New and Improved Kitchen Cabinets

One of the main things we LOVED about this house the second we walked in was the open concept of the kitchen and family room.  The kitchen counters are a beautiful granite and we saw so much potential in the cupboards once we painted them.  In our last house we were dying to paint our cabinets white but the counters were a cream laminate and white cupboards would look horrible with it.  So once we saw this beautiful granite we knew we were going to paint our cabinets.

Just as a reminder, if you didn't see our house tour pictures this is what it looked like Day 1

We did a ton of research on DIY blogs and found that it shouldn't be too hard.  So we went out and bought the materials and got to work.

Materials We Needed:

• White Paint (Satin Finish)
• Oil-Based Primer (Make sure it isn't water based or the paint won't stick to the cabinets)
• Foam Rollers (we tried both foam and wool and we loved the texture of the foam)
• Angle Brush to get in the small crevasses of the cabinet
• Clear Protector Coat 

Step 1: Remove all of the cabinet doors and drawers (as you can see the paint job on the walls makes the kitchen look a whole lot better already)

Step 2: Prime, prime, prime!  (this can get messy because of the oil base)

• We primed the cabinet doors before the base because you have to do both sides of the door (we did the back side first, let it dry while doing the bases and came back to do the front)
• Another reason why we did the back first is because if for some reason they aren't quite dry when we flip them over to do the front at least it is on the back 
• You do not need to make sure that all the wood is completely covered, the priming coat just helps the paint to stick
  
  
  
  We used little tuperware cups to prop up the cabinet doors so it was easier to roll the sides
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  Step 3: Paint and wait, then paint and wait again (we did two coats of white)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  If you look at the pictures of just the primer and the paint next to each other you can really see the wood through the primer.  That is normal, you don't have to put the primer on thick.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  Step 4: Be patient and wait.  I looked at several DIY blogs and they all advised waiting at least 3 days until you hang, but recommended 5 days.  We ended up waiting a few weeks only because we were traveling and had a lot going on.  So for 3 weeks this is what my kitchen looked like.  Can you imagine having a 14 month old with this kitchen.  Not only do we not have child locks on our kitchen cabinets, we don't have doors.  She was in heaven.
  
  
  

Step 5: Hang the doors.  We tried to save money and reuse the hinges that the cabinets had, but we decided that nasty rusted bronze hinges with white cabinets would look really bad.  Plus this is the shape they were in.  So we spent $120 buying all new hinges.  Pricey but worth it

And Tyler was able to get this stripped screw out after a long frustrating 15 minutes.

We got really lucky with our cabinets.  Each cabinet door (other than 2) had predrilled holes that made the process of putting on the doors cake.  We just had to screw the hinge to the cabinet door first like this...

                                                      Then to the cabinet base like this...

and VOILA...well we did have to do a bit of adjusting to make sure it was level





While Tyler was doing the doors I went around and put bumpers on all the doors and drawers.








Payton was a little hesitant at first





Put even she was a good helper





So the worst part about this whole process was that after hanging all the doors we realized after a close examination we had some minor mishaps along the way.  It bothered me way too much to leave these scuffs on the door.  Plus we heard it is good to put a nice clear protective coat on your cabinets to give it a glossy finish and make it easier to clean.








So the cabinets came off and I repainted the doors in need of repair and added this clear protective paint.










So for the dramatic before and after picture you need to know that we haven't finished putting the hardware on the cabinets and drawers yet but hopefully we will get around to that soon.  If you look closely you can also see the upgrade in the light fixture.  




BEFORE




 AFTER





Another angle (P.S. the table, chairs and stools will be painted black eventually)

Phone Numbers of Course

Last night Tyler woke me up by reaching underneath my back with both hands obviously looking for something.  I honestly thought he was going to shove me off the bed.  Luckily he didn't and just kept reaching underneath me sporadically.  After asking him what in the world he was doing, he responded by saying matter of factly "I'm looking for phone numbers of course.  What else would I be looking for in the dark?"  Oh man....the funny things he says.  I immediately pulled out my phone and wrote his hysterical line down so that I wouldn't forget it in the morning.  He cracks me up!

Spray Painting vs. Rolling

The first few weeks of living in our new house we spent countless nights staying up late trying to paint the main living room/ kitchen area because we wanted at least one room upstairs where we felt comfortable.

After all the hard work...this is our favorite room in the house so far.  

We decided to remove all the trim in the room.  This was a decision we now regret doing, but this trim was in horrible condition so we decided to retexturize the wall behind it.

We thought it would be smart to invest in a spray gun since we had practically the whole house to paint and all of the kitchen cabinets.  

The horrible thing about using a spray gun to paint is that the prep work takes FOREVER.  We literally spent 4-5 hours taping things off.  Luckily we found this awesome product called tape and drape.  It is the plastic covering material with tape attached to the top.  It is the best product invented for painting. Especially for taping the ceiling fan

Payton even helped.

 Last picture taken in the orange and yellow living room

Once Payton went to bed we started painting.  The nice thing about using a sprayer is after you have done all the tedious prep work painting is SOOO fast.

After we let it dry over night we started working on all the nasty pink paint inside each window well.

We also decided to give our fireplace a clean fresh makeover.

Progress..

Last step... paint the baseboards

New and improved living room before adding furniture

Now for the before and after shots with the furniture that was in the house when we had the inspection and our furniture.

BEFORE

AFTER

Now we just need at a coffee table, some book cases on both sides of the french doors and decorations.

The New & Improved Deck

We finally have a safe and up to code deck.  We actually have had it for about a month now I am just really slow to put before and after pictures up.

Here are the before pictures.  The first picture doesn't look that bad.  The second picture really shows how the right half of the deck is falling away from the house.

The tiny narrow stair case

Here are some demo pictures.  It was fun demoing it although we did bust our brand new ladder.  At least it was the ladder and not Tyler.

Step 1: Remove all the railings

Tyler had to fight a few hornets off.  If you look closely you can see one of the hundreds of nests underneath the railing top.  I am really glad we decided to pay the money for a new deck.

Step 2: Remove all the decking strips (all you need is a electric screw driver)

Step 3: Get a strong man and a hammer and let him go at it

Step 4: Remove all the landings on each stair

Step 5: Remove the stair frame 

(he actually pulled it right off, more evidence of why we needed a new deck)

 And VOILA.... no more deck

Putting up the new deck required a lot less work because we hired a professional to do it.  Sometimes it is worth the extra money.  Although we did sell all of our old deck materials to make some extra $$money$$

So here is the before and after pick.  It is SO much straighter now, especially looking at the pictures back to back like this.

BEFORE

AFTER

We ended moving the stairs to the very right of the deck to give us more deck space.  We LOVE it.

We also put a gate on the stairs so that I don't have to worry about Payton.