  |
| kitchen before kitchen cabinets complete (without wax or hardware) |
AND COMPLETED!
I am so happy with the finished product (well semi-finished). It feels so bright and light. It makes me so happy!!! I think it took me about 2 weeks of working on this to get it done. I really would only do it in chunks. Some days I had more time and others barely any.
I have been getting a lot of questions about the paint that I used to paint my kitchen cabinets. If you recall, I had previously painted my bathroom and laundry room builder grade oak cabinets with the Rust-oleum kit. My main complaints with Rust-oleum is the smell and the numerous steps. After I spilled (really a kid bounced a can of paint in the air and spilled it all over my carpet) I wanted to try a different route. Something with less steps and not as smelly.
Fast forward a month later, the cabinets in my bathrooms are all cured and they are all holding up really well. I don't see any chips. My complaint with them is the unevenness of the final coat which is the protective coat. If you look from certain angles or when the sun shines on them you can see brush strokes (not sure if that is my inexperience with painting or these products though). But honestly who is going to be looking really close at the bathrooms, only me.
Click here if you want to see my bathroom remodel
Back to the kitchen...I painted a few cabinets in the Rust-oleum pure white originally in the kitchen. It covered well but the white was just too pure. I know, the name should have given me my first clue that it would be too white, right? It looks pretty in the picture but people would come into the kitchen and be like ummm. And it showed the protective coat (very streaky).
I hated the white cabinets so much and I thought I didn’t have any other options but to gut the kitchen cabinets. But gutting the kitchen cabinets turned into a $75,000 first floor remodel. The costs just kept escalating and escalating and during this time I discovered the Annie Sloan chalk paint.
We coincidentally decided to scrap the huge remodel and just do basic upgrades (mainly cosmetic) to freshen up a 10 year old builder house (basically an empty box). And we have been so busy having kids over these last 10 years I really never took the time to consider what I could do to make the house more "family" oriented. Now that my son is 3 it is time!!
One of my friends had painted a table with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) and it looked gorgeous. I took a trip to my local stockist (you can’t just find this paint anywhere, sorry no quick trips to Home Depot which is definitely a negative). To find the local stockist near you, go to www.anniesloan.com and locate a store. They tend to be antique stores and not your big box home improvement stores.
The steps are so simple:
- clean the cabinets really good (the perk of this paint is no prepping, sanding or priming)
- paint them till you are satisfied
- wax with Annie Sloan wax product
- buff if desired
 |
| mid progress picture-you can see the various stages that I was working on |
Here are my tips if I had the chance to do it over again:
I decided to paint these cabinets and drawers pretty much intact. I didn’t want to take off about 30 doors and numerous drawers and have my kitchen a mess for 3 weeks. So I left everything on the frames. I did take drawers out. I played down a drop cloth and just painted the drawers that way.
I think the finished look is better if you take all the doors off. It is not bad but I am a perfectionist and I can see where I painted around the hinges (rather than having a smooth surface if the hinges are removed). The teeny little spots where I can see the cabinets (basically where the hinges are) will drive me nuts so I try not to look at it (and I keep taking a tiny paint brush anytime I see a spot that needs fixing and just pop open my can and fix it).
I would paint all the cabinets with a light color of paint before using the ASCP. Here you can see the Rust o-leum white panted I used and then the ASCP over that. It only took one coat to cover it really well.
Here is 2 coats:
If you would like a smoother look, you can fill bottled water (don’t use tap water as the cabinets I painted with tab water tended to look more dingy or yellow) and drag your paint brush through the paint to thin it out. I used brushes from Home Depot for the painting. I did buy the highest quality brush there and a couple different sizes.
I used disposable Costco foil pans and just poured little paint from the can. Always use bottled water when trying to thin the paint. Tap water turns the paint a funny off color and I read that it could turn it a funky smell.
