Thrifty Thursday...Painted Kitchen Cabinets

Well, hello!  The day has finally come - I can reveal my newly painted kitchen cabinets.  WooHoo!  I am so excited by this transformation.  WARNING:  This post is going to be long.  I have a ton of pictures to show you!  So sit down, grab a drink, and take a peek at my kitchen.  But first, here is what my kitchen looked like before:

So let's start with what changed from the picture above:

• bar stools
• curtains
• cabinet color - both uppers and lowers
• wall color
• frosted glass switched out for clear glass
• hidden hinges
• cabinet hardware
• added quarter-round trim 

Here are a couple more before views:

What was wrong with it, you may ask?  "It's a total Monet".  (You knew I had to quote Cher from Clueless!)  "From far away it's OK, but up close it's a big old mess."  

I give to you, cabinet doors that were askew.  (I love that word!)  Not to mention chipped paint.  And...

 

Last before picture.  Notice these doors hadn't closed properly in 10 years.  Yep, that's just how roll out here in the 'burbs.

 

And now for the finished product!  (I still need curtains and an area rug for under the table but that will come in time.)

I just realized I forgot to tidy up the desk wall and side of the frig.  OH well, that's how we live!

The shot below shows you the plain-Jane windows.  I am going to do Roman shades in black/white vertical striped fabric.  They will be so awesome.  But when I tried to order the fabric it was on back-order so they will have to wait.  And just today I ordered sample Flor tiles for under the table.  I love them on my computer.  I just hope I love them in real life, too!

I simply adore my glass cabinets but like I've mentioned before, they need to be styled a little differently.  I don't like all the color on one side and all the white and glass on the other.  But I'm kind of stuck.  It's a matter of function vs. style right now!

This picture below was taken while I was standing in the doorway to the formal dining room:

The pantry wall below.  I wish I had a walk-in pantry.  But alas, I do not.  Such is life with a house built in the early 90s.

OK.  So on to more details...

I have written it on here before, but I ADORE the hardware!

I found this hardware on Home Depot's website.  It's not available in their stores - at least not in mine. And actually, I copied Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook.  But seriously, this hardware is so pretty and you cannot beat the price ($1.98 EACH)!!  Here is the pull and here is the knob.  

This little area is our recycle and baking centers.  (Recycle is behind the double doors in the peninsula.)  This is the baking center for obvious reasons - the stand mixer and silver cannisters (from Target, of course).  We added the lights back in March when we had our ceilings scraped.  I love them.  And they're from Home Depot!

 

Below is the desk area in the kitchen.  

 

Here is that whole wall, as seen from the kitchen table.

As for paint, I tried Ben Moore paint this time.  I used their Advance formula for the cabinets which is a hybrid paint.  It acts like oil-based but cleans up with water.  I loved working with it!  I can't say for sure whether or not it will hold up like oil-based paint but I'll let you know.  (Since my cabinets were previously painted I did not prime them.  I just roughed them up with a little sand paper.)  I used Trout Gray but had them add in quite a bit of white to lighten it up.  And I used White for the uppers.  The wall color was also custom mixed.  It was halfway between Bunny Gray and Thundercloud Gray.    

I failed to mention how I filled in the old hinge holes and installed new hidden hinges.  But that is another post for another day.  But I do have to say, I am so very happy I did that.  The cabinets look so much cleaner without the hinges and also, they close.  Bonus.

I love my yellow bar stools!  They are so fun.  They're definitely bright but I think without them the kitchen would be really boring.  

And there you have it.  My newly painted kitchen!  If you made it this far, thanks for reading!  

 

 

Comments

[Bryan Flake]

That is super attractive that your cabinets have windows in them. These windows add so much more to the cabinets. You can see the contents inside and what color the contents are. Those colors can offer a contrast to the kitchen coloring scheme. What a classy idea.

[Suzanne]

Thanks, Katie! As for white appliances, I get where you are coming from. I think the refrigerator would be just fine and I wouldn't worry about that. The appliances I would worry about would be the ones in the gray cabinets on the bottom. If I were you, I might research black appliance spray paint and go that route. I've seen it done on TV shows and it always seems to have great results. I think the black would blend in well and save you from buying new appliances. Good luck! Let me know how it goes if you give it a whirl!

[Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek]

Love it! I've been thinking about doing a similar thing - white on top and a dusty gray/blue on the bottom. But I have all white cabs now and white appliances, and I'm afraid they'll "stick out" and make the kitchen feel smaller. What do you think?