When we moved into the new house, the kitchen was my least favorite room. Don’t get me wrong, it had great bones. Roomy, an island with pull-out storage, under-cabinet lighting, lazy Susan cabinet, porcelain sink, older but higher end appliances…lots of great core features. It did not, however, look like my dream farmhouse kitchen. I told myself we had more important projects to do…it was not that bad, and I should make do with the turquoise. There were quite a few people who said they liked the color….it just wasn’t my style.
A few weeks later I found myself standing in the middle of the room envisioning what I wanted it to be. I had already added rugs and towels to accent the color and even found some curtains that looked decent. But honestly, it was just a band-aid. Then reality sets in and I tell myself to be patient once again! There were other more important projects to be done first.
One day my husband says, ‘you know, I really HATE the blue cabinets!’ That’s all I had to hear, my wheels start spinning. If he doesn’t like it, then that means it’s time!
We talked through colors and the process to make it happen. With the creams and browns we already had, white made the most sense. White appliances, white sink, and white cabinets. I wasn’t sure. Everything was a bit worn, not crisp white anymore. Oyster Pearl is a color we have used in the past and is more of an antique white. Bill painted a sample board, set it in the kitchen and we finally decided it was the one after a day or so.
I did some research on cabinet paint and after reading all the reviews, decided Valspar Cabinet Enamel was the product for us. We planned the project around Thanksgiving break so that we could work on it for a few days straight without interruption. After making a rough diagram of the kitchen area and numbering each door and drawer, we got started. We removed each door and drawer being careful to number each one and place all the hardware individually in a baggie marked with the same number. Seems like overkill however, this will make re-assembly that much easier.
Luckily, we had room in our shop to spread out to paint everything at once. I labeled the area for each door to keep our system intact while painting.
Bill worked inside on the cabinet boxes in the kitchen and I worked out in the shop on the doors, shelves, and drawer fronts. We started with a good coat of Kilz primer, applying it front and back with a foam roller. The primer dried quickly so we were able to get that done and put a first coat of paint on in the same day. We applied two coats of paint on everything. Since the door fronts have a decorative line and were more difficult to paint, we decided to give them a third coat just to make sure they were perfect. The paint is thin and does settle itself. All vertical surfaces wanted to run if we used too much paint, so we did have to keep going back to check and correct any runs. This was not a quick process. We worked continuously for three days however, by planning, prepping, and paying attention to every detail we were able to transform our kitchen for a fraction of the price.
We allowed the third coat to dry overnight. It was completely dry and rock hard by morning. We followed the same process during reassembly, installing each door and drawer in order of our diagram. Having the screws, hinges, and knobs altogether in a baggie made this a quick and easy step to the finished product. We chose to keep and reuse the same hinges and knobs as they were the color we wanted and saved some money since we had over 39 doors to deal with.
I am so happy with the result. It is so much brighter and looks so much bigger. We refinished the top of the island and it turned out beautifully.
The final piece was the wall where the refrigerator is hanging out in the breeze. We wanted a cabinet or pantry of some kind, but I thought a desk/work area made more sense. We found a sewing machine base for the desk and took an old window we had to use on the cabinet. The door was original to the room however we liked it as a barn door for more flexibility.
Thank you for allowing me to share this transformation with you. Now I stand in this room in awe. A little elbow grease and determination and we now have this fantastic dream farmhouse kitchen. Painting cabinets is a DIY doable project but does require patience, organization, and most importantly, teamwork!
About Cindy and Bill Menth:
Cindy and her husband, Bill, enjoy working with wood and other found furniture and decorative items. Their hobby and passion for creating farmhouse-style items is a business is called Stone Creek Farms. They sell their one-of-a-kind pieces at the Antiques Village (booth 9005) in Dayton, Ohio.
