The Kitchen: Before and After!

Okay, the kitchen is almost done. I still haven't painted the counter, but that can wait until this weekend (or maybe even next). To remind you, here's a shot of the kitchen 'before.'


And here, after a weekend of grueling labor is the kitchen 'after.'


Doesn't it look great? I am genuinely please with the results, even if the blue didn't work out exactly as planned: The contrast between the white exteriors and blue interiors is really, really subtle, but, oh well. And here's a snap of my cookbooks and various bits of dishware on their new bookshelf. So, that's the makeover for now, I'll shoot the final results when everything is in its place and ready.

Kitchen Makeover: Part 4

I am in the home stretch with this kitchen project. Yesterday I returned from a lovely visit with my family and put on another coat of paint. (Up to three on the cabinet bases now, two on the cabinet door fronts and only one on the backs of the doors. Whew.) I think this might be the end. We’ll see. I also brought back an old bookcase from my parents’ basement (originally pulled off the street on Tiemann Place in 2002) to go on the wall opposite the fridge and sink. It is also in the process of being transformed by white paint; in fact, if you’d peered in my living room windows this morning you would have caught sight of me madly applying a second coat of paint to the bookcase in my pajamas, hoping to have it dry and ready for cookbooks by the time I return home tonight.

I did not get around to painting the counter this weekend. Yes, I am going to try to paint the laminate counter. I’m not sure if it will be a success, but I’m going to give it a go. Worst case scenario: I make a mess of it and tear the whole counter out. However, I plan to wait until this weekend to do the counter painting, since I really do enjoy having the use of my kitchen. Hopefully in a week, I will have glamorous shots of my completely made over kitchen to share with you.

Kitchen Makeover: Part 3

Another solid 4 hours of painting and there's still more to go. Egads, this is a bigger project than I thought, even though I have done a kitchen cabinet painting project before. Maybe it's like childbirth: the body forgets how painful it is so you can do it again later. I am off to my folks' place for the night. My paint can sit and harden and await my return for another coat.

Kitchen Makeover: Part 2

I spent the whole day yesterday painting. Literally: The. Whole. Day. I finished up around midnight, and I am not even close to done! I’ve got the base cabinets primed and painted with the first coat of the high gloss. And I have primed both sides of all of the cabinets (I ended up giving the fronts of the cabinets two coats of primer in hopes that I would only have to do two coats of high gloss.) Unfortunately the high gloss paint requires drying “overnight” before re-coating, so I am a ways away from being finished, but I can already start to see how great the kitchen is going to look when I am done with this project. Here’s a snap of the kitchen mid-way through:

I have discovered that the Homestead Resort Sky Blue (7004-5) is well, white. Pretty much at least. I had hoped for a subtle pleasing contrast between the white and the blue, but what I have got is a barely discernable difference. Part of me just wants to do a second coat of all white paint and forget about the blue, but then another part of me feels like I ought to at least give it a second chance, since the color may deepen with a second layer and more time to dry. Ugh. Wishing I’d chosen something a little darker and less “subtle.” If the paint store weren’t such a damn hike, I would just get more paint. But in the interest of time (and my sanity) I plan to muscle through with the paint I do have.

I’m about to run out to the hardware store to get some smaller brushes to work on the cabinet door details. Hopefully I can get a good chunk of this done before I head up to my parents’ house for a visit this evening. Also, a word to the wise, your living room will look something like this:

…if you decide to undertake a project like this. And your lower back will likely hurt and you may even have the pleasure of waking up with a headache, if you choose to undertake painting in February when it is decidedly too cold to throw open the windows. Though I am thrilled that my kitchen will have a new look, this hasn’t been the fun long weekend most people have been enjoying.

The Kitchen: Makeover Part 1

Two of my upper cabinets were hanging rather precariously from the walls, so addressing this was the first step to reviving my kitchen cabinets. I took down the upper left cabinet first (it was practically falling off of the wall.) Once the cabinet was off I discovered some truly disgusting grime that had apparently been coming down from the air vent above the cabinet. Using a paint scraper and then my vacuum I removed as much of the gunk as I could. With the first cabinet off, it became clear I would definitely need to take down the second cabinet too. I did what minor repairs I could to each cabinet.
I am following the advise of This Old House almost to the letter for this paint job because I want it to last. However, I must admit that I have not followed their most basic advice. In the intro to cabinet painting, the wise editors at TOH write.

