Thursday, May 13, 2010
I'm spoiled
So I know that there are real, serious problems out there in the world. Forgive me for being obsessive about my kitchen.
Original as seen in this blog post:
After I painted 3 different shades of green, I still don't like it. 
I think the real problem is the cabinets/countertops/old appliances. I am wavering about doing anything because really, if I paint, I want to get new countertops, and if I get new countertops, we'll need new appliances, and if we're getting that deep, I really want to knock out both walls and put in a kitchen island. I think I'm going to settle for painting and possibly new countertops (which does definitetly mean a new sink. The old owner was a smoker and used to put her ashes out in sink, and it was acrylic, so you get the picture.)
Here's the deal: I don't really want to paint the cabinets, but I don't know how much good I can do if I don't paint them.
Old cabinets: Painted cabinets:
Labels: house and home, kitchen
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We have yet to tackle the nastiness that are our cabinets. I have never done it, but I hear that it's not a fun task.
I just cannot believe that you got rid of that loverly border.
ooh, thanks for showing the pool blue with the white cabinets...that's the combination i'm considering for my kitchen right now (i have ugly wood cabinets and hilariously 70s wallpaper everywhere--even on the ceiling!). i really like the chartreuse or the pool with the white cabinets. i think the white looks fresher and cleaner than the cream. and i agree...the orange is the only thing that really plays well with the existing cabinet color. oh, and i actually like the dark countertop with the whole thing...good luck!
Painting cabinets is a major undertaking unlike what they show you on HGTV. You have to clean the crap out of them with special cleaner if you want the paint to stick. You have to remove the doors too. You have to prime them, then put 2-3 layers of paint on them. You will use lots of painters tape to keep it neat unless you're nuts and want to paint the inside too (don't).
Now don't get me wrong I love my painted cabinets but the painter I hired wouldn't even do the job so Greg and I had to do it. I don't think your cabinets look bad - if you want to start with just the hardware I have a great source!
Freshie is very, very right. HGTV- especially for shows like Trading Spaces- does not do the cabinets the way you'd want them done if you were going to continue living in the house! I painted mine in our old house and it took me about 2 weeks of working a good chunk of hours per day. Even then, it was one of the best design choices I made for that house because the cabinets REALLY bugged me. I would absolutely do it all over again. We went from orange-y oak to creamy off-white.
Steps I did:
1. Scrub all to-be-painted surfaces with TSP (trisodium phosphate).
2. Rough sand all surfaces
3. Wipe with painter's cheesecloth (what's that stuff called?)
4. Primer coat
5. sand and wipe down again
6. Second primer coat (you might be able to skip this, but the tannin in the oak kept bleeding through where the knots were, and required two coats to block it)
7. rough sand, wipe again
8. paint with finish coat
9. rough sand, wipe down
10. final coat of finish
11. Whew. Finis!
We removed the doors, painted their fronts and backs, and did not paint the inside of the cabinet- just the lip where the door met, so there was a hard edge and no tape was required. I take that back, we did tape off around the walls and baseboards- just not the inside of the cabinets.
I'm happy to answer any questions if you decide to move forward.
Maybe you should get rid of the cabinets above the countertop and hang some nice shelves.Then you'll only have to paint the lower half
;)I think you'll have a beautiful kitchen in the white cabinets, black countertop, blue/grey walls and white shelves combination. Good luck!!
This is the best tutorial I have seen so far:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/11/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets/
Their blog is great too!
X Shanna
Freshie is sooo right. As an ex-painter and horrid people pleaser, even I say Absolutely NOT when folks ask me to help paint their cabinets. A horrendously time consuming and messy, difficult task. But as Tisra said, it will transform your kitchen. Just save up and hire someone.
And that painter's cheesecloth is called tack cloth.
Go for the orange and skip the gruesome cabinet painting task!
Greg and I did exactly what Tisra did and our cabinets were an orangeish oak too! I HATED the color of them before but I don't hate your cabinet color. You must truly loathe them before you take on the task of painting them!!
Ahem, I believe I put at least one of those green colors up there.
Our cabinets were painted by the previous owners, and although they look pretty good on the outside, inside and where the doors meet (and the interiors of the drawers) are all flaking onto our dishes. I lined the cabinets with adorable non-adhesive shelf liner from Target. I don't think I have it in me to ever repaint them.
How would it look with everything the way it is (I really like the green) but with dark counter tops? Might be the easiest fix and bring things together (too much yellow is maybe what's bothering you). Overall though I like the room - I liked it from the first post you did of it (okay - not the original!).