cabinet makeover | The CSI Project

Hello readers! I'm Corinna and I blog at My Scrapbook Life. I'm very happy to be guest posting today at the CSI Project. I love to get inspiration from other bloggers, and the CSI Project never fails to inspire me! I'm married and have one 11-year-old daughter, Summer. I'm a scrapbooker and that's usually the kind of projects I show on my blog, but during the last year I've also been sharing my painting projects and here's one I finished last night just for you to see today! Whew, what a week! Let me tell you, living and trying to cook in your kitchen for a month while you redo the cabinets is NO fun! I work full time so this was done in my spare time in the evenings and on weekends. Man, I am SO HAPPY to be finished! Well, the cabinets are finished. Not the entire kitchen (boo!). Anyway, here's what it looked like before. Before: I must say, and this is just MY opinion of course, I think the worst kind of paint you could possibly use on your kitchen cabinets (or anything really!) is flat paint. And that is exactly what the previous owners did with the cabinets in this kitchen. I hate flat paint because it's impossible to keep clean. These were just plain ole gross. I love white cabinets. I just like the clean, crisp feel of white. And I like high gloss paint. Shiny equals pretty! I've been putting off this redo for quite some time due to budget issues (the budget being nonexistent mostly! LOL), I was thrilled to be sponsored by Dutch Boy for this project! Here's the paint I chose. I went with this choice because it's specifically for cabinets and the girl working in the paint department at Menard's told me it was the highest gloss I could get. This was the first time I've painted in a while, so I was pleasantly surprised by the paint container having a built in spout like this. Very convenient! And I loved the fact that it came with a handle on the side like a gallon of milk! So here's how it all went down: Step One: I removed all the doors from the cabinets, then removed the handles and hinges from the doors and drawers. The handles got scrubbed with soap and water. But those hinges were a different story. Look at this! I counted 4 layers of paint on the cabinets, and that included the hinges. I soaked them with my magical paint remover. This stuff is AMAZING! But you have to be really careful because just a tiny drop splashed onto your arm will burn like nobody's business. Don't ask me how I know. See how pretty? There are 22 hinges and at $2 each at my local Menard's, I saved a little bit of money by just cleaning up the old ones and they look like new again! Step Two: Remove all the paint from the doors and drawers. Now, my magical 1776 would have done a wonderful job on this part also, but it wasn't needed. I was able to chip all the paint off in huge pieces with a sharp putty knife and one of those razor blade scrapers you use to get paint off glass. Step Three: Sand, sand, and sand some more! This was the WORST part for me. I borrowed my dad's Duwalt square sander and it worked great. In fact, it's going on my Christmas list this year. But the sanding was neverending. I had to keep stopping for breaks because my hands were numb. LOL Step Four: Primer everything! Perhaps now would be a good time to clarify that I'm not a professional painter. I have read many how-tos on the internet and blogs on how other people have done their cabinets and I used some tips I've gleaned from that. One of them was the best primer to use, and I got this primer because of several others saying it was the best. I thought it worked great. I put two coats on all the cabinet doors, drawers, and the base of the cabinets. I also primered all the insides of the cabinets. I used a paintbrush for corners and a foam roller for the rest of the job. I had read it's a good idea to lightly sand in between coats of primer, so that's what I did. I learned that you shouldn't put primer on too thick, because in your 85 degree kitchen it will run and there will be drips. UGH! Step Five: Paint! Ah, FINALLY! I once again went with a paintbrush for the corners and edges and a nice foam roller for the rest, the bases, the doors, the drawers, all of it! I put two coats of paint on everything. Oh, it was so shiny and clean and pretty, this was when I finally started to see the light at the end of my month-long tunnel! For my doors, I actually waited a full 24 hours in between paint coats. I know some people just wait a few hours, but I didn't want any mishaps! Here's a funny story for you. At the end of one day I still had quite a bit of paint left in my roller tray, so rather than pour it back into the container I just covered it up with aluminum foil and left it on the kitchen counter. Like this: My hubby came home shortly after and asked me what kind of cake we had and who made it. I looked at him like he was crazy. What? What cake? He said there's a cake on the counter in the kitchen. And I was still looking at him like he was crazy, having no idea what he was talking about.....until he finally said the cake wrapped up in aluminum foil! He thought the paint was a cake. And I could see why he thought so, it's roughly the size of a 9x13 cake pan! LOL Step Six: Wait. I am not a patient woman! This was very hard for me, but from past experience I knew if I handled the painted pieces too soon they would get flawed and I really wanted to do this project right the first time, so I waited. Step Seven: Put all the freshly cleaned (now silver!) hinges and handles back onto the doors and drawers. Hang all the doors back up. Actually, ask your husband to hang all the doors back up because you feel like your arms are gonna fall off by this point. Step Eight: Step back and enjoy the beauty! (ignore the unpainted windowsill...I ran out of time!) I cannot even tell you how happy looking at this kitchen makes me! Even with my ugly green countertop! LOL This was really just a small part of my kitchen redo. I'm planning to buy a white countertop soon and come up with some sort of awesomeness for the backsplash. And that 80-year-old wallpaper is going bye-bye. In fact, the part of the kitchen that you don't see is already free of wallpaper. I'm also going to replace that hideous fluorescent light above my kitchen sink (hate it) with something pretty that hangs down a bit. And that awful green tile on my walls? It will be red someday soon! Thanks to CSI for asking me to guest post....and I hope you all enjoyed my kitchen cabinets makeover as much as I'm enjoying looking at them!