Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Semi Kitchen Makeover: Paint Job!

When we bought our house, we knew there was a lot of work to be done. Not really necessary work per say, but things to do to get it up to par with our style. Well, in the year and a half that we've lived here, we have done quite a few updates. The kitchen has always been one of the top things to we wanted to work on - of course, it can also be one of the most expensive things to remodel!

Here is the lovely kitchen when we moved in:

Well, we don't have a ton of money stashed away, so we are always looking for ways to a) save money, and b) do ourselves. Every time we head over to Home Depot or Lowes, we wander around (mostly the kitchen and flooring areas) just to check things out. We toyed with the idea of purchasing new cabinets before because we really don't have that many of them to being with. Also, our cabinets aren't real wood, not even the doors (just the door frames?). But, once you begin adding them up, it starts to eat your money.

So we ultimately decided that painting our cabinets would be the best bet for us for now. I did a bunch of online research to make sure we would get everything we needed, especially the right kind of paint and primer for the job. If you're thinking about doing this yourself, this guide from thisoldhouse.com helped a lot. Also, if you have laminates, this article was REALLY helpful for us. So yeah, DO YOUR RESEARCH!

A couple of tips:
  1. As your a removing your doors/drawers, number them. Especially if you are using the same hardware, if you mix and match, after you are done you may find that things aren't fitting how they should. I just ripped piece of tape and wrote the numbers on them.
  2. Make sure you have a BIG work area. We spread out everything in our garage over paint tarps.
  3. Don't be too anxious. Most everything I read said to wait 1-2 weeks (sometimes more!) for the paint to "cure". If you put everything back together too soon, because the paint can still be semi sticky, your doors/drawers could possibly stick to the cabinet base and ruin your pain job!
  4. Hardware. Don't think that everything you purchase will work for you right out of the package. We had to buy longer screws for our handles than what came with them. We also purchased new door hinges, and tried about 4 different ones before we got one that worked correctly (hint: buy several different types to try, THEN purchase the necessary amount. oops). I think I had to go to the hardware store about 6 different times. Ugh.
So yeah, the most important part:





I love love love it! Although the awesome new paint job and hardware make our icky white floors and counters look even more blah, that's okay :)
Edit: Oops, forgot to mention that this only cost about $125 :)

24 comments:

Raven said...

YES! You know how I love black cabinets. :) Great job!

Andrea said...

Are you kidding me!? That is 100% better. I'm amazed! Just paint!? I can't believe it!

Also, how annoying are tile countertops? My parents have them and it's impossible to keep them looking clean. Sigh.

Unknown said...

It doesn't even look like the same kitchen! I seriously had to scroll back up a couple times to convince myself, that yes...it was! GREAT JOB you two! I'm really happy for you, and it looks awesome!

natasha | sohobutterfly said...

LOVE it. Looks one million times better. And I have to say, in the photos the white tile actually looks quite nice. Retro funky!

Unknown said...

Yay! It turned out so great! and I agree, the tile looks cool, though I do know it's a pain to clean. Maybe a big giant rug in the middle of the kitchen would help break up the tile-ness if you don't like it? Cheaper than getting new flooring..

Angelina Fong Designs said...

Wow this turned out fabulous! I seriously scrolled up and down between your before and after pictures like 5 times because I couldn't believe it was the same kitchen. The transformation is so dramatic! Great job!

Shan @ Design Gal said...

I LOVE it!

Mermanda said...

Impressive! Looks great! I can't believe what a difference some paint made. We are doing the opposite in our kitchen this summer. New counter tops and floors. We can live with the cabinets. But the counter tops... ughhhhhh. I'm not even going to talk about the floors. (can't keep them clean for ONE FREAKING DAY!)

Anonymous said...

this looks amazing! i love the black and white scheme. i can't wait til i have my own place, i've been wanting to do a black and white with red accents kitchen for a while now.

Shan @ Design Gal said...

alyssa, i'm going to feature this on my blog- is that okay?

Anna said...

Isn't paint amazing? Lovely job.

Cassie xo said...

Hi Alyssa, thanks for stopping by my blog :) I adore your kitchen makeover! It looks really expensive and classy, good job.

Lauryn said...

The dark cabinets look fabulous! Great job!

caitlyn said...

Ooo it looks so good! I painted my mom's bathroom cabinets and it is not an easy task! I used to have that same rug in the kitchen in my apt. here (before my stupid roommate RUINED it :( so i had to throw it away). I think Steph has it too!

Talia said...

they look amazing!!!!!! Great job... I am so impressed. I know what a project painting cabinets is. And that you did it for so cheap... whee!! that's the best kind of makeover!! :)

I'm loving all the crafty things you've posted lately. I'm itching to do a home/project post again soon. You're inspiring me!

Jen said...

isn't it awesome what a little paint can do?! i'm all about painting things. your kitchen looks beautiful! and super fun. :)

sarah marie p said...

Yay! Go Chris & Alyssa! The kitchen looks so awesome!

The makeover made your kitchen look so sleek & modern! The black paint looks so great with your appliances!

Good work, guys!

!!!!!!

sarah marie p said...

p.s.
I like the secret hiding cat spot!

grrfeisty said...

holy CRAP. that is amazing! i don't see anything "icky" about the white floors OR counter tops. they all match so well! i am definitely bookmarking this post of yours because a) hello amazing kitchen!, b) you included awesome links!!, and c) the last part of our house daniel and i are messing with is the kitchen!
awesome!
i agree with shannon, i had to do a double take! hahaha
and i think commenting on blogger posts is weird, so i'm telling you here that i replied to your comment with treehouses are awesome!! :D

Erin said...

I am dying to do this to our cabinets!

Sadie said...

I love the black! What a dramatic change!

Sid said...

oh wow the black makes such a difference it looks so good! I'd love to have black cabinets and such which chalkboard paint in the center of each

Debra said...

Hi Alyssa. I just linked to your kicthen redo and I love it. I am this week starting on ours and wanted to also paint it black as I have yellow and black wall tiles all over the kitchen with an icky off white speckled counter top and back splash (really bad!!). What kind of paint did you use for the black, semi gloss or gloss? And did you just go with a straight black?

Btw I love your blog!!

Debra said...

Hi Alyssa. I just linked to your kicthen redo and I love it. I am this week starting on ours and wanted to also paint it black as I have yellow and black wall tiles all over the kitchen with an icky off white speckled counter top and back splash (really bad!!). What kind of paint did you use for the black, semi gloss or gloss? And did you just go with a straight black?

Btw I love your blog!!