Before I took my cabinets all apart, I snapped some before pictures. Because after pictures will be 93% more fun with some good before pictures.
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You can see that this drawer has some pretty deep nicks in it. I’ll fill those before I paint it.
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The three under my biggest counter are in pretty decent shape, mostly because they house things I don’t use every single day (unlike the silverware drawer!)
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Here you can see the fake wood laminated cabinet sides. Fortunately, there aren’t too many exposed sides…only four. Painting fake wood is always a little bit iffy, but hopefully my good primer and paint will do the trick.
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Here’s a shot of one side of the kitchen. ‘Scuse the quality…I had to take it with my point and shoot.
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And here’s another side:
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And the last side.
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The cabinet doors and drawer fronts are all coming off next, and they’re taking a trip to my parents’ house, where my dad has kindly offered to drill all the holes for the new, hidden hinges (you can get non-mortise hinges, but my dad wouldn’t hear of us going that halfway route!).
Then I’m planning to sand, prime, and paint all of the cabinet frames, just because that’s going to be the most life-disturbing part of this project and I want to get it OVER WITH.
Of course, if we suddenly have a string of very non-July-ish weather, involving cooler temperatures and low humidity, I’ll haul myself outside to sand the cabinet doors first instead.
(If you’re getting tired of hearing about my cabinets, I apologize. I will be done with this project eventually, and I promise I will shut up about it then.)
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Joshua’s 365 post: The Newly Decluttered Room, Fin!
Erin
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
I hope your cabinet project goes well for you!!!! I just painted my kitchen cabinets this winter, and it is a very big job. Not to discourage you, but it took me quite a lot longer than I expected! (But I have littler kids than you do, so I couldn't work all day on it, rather had to work at naptimes and after they went to bed......) For me, it took a good month to complete. I worked on it about 2-4 hours per day, except for two days that I got a baby sitter and worked for the whole day.
I did all the sanding and painting by hand, which some people do with power tools. My sister in law once painted all her cabinet doors using spray paint, and said it worked well. My cabinets went from a dark walnut brown to white...... So I had to do three coats of white plus primer to get them to cover well ( and I used good quality furniture and cabinet paint!). I thought the sanding part would take the longest but it took way longer to paint.
But I am sooooo happy with my results! It really brightened up my kitchen, and made it feel so light and airy!!
So I hope you are happy with your results too, and I hope it goes faster for you than it did for me!!!
Kristen
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
Yeah, I figure this is going to take quite a while. But fortunately I do have an orbital sander, so I can do a lot of the sanding with that, and just do the detail work by hand.
mindy
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
I'm enjoy seeing the process of your kitchen update as well! As a few others have mentioned, I've been contemplating a project like this too, and I'm looking forward to what all you have to share with us!
Kylene
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
Keep on posting about the cabinets. My hubby and I will be tackling this project soon in our home. Right now we are working on painting the interior. What brand on primer and paint are you using?
Kristen
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
I'm using Zinsser primer and Benjamin Moore Advance paint. It looks good on the test door and drawer I've done so far.
Economies of Kale
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
I can't wait to see how it turns out :)
Kristen
Tuesday 16th of July 2013
Me too! I wish I could press fast forward. =P
Steph nelson
Monday 15th of July 2013
Have you started painting yet? If I were you I would be moving those cabinets over the sink up! Have you considered that?
Kristen
Monday 12th of August 2013
That's a little more involved than I wanted to get, and also, that would make the cabinets a little too high for my younger girls to reach, even with a stool or chair.
So, I left them be!