Welcome Back

My house has been saying "Welcome Back- we knew you couldn’t resist our good looks.” And how true that was! I had spent a straight year renovating as much as I could, but then life happened. I moved in some roommates, started a business, and switched grade levels. All these things meant much less time to focus on my renovations. However, school breaks tend to lead themselves to projects.

So as Thanksgiving break rolled around, I decided I couldn’t stare at that kitchen as-is any longer... but I wasn’t really sure how I was going to fix it in a cost effective way. I eventually want to blow out the whole kitchen, so whatever I did needed to be something I was going to be ok pulling out in a few months/years. I knew I didn’t want to sand- it is so labor intensive, and who knows how long I’ll be keeping those cabinets. I also knew that in the garage I painted cabinets with latex paint without sanding- they’ve held up well, but aren’t used daily like the kitchen. So I started researching and came across Tasha’s blog: https://www.designertrapped.com/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets/

Painting without sanding?! I was sold... I rushed to Amazon and ordered the deglosser and this amazing Milk Paint she talked about.

Now, now- I know what you’re thinking. This 80’s paint job was fantastic. It’s so fun that they didn’t paint the whole cabinet, right?! Don’t worry- the powder room vanity is still in this style, but painted with a lovely turquoise instead of white. 

So, first step in this process was taking off the cabinet doors- making sure to carefully set aside the hardware so it could be reused. I made sure to mark the back of the cabinet doors with a piece of tape so I could label which cabinet it went to. I carefully laid the cabinets out on a painting blanket so that I could degloss them as well. Deglossing was so simple, and took just minutes! I didn’t even have to clear out the cabinets.

After allowing the deglosser to dry, it was time to paint. I was so excited to try out this paint. It went on nice and smoothly- and in just about three hours, the first coat was applied to the cabinet boxes. I allowed it to dry as I watched some Netflix- I wouldn’t get through most of these projects without some Friends and West Wing. I was determined to finish the boxes that night, so I stayed up till 3am to get the second coat on... and it thoroughly covered up the wood grain, and was already looking brighter! Pro tip- wrap your paint tray, roller, and brush in Saran Wrap and put in the freezer overnight- you’ll be ready to go in the morning!

Now since I stayed up working until 3, I was sore and tired. This meant day 2 didn’t commence until much later in the day, and painting the doors took longer because of the crevices and the previous paint job. While the doors dried in between coats, I spray painted the hinges with a brushed nickel (hint- make sure you spray paint the correct side so you don’t have to redo it all). 

Later that night, the doors and boxes were ready to be antiqued. I was so excited to try out this process, and the first door looked great!

However, when I started putting the doors back on, it wasn’t working together. Between the coloring of the countertops and floor, the cabinets just looked dirty. #fail

So the doors came back off and were painted white again before I ran off to Thanksgiving dinner. It was already looking much better! A few coats of poly later, and it was the moment of truth. I remounted the doors with the freshly painted hardware. 

The final product? Much brighter and cleaner. I still hate almost everything about this dark kitchen and can’t wait to rip it all out, but now it’s more bearable. Besides, isn’t the brick over the stove gorgeous?!

Krud Kutter- $11.93

Foam roller and tray- $7.32

General Finishes Milk Paint (Antique White)- 4x$19.99

Total- $99.21... kitchen redo for under $100 🎉