Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

As I've mentioned before - January/February/March is my slow time of year with photography, so I take full advantage of tackling those long-awaited home improvement projects.  I have contemplated painting our kitchen cabinets ever since we have moved into this house.  After we put the island in I REALLY started thinking about it  because I wasn't happy with the two different colored cabinets.   But I was slightly terrified..... I finally found my courage and went and chatted with the handy-dandy guy at Lowes and he gave some great advice. 


He said the trick lies with this wonderful primer - made just for glossy surfaces.  See that picture on there? They are using the primer on ceramic tile - thats crazy!  I thought certainly then it would work on my cabinets.  No sanding???? psssshhh - yes please!?  So I came home and painted the inside of one of each kind of cabinets.  I texted my sister a picture of what I was doing and said "Talk me down off the ledge!" - but alas, she was too slow to respond and by the time she tried to talk some sense into me it was too late.   So - here are a few "before" pictures....




A chik-fil-a sweet tea is a necessity before beginning this project......




I poured over many MANY paint swatches and finally decided on this one - I wanted a nice deep neutral cream. I went with "Homestead Resort Cameo White" - which also happens to be a color from the National Trust for Historic Preservation  - I can't go wrong with that one - it's timeless.


same color against the white island...


Years ago we installed this chair rail in the dining room with the intentions of painting underneath it a light neutral - well I finally was able to tackle that project too, with the same color as the cabinets.


Having little girl entertainment is also very helpful when embarking on a large scale project.....


I had planned on this project taking at least a week, maybe longer.... but it actually only took four days, working only several hours each day.  It wasn't nearly as tedious as I thought it would be.  And I was also being a slight perfectionist - which really paid off.  We just had to live with the kitchen looking like this for a few days.


The teenager stayed home sick one day last week, and I ended up putting her to work - don't all moms make their kids do manual labor on sick days???? No??   Just kidding - she offered so I assumed she must be feeling better. 


and the after pictures.....




So nice and bright and cheerful now. 




I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this trim on the long end of the island turned out.   It was my labor of love - I hand cut each piece (24 CUTS!!) at a perfect 45 degree angle and painstakingly glued them on, camping out on the floor one evening while holding each one on while the glue set..... then caulked them all the way around, then finally primed and painted them.  I always disliked the plain-ness of that part of the kitchen, now I really love it!  We are also going to be doing this under the chair rail in the dining room, and also on the ends of the lower cabinets. 





I'm loving the new hardware as well - LOVE the leafy motif on them...



and I really like the contrast now with the wood floors - I think it makes the floors look much nicer.


We plan to have some recessed lighting installed throughout the kitchen and family room, and then the final step will be adding this wonderful natural stone backsplash.  I think however, I will hire that part out.  I just may draw the line with the wet saw....  maybe...


Here is the dining room after the painting - but before the trim work has been added - it's patiently waiting there on the floor. 


And the finishing touch is the cutey little kindergartener sitting there doing her homework!!