“Be aware that even the highest-quality paint job can't cure the evils of poor kitchen design or hide fundamental structural flaws in cabinets. Cheap cabinets grow especially frail with old age. Thin sides and backs, which are often veneered with vinyl paper, can peel or delaminate.”

I’d say my cabinets are of the cheapest variety available on the market, and the sides, backs and shelves of mine are in fact veneered with vinyl paper. I know it’s not a permanent fix, but like I have said before this is the band-aid fix until I can afford to do a major renovation. I’m hoping that a coat of Kilz and a careful paint job will make the paint stick to the vinyl paper for a year or two. We’ll see. I’m going to hang onto those upper cabinet doors for a while just in case the interiors end up looking battered after being used.

After making repairs, painting the walls and re-hanging the cabinets (which I managed to do by myself, thank you very much), I cleaned every surface of the cabinets. I used a heavy-duty cleaner called Mex, which was recommended by the woman at my hardware store. It required gloves and protective eyewear, but man, oh man, did it do a good job. You could see the dirt just lifting off the cabinets. The layer of greasy-film on the cabinet above the stove just melted off. Then I gave everything a rinse, let it dry and followed that with a light sanding. Now I am about to put on the primer coat

The Kitchen: Before

So, I am finally getting around to all this painting I have been talking about. Yesterday I did all the prep for the kitchen and got the kitchen walls painted. I also painted the bathroom — finally! Here’s a snap of the kitchen pre-paint, with the doors taken off of most of the upper cabinets. I’d originally said I was going to take down the cabinet about the stove, but I have found that I really need the storage space. So, for now, it’s going to stay. I may mount some shelves or hooks in the space between the cabinets eventually to make the most of the wall space.

I drove over to Lowe’s for paint, since the nearest paint store to my apartment is on Washington and Fulton, which is a little too far to walk. I figure if I’m going to drive, I might as well go somewhere with a parking lot. Because I was at Lowe’s I had to forgo my preference for Benjamin Moore paint for Valspar paint. I always wonder why Home Depot and Lowe’s sell the brands of paint they do: Behr at Home Depot and Valspar and Olympic at Lowe’s. Does anyone know?

In any case, I opted for Bistro White (70006-4) in semi-gloss for the walls, Anthem White (7006-24) in high gloss for the cabinet exteriors and trim, and Homestead Resort Sky Blue (7004-5) for the cabinet’s interiors. A lot of people would be horrified at my choice of semi-gloss for the walls, but I like how easily semi-gloss clean up. I also don’t mind the extra reflection of light that you get from a semi-gloss. (I used the same paint on the walls of the bathroom as well.) More pictures to come later this afternoon.

Window Film Installed

My Emma Jeffs window film from 2Jane arrived, and I applied it to the window this morning. I love the results! However, it's not a cheap solution. I only covered the lower half of my two bedroom windows with the $76 sheet of window film. I think I'll opt for a more budget-friendly option for the four windows in the living room. I know hardware and home improvement stores stock more basic versions of this kind of film. But gosh, this stuff really does look pretty, doesn't it?

Adhesive Window Film

Living on the ground floor means I always have my curtains drawn, which frankly, I hate. One morning last week the sun was streaming in from the crack between the curtains and all I wanted to do was throw them open, but I was in my towel after getting out of the shower and I didn't want to expose myself to the people walking the streets of Fort Greene. A little investigation turned up these pretty and practical adhesive window films at 2Jane. They stick right on the window to obscure the view, but the also let the sun shine in. I love the idea of getting both the light and the privacy I crave without having to permanently alter the windows themselves. I was trying to decide between these two patterns.
Then this morning I saw that SwissMiss had another great post, this time about some even cuter window film, right here. I love, love, love the flowerpot motif. It's pretty and sly all at once. If I could only figure out what the shipping costs from Sweden are...