So I have been wanting to redo my kitchen for a long time. Last year I started planning it and even bought my pot rack that I love. Then figured out that financially it wouldn't work and the pot rack got put in the garage. But my friend, Pinterest, wouldn't let me forget my dreams and hopes for my kitchen. The two things that I wanted to change the most were the white, tile countertops (where I could never get the grout clean. . . ever) and the yucky looking cupboards. But as I thought about it more, I came up with a plan. I knew that I wanted open space where I could cook with my family. So I am going for it!!!
The Changes that I am inspired to do:
Remove the florescent light that I hate in the middle of the kitchen.
Remove the upper cabinets above the stove.
Replace the cabinets with a pot rack and lights.
Move the cabinets to under the breakfast bar.
Lower the breakfast bar to make a large flat counter.
Replace the countertop with butcher block counters.
Paint all the maple cabinets white.
Add open shelves to the wall where we removed the cupboard.
Take out one set of cupboards (by the fridge) and replace with a panty.
We still have to figure out a backsplash. . .
since I didn't realize that was part of this whole process.
Here are the before pictures with my sweet puppy.
In one afternoon, I removed all the cabinet doors and sanded them. My dear friend, Renee, came over to help me with this. She is awesome! I couldn't have gotten all of the 28 doors/drawers sanded without her. My dad, my husband and my brother in law came to demolish every thing I pointed at. They took down the large section of cabinets separating the kitchen from the dinning room. Then I asked them to take down the last big cabinet on the wall. As soon as that was done, I was jumping up and down and giggling. The room opened up and just looked so amazing. I loved it!!
Then I started working on the cabinet doors/drawers. For three days I worked tirelessly on them. After sanding them with 180 grit and carefully cleaning up the sawdust, I got to work painting. I painted each side of the door with primer, then two layers of white latex paint and finally with polycrylic sealer. My arms would be shaking at the end of the day, but they looked so nice when they were finished.
After days of painting all the doors were put back up and my kitchen started looking much better. My little girl thought we were just going to leave all the doors off forever. Nope! I love the clean and crisp look of the white.
The next step was painting. I had no idea when I started this project how many things I was going to add to my "To Do List". I wasn't really planning on painting the ceiling and the walls, but it kinda needed it. I painted for two days and got it all done. I had just enough (literally) for the ceiling. Used every last drop. The kitchen and dining room did look so much better when I was finished.
My sweet husband hung my pot rack for me. I have never had one, but I am loving it. Just adds another dimension to the room.
Still have more to do, but all this was a simple and inexpensive remake of my kitchen. The paint for all the cabinets and the walls/ceiling (plus the brushes) were $150. More to come on the remodel.
Here is the blog that helped me paint my kitchen cabinets. 10-easy-steps-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets
