polyshades product. It has such terrible reviews online, but it’s such an enticing prospect: stain over instead of refinishing old wood. I’m pretty certain now that the majority of complaints have to do with not applying it correctly. After seeing your stair rail I was pretty sold but after seeing THIS I’m doubly so. Our orangey mantel has some tudor in it’s future. Thanks!
Aw thanks Jess! I think we have refined our method since it does go on kinda rough, but if you watch the video our whole “drag the brush lightly to smooth things out in the grain of the wood at the end of the application” tip seems to really help!
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The cabinets look great!!! I think Sherry’s idea on the floor might last a little better. Having little ones under foot you don’t want to worry about paint peeling.
I feel for you and your colds. I have been sick since New Years Day and now the kiddos are sick too!
Oh no! Hope you guys feel better soon!
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Love this! I’m so impressed with how everything turned out especially when I saw you were using the stain/poly combo. I haven’t had much luck with that product. I like to do a light sand in between each coat of stain and I found out quickly that it really isn’t meant for that. I use the Zar stains now. To me they’re much more user-friendly.
Those sound awesome Patti! Thanks for the tip!
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Why don’t you just also use the concrete stuff on the floor? It sounds durable…
Love your blog!!!
Alas, I wish it was meant for that application, but our floors have too much flex for that to work.
Update: It could work on concrete floors, but vinyl floors with subflooring and crawlspace under them sadly have a lot more flex than concrete floors, which is what we’re dealing with, so it would crack in our application.
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Hey!
Regarding the concrete counter tops: would you still consider doing it if it wasn’t your forever house, weren’t ever going to do a phase two with new/nicer counters, and you were planning on selling in 5 years? Would an inexpensive butcher block from Ikea be a better option? We have some bad formica going on, and I want to change it so I can enjoy my kitchen for the next few years, but worry about how it will affect resale. People are used to formica (our is faux granite), and I just worry it would turn off the average buyer.
Thanks!
Sarah
Yes, I think I would lean towards investing a little more if I was thinking about resale, so I’d worry that skimming with concrete might not be the most “down-the-road buyer-friendly” choice, although we hear really good things about people doing it for more than temporary (aka: permanent) fixes, and loving it! It might just appeal to a smaller group of buyers than butcher block.
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That’s a pretty impressive Phase 1 makeover. :) I love it!
Also, looking forward to your counter updates. I am smitten with the idea of concrete countertops like those and hope to be able to do them myself one day.
Hope you get over those colds quickly. We rang in the new year with a stomach bug for our 1 yr old and 3 yr old. Boo.
Aw thanks Teresa! Hope you guys are feeling better!
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Have you guys ever seen Good Luck Charlie on Disney Channel? They have a chalkboard fridge… so cute! Check it out!
Never seen it, will have to check it out!
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I love how the house is coming along and envy your creativity and energy level for getting it done! Since I am also an RVA-er, how were you able to get the stain to dry…since most stains seem to require minimum temperatures? I’ve been postponing a project for this very reason.
P.S. Clara is becoming quite the girl!
We just gave it much longer than it needed, so for example this said 6 hours between coats and we gave it 24 just to be sure!
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What color is the blue in your kitchen?
It’s Nelson Blue by Ben Moore.
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I had that album too! That song was catchy.
Y’all could always keep the fridge in the garage for seconds!
That’s another possibility too!
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Possibly a dumb question, but is there any reason you couldn’t use the concrete finish on the floors as well as the counters?
I wish it could be used in that application, but our floors have too much flex for it to work.
Update: It could work on concrete floors, but vinyl floors with subflooring and crawlspace under them sadly have a lot more flex than concrete floors, which is what we’re dealing with, so it would crack in our application.
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Right, but could you rip out the vinyl and put the concrete finish over the subfloor? Then you would have something decent for now, plus a nice level surface to work with in Phase 2. Sort of a more elaborate version of what you did in your master bath.
Sadly the subfloor is wood, so it has a lot of flex in it and any concrete layer on top of it would crack (we chatted about our subfloor a little bit upstairs when we laid our hardwood, but essentially that’s why we needed that crazy Elastilon product and couldn’t do a nail-in floor). Ardex over concrete subfloors (for example in houses on a slab, or like the slab in our sunroom) would be awesome… but Ardex over flexible thin wood planks on the floor over a crawl space (which is what we’re dealing with in the kitchen) would be crack city unfortunately.
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I’m guessing that the stain is safe to do when pregnant and around children? I’m 20 wks and need to do this in our kitchen and waiting until spring/summer seems too long to wait :) I think I’m already nesting (never got that with my first) but we’ve been tackeling soo many house projects lately it is insane- still not sure why I “had” to repaint our bedroom and baseboards by myself while my (amazing) husband finished our backsplash!
Clara wasn’t around when we used it (she was with Grammy one day, and sleeping upstairs the other day) and I used a respirator since it’s low-VOC but not no-VOC. Once it’s dry though, it’s very low odor (it only listed 6 hours of drying time on the can although we gave each coat 24 hours to be sure). So unlike other Minwax stuff we’ve used (which is super stinky for days and days – honestly I hate how bad they can smell) this is much better about drying a lot faster and having no odor when it’s dry. Ventilating the room (open windows and doors with the garage door open too, etc) really helps too while it goes on!
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I really think you should pull up the floor and just stain the concrete slab…like the 2008 sunroom project. Only more darker and less yellow.
I wish it was concrete under there! There’s no crawl space under the sunroom (hence the slab of concrete) but the rest of our house is subflooring (since there’s crawl space under it). If there were concrete I’d rip this up and paint that concrete in a second!
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lol…aw man…I don’t even know what a crawlspace is (is it like for when tornadoes come?) Everything in Houston area gets a slab.
You’re lucky! Our crawl space is like 14″ of space (literally you slither on your stomach to access things like pipes and things under the house). Slab sounds heavenly!
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Looks great! I’m sure it will be a night and day difference too once you get new flooring in. It will really make the darker cabinets pop since now they seem to blend into the floor a bit more.
In terms of the chalkboard paint on the appliances, I’d probably stay away from it if you plan on trying to sell them down to road. But, you could always do chalkboard contact paper on them for a temporary fix. It would be removable for down the road. I found another blog that did it for a portion of theirs. http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/5-MINUTE-DIY-CHALKBOARD-REFRIGERATOR
The hubs is going on a two week business trip next week. I’m so tempted to stain our bathroom cabinet while he’s gone! Your post makes it sound do-able!
Love that idea Alli!
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The whole kitchen is more sleek and sophisticated; but still homey. I love it!
Love the finished look! I prefer natural wood so was pleased when you decided to stain vs. paint :) Here in the Midwest, we were dumped on the last weekend, so the snow days have given me plenty of time to complete procrastinated projects. Most important was wood-burning and staining a bowl that we had at our wedding for people to sign (over seven months ago!) I used the same Minwax Polystain as you– in a lighter shade– and I’m just letting the last coat dry now. So satisfying to get those projects checked off the to-do list!
That sounds so cozy Linda!
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Sherry, do you help stain and if so, what kind of respirator do you use?
I’m also pregnant.
We’re about to have our uppers painted white and lowers SW silvermist and your photos make me want to stain instead!
We have one from Home Depot that takes filters (not one of those paper masks, one that looks like a gas mask). Every time someone asks me what it is I wish I knew (it literally doesn’t say anything on it) but it was around $35-40 a few years back and you just want one that provides a ton of protection and takes filters (not those little paper ones, even the ones with a fan in them).
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