On a side note, the paint was not stinky and din't have any odor. It is an organic pigment and non toxic. With four kids I didn't want anything that could affect them. My goal was to do a few drawers or doors a day. It worked good and my kids would say, “mommy are you painting?” I enjoyed it and so did they. Since I don’t have kids all day in school I had to do the best I could with the time that I had. The kids sometimes almost seemed disappointed when I wasn't painting. And I amazed at how careful they were with everything and still are.
 |
| Middle white cabinets are the rust-oleum and the sides are ASCP |
Here is what one (I was running out of paint so it was barely one coat) looks like put on very very thinly. I also cleaned up as I went so it seemed to take longer. My hubby does a project and makes a big mess and then cleans up. I prefer to spot clean as I work. I didn't drop cloth or tape or protect anything.
 |
| one thin coat...almost out of paint |
 |
| two coats |
Clorox wipes were my best friend for this project. I used them to clean the cabinets, clean up paint spills and wipe up things as I went. Get a huge bottle of them. And then get another one. You will thank me later for saving you another trip to the store.
I drove pretty far to buy the paint and since it is non-refundable I didn't want to buy too much product and have it be a waste so I kept buying it can by can. The cans run from $35-40/can and they go a long way (especially when mixed when water).
So to summarize my tips:
So to summarize my tips:
- take off all the doors and drawers and label them so you know where they go
- set up an assembly station so you can paint them
- paint the frames of the boxes
- go back, flip over the doors and paint them other side
- go back and do another coat on the frames
- repeat and repeat until you like it all!
We never put hardware on our cabinets during our first 10 years at the house (I think it just became one of those projects that took the back burner). I was so excited to pick out the hardware and my husband installed the hardware on the cabinets before I waxed them. I only noticed one little spot that he chipped. Speaking of chips I am hoping that the chip happened because the paint wasn't (and still isn't) cured yet. And also because it is not waxed. I read for kitchens you will want to wax the item several times (I think 3) to really protect it. In my case I will be waxing it three times because it is such a high traffic area.
I LOVE how the top crown piece looks painted. It really stands out now. The backsplash and kitchen counters were the original but the new paint makes them really pop now.
I recommend a small paint brush for painting in the corners and crevices; otherwise use the biggest paint brush that will fit comfortably in your hand for painting the other areas. I experimented with a roller brush for some of the doors and I didn't like the texture it gave it. The roller brush worked great though on the "fake" wooding on the sides of the cabinets.
I used about 4 cans of paint for my kitchen (I still have one can that is practically full). I wanted to keep it on hand in case I needed it for touch ups down the road. I also used 3/4 can of Graphite for my kitchen island.
In my original painting I had used the Rust-oleum Kona paint leftover from the bathrooms for the island. I decided on Graphite for the "re-do" and it looks nice. Not too black (actually the pigment of the paint doesn't have any black color).
I did two coats and it looked smooth and beautiful.
For the island waxing I mixed clear wax and dark wax together. Only on dark pieces can you dark wax first. Otherwise use clear first and then if you choose to then use the dark wax. Speaking of waxing, I have tried several brushes (a chip brush, a brush from Chalkeology and a Home Depot brush) and nothing seems to be working great. I finally broke down and ordered the Annie Sloan $72 wax brush. I am hoping this will do the trip for a great wax. The problem with the others were the bristles were falling out and just not covering well. That's why I'm not done...still waiting for my shipment of the "expensive" wax brush.
Here is the finished product using a cheap paint brush. It is supposed to look dimensional and two toned.
I also haven't finished the baseboards yet. My husband has to take them off, measure them and buy more baseboards. The ones we have will splinter coming off (learned this from working on the bathrooms upstairs) and some are warped.
I am very happy with the way it turned out. I think the pictures make it look more phenomenal than it really is. If you look really close you can see my inexperienced painters hand. I'll just give someone a glass of wine when they come in the kitchen and they won't know the difference right???
On a serious note, the only problem is that you are taking cabinets that are not the highest quality and refinishing them. The boxes are in fine shape but the cabinet doors were builder quality. When done, no matter how great of a job you do you are still left with cabinets that are warped, dinged, have water damage and settled uneven. If you can look past that then I think I did a great job.
No comments :
Post a Comment