Kitchen Before & After Phase One

Welcome to Phase one of our new kitchen...here is a little back story. 

This is our first big kid house, we had a condo that we gave a big face lift but needed much more space with two growing kiddos. My husbands Grandma had decided that she was ready to sell her house and move on after breaking her hip two years ago. We were in charge of cleaning out the house, selling and/or donating the items Grandma did not want.  Needless to say that was quite a project. If any of you have ever done this you know how difficult it is to go through someone else things and sell or donate them. Grandma is glad this stage is over as am I. We moved in mid August 2010.

In the first few months we have been painting the main living area, taking out over grown plants in the yard and tinkering around with little projects. I think we are finally making progress in operation make it feel like home.  The kitchen has been the first big project to tackle and I am more than thrilled with the progress and look forward to even more DIY Projects. 

So on to the goods....pictures. Lots of pictures.


These are from our original walk through...lots of work to be done. 

Before

Yes its a old ugly stove...sadly it works like a charm...no excuse to buy a new one...yet.

Awesome size kitchen...taken over my the island table combo Grandpa made. Yes I am the mean Granddaughter in law that has plans of altering it.

A future fun area to display "stuff".

Face of island...look at all that storage! I am in heaven!

Well after a ton of elbow grease, trips to the paint store and hardware store. Not to mention guidance and lessons from my Mom the faux finisher, my Dad handyman extraordinaire we have the following results.

After

Ta Dahhhh! Please excuse the garbage cans...need to find a DIY project to hide those. Notice the artwork on fridge...proof I'm a Mom.

More direct view of the beauty...can you believe that is paint, glaze and stain? I cant!

Face of Island now...I love the contrast between the island and the main cabinet color. I can't get enough of the bead board either.

So the part my husband dreads...FUTURE PLANS!!! 

I would love to get all new counter tops, solid surface of some sort.  We will probably refinish the ugly white laminate to hold us over until that project fits in the good ole budget
Under mount sink
New faucet (less apartment chic)
New stainless appliances (duh)
Subway tile back splash, glass if I was rich and white ceramic if I'm not
Potterybarnesk Pendant light over the sink and island
Oh...brushed silver or pewter knobs and pulls for the main cabinets...almost forgot that one.

So thats all... not really THAT much to do right? 

Any awesome suggestions, opinions or comments from blog land?  

The details of this project are huge, so I'll do the short version. 

Draw a diagram and label each cabinet and drawer, place hardware in corresponding ziptop bag if you are reusing.

Clean...really clean...mineral spirits, sand, TSP, sand, denatured alcohol, sand, wipe off with water. This step took me 2 full days, you have to do this right. Well that is what Mom says and she is the professional cabinet re-finisher lady. Let everything dry for 24 hours.

Base coat/primer. I luckily had access to fancy smancy professional base coat that had color and primer all in one. I would imagine that a good quality primer would work with a good quality paint on top...twice. I did two coats of our base.  

Let second (or third) coat cure for 24 hours.

Fun stuff...glaze/stain. We used two colors of stain, first was a deep brown, lightly brushed it on, wiped it off and dry brushed for brush marks that look like wood grain. Second color was a deeper purpley brown, again the same system, leaving more or less behind depending on what we liked the look of. 

Cure for 24 hours.

Clear protective coat...super important...thin coat...repeat within 4 hours of first coat or wait a full 24 for the second coat. Cure for at least 24 hours, use diagram to put kitchen back together. Be gentle with your cabinets for the next several weeks just to be safe. You can reapply a third clear coat in 6 months if you like, Mom said it wasn't necessary...I may just do it under the sink and by the stove to cover the busy areas. 

And thats that! 

Mom helped me with the skills and a lot of the painting. She kind of let me loose on the final glaze steps and returned to help finish up the project with clear coat.  From start to finish I did this in 9 days I think, just in time for Mom's 50th Birthday extravaganza at my house.  

This was my birthday present from her so I got all the products for free! WOOP WOOP! But for the fancy smancy supplies you are looking at a few hundred dollars. Depending on the technique the professionals will charge anywhere from $4,000.00 to $6,000.00 for my size kitchen. Going the DIY route you could do this for $200 or so. I think it looks wonderful and the husband thinks the free part is wonderful! 

The island was the same technique just in color and one glaze. Test this on a scrap to be sure that is the look you want. It's not fun to repaint and wait ANOTHER day to do the fun stuff.  

Well that is that project! Drop me a note if you have any questions. 

I shared this post at the following:
Sugar Bee - Craft Edition
Between Naps on the Porch
House of Hepworths