The Power of Paint

Happy Friday! I wish I could get as excited as everyone else about Friday, but I have to work 9-5 on Saturdays- so today is no good for me. Alas- spring is quickly approaching. Looking for an easy, inexpensive DIY project with a lot of punch? (yes, Christa, yes!) Why not update your kitchen? Incase you haven't ventured into the novel that is "My Home", you haven't seen the wonders a few coats of paint can do to a kitchen. Let me give you an easy visual:

Time consuming, but cheap and effective. Here is a step by step for you.

1. Remove all doors and hardware. Buy a good degreaser and wash, wash, wash. Nothing prevents paint from adhering like grease. And your doors are dirty, trust me.
2. If your cabinets are finished (which they probably are), you need to sand. I apologize, I know sanding is awful. I have yet to try the primer sold that supposedly eliminates the sanding step, so I can't reccommend that to you.
3. Once sanded, find a well venetlated area to paint your doors and PRIME. While the primer dries on your doors, you will also need to prime the bases still attached to the walls. This step is pretty quick, since priming doesn't need to look perfect. If you're feeling ambitious, prime twice.
4. Once primer is dry, start the painting. My cabinets are painted with Benjamin Moore "Bare". We used less than a gallon for the whole kitchen. Alternate between painting your doors and your bases, and this will be more time effective for you. Once one is done, the other is usually ready for its next coat. I did three coats of paint to make sure I had complete coverage.
5. If paint is all you want, once it is dry you need to seal it. I used a spray polyuerethane. I antiqued my cabinets using a Minwax stain.
6. After you've sealed, it's best to let dry overnight. Once dry, add your hardware back on. I bought new knobs and pulls, since mine were gold and outdated. I also went to buy new hinges and DIED over the price. It would have cost me more than the whole rest of the project. FOR HINGES. So, I bought some spray paint that matched my new oil rubbed bronze hardware and spray painted them to match. $7.00 hinges.
7. Hang your doors! New kitchen! I also have added a new wall color and glass backsplash (clearly), but you can not believe what a difference the paint made. Even made me hate the floor and countertop a little less- though there will be no stopping me from ripping both out soon.


Happy Painting. xxx