HOME TOUR
When we walked through the open house, we took one look at this kitchen and shuddered. It was a case of “what were they thinking?” It was a whole lot of craftsman style and a whole lot of wood colors…just about enough to drive me crazy for a few months. But like the rest of the house, I could see it. The cabinetry was solid and well-made, went all the way to the ceiling and the space had an appropriate flow. The appliances, although old (15+ years) were all working and had been top of the line.
The “Before”
The “After”
A painter gave us a quote of over $10k to paint the cabinetry because he would uninstall the cabinets and spray them in his shop. Nope. Not a chance. I hiked my 7 months pregnant self over to the paint store, bought two gallons of the nicest paint Benjamin Moore made and threw in a “nice” paint brush to boot for less than $150. It took weeks and I mean weeks to paint the kitchen. Because I was sanding and cleaning them, letting the paint dry well and doing it ALL DURING A TODDLER’S DAILY NAP. It was almost painful how long it took. But I look at the kitchen and feel such pride. A true DIY.
Prior to painting the cabinetry, the four different colors of wood were all vying for center stage in this small space. The cabinetry got painted BM Chantilly Lace, my absolute favorite white. The island got a fresh coat of Chelsea Grey and it is perfect. We changed out the hardware, added new light fixtures everywhere in the kitchen and ripped out the dated backsplash. The backsplash had little tiles of oak leaves and acorns which some how didn’t seem appropriate for this lovely farmhouse. The counters are still an unfortunate case of black and pink speckled granite, like an 80s dance party gone all wrong. Thankfully it just looks black from a distance. We’re not spending the money on replacing them because the plan is to gut the kitchen someday in the big remodel. So for right now and less than $3k, we are quite pleased with the results. A little elbow grease went a long ways to making some lovely happen.
Professional photos by Ruth Eileen Photography
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Really impressed and overwhelmed the transformation of your new house particularly the kitchen one. It’s the heart of every woman would have a nice beautiful and functioning kitchen. Love what you did for every single thing and proud of you and your family! I had an outdated kitchen very unfortunate when we first moved into this house, yet I’ve asked someone to redo my kitchen for $30K. ( what) But my gut feelings told me that I should have done it myself , but I’m a little nervous and I don’t want a surprise. You had a fab job plus your 7 months pregnancy . Great job mama!!
Thank you so much Vienna! You’re kind words mean the world! 🙂
I have loved following you on Instagram and have recently started reading your blog. I can’t believe you painted these cabinets on your own. I have an 80’s kitchen with lots of oak cabinets and am considering painting them myself too. I’m wondering a few things – did you paint the insides of the cabinets? Do you have to use oil based paint? And what kind of finish on the paint – satin, eggshell? Your home is absolutely precious. I can’t wait to see the new remodel.
Hi Kristin! Thank you for following along! Painting those cabinets was definitely one of the favorite DIYs to date. Instant update. I bought the most expensive paint from Benjamin Moore, I think it was their Advance line. The guy told me it self levels which helps take out some of the brush strokes. It was a lot of work so I did not paint the inside of the cabinets and it was a satin finish BM Chantilly Lace. It took awhile but I was working completely around a toddler’s nap schedule. Haha! Good luck!
I love your pulls. I think they may be Lewis Dolin bar pulls, which I am looking at for my kitchen too. I have shaker cabinets like yours. What size did you use for your upper cabinets and the larger drawers? Is the refrigerator pull the same line or something different?
Hi Ann! Yes these are the Lewis Dolin bar pulls. I really loved the look of them. Fair warning however, I tore a couple shirts when I got stuck on them while walking by. Totally random but it did happen. For our new kitchen I wanted a similar look except not a T bar that I could get stuck on so we went with School House Electric 8″ Edgecliff pulls in satin brass. The refrigerator pull was the same but the “appliance pull” size. I wish I could get you the dimensions of the cabinetry but now that we’re in our new kitchen, those cabinets were donated.
Beautiful painting and design choices! Did you remove your cabinet faces to paint them? Also, could you share the source of your hardware? Thank you!
Hi there Cynthia! Yes I did remove the cabinetry completely. I laid them on some 2x4s so they were off the ground but flat so I could paint them and let them dry. 🙂 It took forever but completely transformed the space!
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