Project Kitchen Cabinets
I am in love with my new and improved white kitchen (and my handy husband, of course)! He is putting in new flooring next week! Ahh I can’t keep the happiness in!! Stay tuned for details on how my hubby did it, and before and after photos.
If you ask my husband Jeremy he will say that this all started when one day I woke up and told him I wanted a new floor. We picked out the materials for said floor, and he decided that the color difference in the floor and our cabinets would drive him crazy so he needed to paint the kitchen first. Here’s to getting 2 giant renovations on the Summer To Do List in one!
1. Clear and Clean the Area
Don’t be a bad planner like me, and have a party the day you need to clear out the entire kitchen—and try to paint and clean up after everything in one day before you leave for California. You will probably save yourself a few gray hairs if you give yourself more time, take lots of breaks, and try to ventilate properly. Our family was great and offered to let us stay with them while our place aired out from paint fumes. Not only did we empty and clean cabinets, drawers, and countertops; we also had to cover everything in the adjacent living and dining areas with plastic since there was a thick layer of paint over everything else.
2. The Setup
I’m not sure about all the details involved with this part but it was time-consuming. My dear hubby bought plastic and taped off anything he didn’t want to get covered with paint. He bought more of the same bright white paint we used on the doors and trim, and borrowed a portable painting sprayer so he could cover a bigger surface evenly. He scrubbed the cabinets and drawers until there wasn’t any grease or dirt. He was about to break out the handheld spraying machine when he got a call from our BFF who happens to be a contractor. This method which was used on our friend’s cabinets lasted maybe 1-2 years before the paint started chipping. He suggested using lacquer, and Jer said it would cost 5x more; so he told Jer about a spray lacquer that Jer should try.
3. Spray It Up
He did several coats with time in between to dry, and used even more paint when it looked uneven or like certain areas were soaking up more than others or there were runs he had to fix. The main part of the sink area that you can see from the side took 9 coats! He still wasn’t happy with some of the cabinet fronts, but we were out of time so we had to move on. While he sprayed them, they were on wooden blocks.
4. Remove the Setup
A thick layer of dust and paint had settled by the time we returned home to clean up after waiting overnight for them to dry enough to handle. Jer removed the tape and plastic, and we deep cleaned our kitchen as well as the surrounding areas.
5. Retouch
Some of the cabinets did not dry long enough on one side before we started spraying the back side so we had to redo the front again! I dinged one while we cleaned—oops!
When we returned home, it was too hot to paint the cabinet doors outside. The paint was drying too quickly, so Jer set up one of the bathrooms with plastic and a tarp in the tub, and sprayed cabinets one by one. It was time consuming (took all day and night) and had little ventilation. Everything was in chaos for a few days with the fumes and because we had just come back from traveling and hadn’t even unpacked, yet we needed to be leaving again for another trip. My husband finished the doors in time for us to pack the next morning.
I tell you what, it’s tough to live in a halfway done kitchen with kids. The mess is beyond me. Without closed and locked cabinets we
had to put everything up on top of the tables and counters, especially the trash can, so the baby wouldn’t get it. Preparing food was crazy, as was trying to wash dishes and messes. Be forewarned!
6. Put it all Back!
Jer reattached the knobs, installed some hardware to help the cabinets stay shut, added new plastic dots so they would close properly and wouldn’t scuff if slammed. The microwave was carefully reinstalled, and the fridge returned to its spot. I meticulously cleaned the inside of the cabinets and drawers again from he paint dust before restoring the contents.
Extra Details
Jer installed some “daylight” bulbs in our kitchen to replace the warm outdated ones so that it would complement the wall and cabinet colors better with a whiter and brighter light. I thought he would leave the natural colored wood alone on the bar since we have future plans of just removing it, but he went the extra mile and put a few coats of white paint on it to match.
Love My Kitchen!!! Thanks, honey!
