The official before pictures
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.
 |
You can see that this drawer has some pretty deep nicks in it. I'll fill those before I paint it.
 |
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!)
 |
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.
 |
Here's a shot of one side of the kitchen. 'Scuse the quality...I had to take it with my point and shoot.
 |
And here's another side:
 |
And the last side.
 |
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.)
__________________________
Joshua's 365 post: The Newly Decluttered Room, Fin!
I have a week of vacation coming up and am thinking about redoing our original-to-the-house, been-painted-over-by-other people 1952 kitchen cabinets.
How much time are you budgeting for redoing your cabinets? Will you pack up everything that is in them?
Any suggestions for an effective but environmentally friendly paint stripper?
Can you remind us which is your favorite primer?
Thanks!
I didn't use a stripper-I sanded my cabinets. In my experience, using a stripper is messier and more time consuming.
I used Zinsser oil-based primer for this job.
And I'd say that if I had a whole week with nothing else to do (cleaning, cooking, laundry, church work, etc.) I could have gotten it done. As it was, I was painting while trying to maintain those other duties, so it took me about three weeks.
Oh, keep posting! I have been contemplating a project like this for a long time. It might not happen until next summer (or spring) but seeing all that is involved helps me get a realistic perspective on it. Enjoy!
Very exciting! Wishing you a dose of low humidity!
I love hearing about your kitchen update....can't wait to see the finished product.
I'm so excited to see the finished product! Keep updating on all of the progress...I'd love to know the challenges and benefits of this project. Good luck! 🙂
To follow up with what Libby said, are you keeping track of the total hours that will be spent on this project (including your dads)? Afterwards, for the rest of us, that might give us an idea of what we'd be getting into if we try the same thing and how we might budget our time. Thanks for sharing the process.
That's a good idea-I'll make an effort to track my time.
How do you get the primer and paint to adhere to the fake sides?
I've always sanded it down and painted on top. It's worked great for me. I just had to pay special attention to how much I sanded. It needed to be even, and not too deep or I'd sand right through the fake part!
Yep, I just do a light sanding to scuff it up. And I always use primer.
I think it's GREAT that YOU are able to do this project &&&&&&& Share it with US !
It's going to Save You ALOT of MONEY !!!!!!
& that's what you blog is about 😉
I personally would have to let my Hubby do it, as I'm not that Creative. I could Help but it would have to be the Most Simplist Thing. I also get Really Nervous when I have to do things similar. We painted the inside of our House 8 yrs ago & did New Carpets in the Living room & Bedrooms & put Laminet Wood flooring in our Hall. Then 3 summers ago we painted ( my Hub & Son & Daughter ) the outside of our house 🙂 I did all the Running here n there to get what was needed made Lunch n did small projects 🙂
But We Saved Money
Can't wait to see what you do!
Kristin:
I'm very excited about seeing the new look of your white cabinets and black appliances. I have white cabinets (laminate) and white appliances, but Ive always loved, loved, loved black appliances-even more than stainless! I had to go out and buy a new fridge this weekend (the only one finally died) and you've inspired me. I purchased a black fridge! I have an old dishwasher and stove so I'll just replace those in black when they are finally put on the DNR/DNI list. Eventually I'd love to redo my cabinets and countertops and am hoping this will be doable in the next 3-5 yrs.
Take care,
Emily
Have you started painting yet? If I were you I would be moving those cabinets over the sink up! Have you considered that?
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!
I can't wait to see how it turns out 🙂
Me too! I wish I could press fast forward. =P
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?
I'm using Zinsser primer and Benjamin Moore Advance paint. It looks good on the test door and drawer I've done so far.
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!
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!!!
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.