Sunday, September 23, 2012

My Favorite Room in Our House - The Kitchen!!

I know it's been a while! But I keep switching things up in this room, even in the "after" pictures, you'll see how I've been moving things around. I finally think I got enough pictures for you...so here you go!

This was our kitchen before:
Then, I thought about doing something like this...
I actually ended up choosing a bright green (Grass Cloth by Behr) for the kitchen walls, since we already had so much blue in the bedrooms. And I love it!! It's so bright and fun :)

And those cabinets... They took a few weeks and our kitchen was a MESS, but we got started just about as soon as we moved in, so at least we skipped the step of clearing out the cabinets. And yes, I painted inside the cabinets as well. They were just so dark and I knew it would look cleaner (and make me feel happier) if they were nice and white inside too.

First we took the cabinets off and removed all hardware. AND I would recommend numbering the cabinets somehow before you take them down, so you know where they go back instead of trying to make them fit like a puzzle (what we ended up doing!!). Then I had to fill in the holes with wood putty since they were in the middle (why?!) and I didn't want to leave them like that! Then I wiped them with deglosser. You can buy it at Wal-mart, it makes the surface more paintable, like liquid sandpaper. It was so easy, I just had to wipe them down with the deglosser and you could see them, well, get un-glossy.

It took 2 coats of primer. When doing the cabinets I waited at least a day before flipping it over and doing the other side. Which really made this take forever!! I did two coats (maybe three in some parts) of paint (Almond Cream by Behr). My kitchen (and garage) were a mess for a while...
DIY Kitchen Cabinet Process 
 Photobucket 
(And, yes, that would be contact paper from the dollar store!)  
 DIY Kitchen Cabinet Process
Picking out new hardware was so hard! I love oil rubbed bronze, but everything else in the kitchen is satin nickle and our appliances are stainless steel, so I didn't feel like it would go very well. So I decided to go with a pewter. However, Home Depot and Lowe's didn't really have anything in a pewter, so I picked them out online from knobs and hardware!
DIY Kitchen Cabinets w/ Pewter Hardware
I believe these were cheaper than the ones in the store anyway so that's pretty sweet. (You can see my knobs here and my pulls here). I tried spray painting the hinges, but that turned out awful, so we got new ones - thankfully Home Depot had those in pewter!! My brother-in-law helped my husband put all the hardware back on. We used this template for drilling holes for the knobs. It really helped make sure they all went in the same place, totally worth it for a few bucks!

My father-in-law came over with his level and I let him and my hubby have fun hanging everything back up in place. I love my new kitchen!

DIY Kitchen Cabinet Makeover
 DIY Kitchen Cabinets - white paint with pewter hardware Kitchen Cabinets DIY 
 Kitchen Makeover - white cabinets, green walls
DIY Kitchen Cabinets with New Hardware
 DIY Kitchen Cabinet Makeover   
And the dining room side with my Craigslist table. It needs some work, but I love the style and the bench.
Kitchen Farmhouse Table

Also, just got this table runner from Pier1 today! Isn't it so fun?!
Kitchen table and Pier 1 table runner 
 Pier 1 table runner with Farmhouse Kitchen table
If you have any questions about the cabinet process just let me know, it was actually not that difficult, it just takes a while, but it totally worth it. I just love being in my kitchen now!!


15 comments:

  1. This is incredible! I would never know it was the same kitchen. Excellent job in brightening it up! Thank you for the how to tips as well. I'm going to pin it so I can find it again when we get to the point in our life where we can buy a house!
    http://www.sewingourlifetogether.blogspot.com

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  2. The power of paint! What would we do without it? :) Your kitchen turned out beautifully, great job Brie!

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  3. FYI, Brie - Not sure if you're aware, but you're a 'noreply' when you leave a comment so I couldn't reply back.

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    1. Thanks for letting me know! That sucks. I think it happened when I switched over to Google+ - booo! Anyone know how to fix that with a google+ profile??

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    2. Switched back to the blogger profile - apparently that's just what happens when you go to google+ (see this post - http://jenniffier.blogspot.com/2012/08/google-profile.html)!! And I like blogger because I can have my name be whatever I want it to be!!

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  4. Wow... way to go! Your rooms look awesome. I'm loving that color of green and the white cabinets.

    Thanks for your comments over at my blog!

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  5. Your kitchen looks beautiful! :) I appreciate you stopping by my blog yesterday. I couldn't respond to you via email like Pam said above, but I wanted to say thank you.

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  6. So glad I came across your blog! You did a great job on the cabinets! Beautiful kitchen.

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  7. Wow!!! Looks awesome, you guys did great!

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  8. I like the color you’ve chosen. The green color certainly has a calming effect to it. It made your kitchen much more relaxing to the eyes, and it’s also a great mood setter for when you’re going to host parties and celebrations. Also, the combination of white and green does make the space look cleaner and fresher. The picture actually has a soothing effect to it.


    Chase Conely

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  9. Uggghhh I remember trying to paint my cabinets.... it was sort of like death itself. It was long and boring. But... my gracious the result makes me want to bounce around! And yours is wayyy better! I am dramatically envious of your fabulous appliances. When I growed up I shall have a water dispenser in the door... sigh.... good job!

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  10. What a stunning makeover! Looking at the before and after photos, you can see the great improvement in your kitchen, especially with the wall colors and the cabinet. The bright green paint definitely fits the kitchen. It goes well with the white cabinets. Compared to the previous look, the revamp version looks livelier and welcoming.

    [Darryl Margulies]

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  11. How did I miss this post?!?! It looks amazing! I bet painting the cabinets was a lot of work, but it was worth it! I didn't even notice the nice backsplash with the dark, ugly cabinets. I like your hardware choice too. The pewter looks good with all the other finishes.

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  12. I just purchased a home built in 1973 with similar cabinets, that I am also planning to repaint white. I also have lined them with the same dollar store contact paper. I ALSO have a table with 4 chairs and a bench with white legs. I couldn't believe all of the similarities. Great minds think alike, huh? ;)

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    Replies
    1. No way! That's so awesome! I would love to see pictures!! We should be friends now :)

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