Painting the Cabinets!

This was our kitchen when we first bought the house...wallpaper boarder...laminate flooring...flowery fluffy curtains...ohhhh my! Not exactly dreamy in my eyes. So I immediately knew there would need to be some elbow grease involved in this space.

We have reached the point in our remodel that my attention had been directed solely to the kitchen. So this past weekend I started digging in......

First I removed all the doors, hinges, and drawers. Then we spray them all down with a chemical called TSP. It removes all the grease, dirt and any other yuck that is on the cabinets.

We just ripped up the carpet in the living room, and I thought this would be a great workshop area. After cleaning everything with the TSP, it was time to sand everything down. I used a hard grit (360 for bare wood) sandpaper and went to work. All the cabinets bases, the island, doors (both sides) and drawers were roughed up.

In the first picture you can see that these cabinets bases have a laminate overlay on them. Not my favorite. So I bought the nice thick wood bead board to replace it. I bought the wood version so it would take the paint well. Here it is with one coat of primer on it. I wanted my island to look more like a piece of furniture, and I think this bead board will help accomplish that look.

I find painting all of the doors so relaxing. I like to see them transforming right before my eyes! Believe it or not painting these cabinets has been one of the most controversial things we've done. People get really passionate about whether or not to paint wood. That's also one of the things I think is fun about making all my decisions for the house. Having your home is about making it your own. Your home naturally will reflect your taste, your personality, your style. My dream kitchen happens to include painted antiqued cabinets....I think I might even win over a few of those who thought painting them was a terrible idea....if not, I'm okay with that too! I know I WILL LOVE IT!!

Well minus all the tools and junk which have found there home on my kitchen island for now....this is the progress so far. One coat of primer is on everything in this picture....I'm a bit farther than that now. Well that is the house update for now. I'll post more on the entire process when I am totally done, just in case some of you would like to tackle your cabinets!