DIY Kitchen Makeover

We've been talking about giving our kitchen a facelift for ages. I think it's a direct result of watching too much HGTV and seeing fixer-uppers and DIY home renovations. We researched the price of new cabinets and were astounded at how expensive they were--over $5,000! We decided a paint job was a better idea. After talking about statting the project for a while, we finally set a date where we'd be able to paint the cabinets and put in some new cabinet pulls. We got all of our supplies, which totaled $180 dollars. The process was incredibly lengthy but it turned out great!

Buy Your Materials

1. Choose your paint. We chose Behr White Truffle because it went well with our granite counter tops.

2. Find cabinet pulls that you like.

3. Buy your primer. We used 1-2-3 Primer because you don't have to sand the surface before you paint. It eliminated a lot of work and went on very smoothly.

4. Get a box of trisodium phosphate to thoroughly clean your cabinets before you prime. It gets rid of grease and dirt and makes the cabinets pristine. 

5. Buy your other supplies: bucket, brushes, plastic drop cloth, cloths to use the TSP with, plastic gloves, face masks, sawhorses, and anything else you'll need. R owns a paint spray gun thing so he used that, which worked AMAZINGLY. It really made the paint adhere to the surface of the wood a lot better than had we painted with a brush. Also, the coverage was smoother and the paint dried a lot faster. 

Process

1. Clean your cabinets out. While this was a pain to do, it was also nice to see what we had crammed in our cabinets. I found coffee that expired in 2011. 

2. Take off the cabinet doors, and mark their location so you put them back correctly later. Remove drawers.

3. Clean all wood with a mixture of 1/2 cup TSP and 2 gallons of warm water. Be sure to use gloves, because TSP can really irritate your skin. Rinse the TSP residue from the cabinets by using a damp, warm cloth.

4. Apply primer and allow to dry. 1-2-3 Primer has a dry time of 1 hour between coats.

5. Apply paint. Allow to dry 2 hours between coats, if necessary. We only used one coat. 

6. Put cabinet pulls on.

7. Attach cabinet doors and return the drawers to their sockets.

Notes: Read the paint label, but with Behr, you can't wipe down the paint for 4 weeks because it takes that long to cure. After all of your hard work, make sure you avoid ruining the finish. 

Behr paint is about $33 at the Home Depot

Choose cabinet pulls, if you don't already have them

Before

Before

Primer

After

After

We still need to add the new toe kick and find a plug cover for that outlet near the ceiling.

Our next project is to add backsplash and new lighting. We would also like to get a new stainless steel stove and clear up our limited counter space by putting the microwave above the stove. All of this will take months, but it's fun to think about, plan, and take time to find the materials we want.