In case you've missed my prior posts on the subject, I really do not like this room at all. We are going to renovate it eventually but we are not ready to lay out the dough or deal with the aggravation of a major reno right now (post traumatic stress from our limestone renovation? maybe.) But I couldn't spend another year without doing SOMETHING to make it more tolerable. A few weeks ago I painted the countertops with good results. Its nothing like new counters of course but it only cost $20, required no demolition or measuring and took just a couple of hours. Now it was on to the cabinets.
here is how it looked, click here for the true before photo
After hemming and hawing over the color I finally settled on white uppers and navy blue lowers. Off I went to the paint store and bought some regular old semi gloss (a quart in each).
Before we cracked open the paint, we prepped. It started off on the right foot - first the hardware came off, then the doors all came down. We sanded down each door with some med grit sandpaper and used woodfiller to cover the hardware holes. Left that to dry before sanding down as smooth as possible. You with me?
And its at this point we made a grave error. You'll notice in the fourth photo that I went straight to the paint after the woodfiller step. I didn't prime. Why didn't I prime? I don't know. The moon was almost full? I was high on glue? Whatever the reason, what was done was done and we plowed on.
We realized pretty quickly that priming would have been a good idea because the white paint didn't cover well at all. (The blue for the bottom wasn't as big of a deal) We did A LOT of coats. I lost count after the fifth. So the whole thing took a lot longer than it should have since each coat required a drying period before we could move on. In other words, there was a whole lotta waiting going on.
That gave us some time to work on a few other things. Remember this lovely custom light fixture that the talented Jeremy Pickett created for me? We were able to get to that and it totally transformed the room!
So you want to see the reveal? Patience! More on the shore kitchen coming up this week. I hope you'll swing by to see it.
DYING to see it!!!! Love the idea of dark blue lowers.
ReplyDeleteAHHH! We want pictures! We want pictures! SO not patient :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the light up and the cabinets all painted. I've skipped the whole prime thing before to and always thought why did I do that? Always more work in the end :(
ReplyDeleteHave a great start to your week!
XO
Kristin
Tease! Can't wait to see the big reveal!
ReplyDeleteooooh, looks like you are making some great progress! Bring on the pics. ( =
ReplyDeleteHow are the countertops holding up? I know you don't live there, so they don't see as much wear and tear... but still curious!
ReplyDelete-Lee
Good to know I wasn't the only person to do that. Im not sure what I was thinking.
ReplyDeletePretty well actually. I let it completely cure before I touched it at all but while we were painting the cabs, there was sawdust everywhere, I dropped things directly on the counter, etc and it didn't make any damage. I wish I had used the countertop paint on the cabinets - I think it would have made a better bond.
ReplyDeleteTEASE! Ack!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see it..! (Come on, I'm 40 weeks pregnant and sitting around waiting for a baby...and now you are saying that I have to wait to see your kitchen too? Sigh.)
The navy and white sounds very crisp and nautical... Can't wait to see it!
ReplyDeleteCarol
antiquetexan.blogspot.com
I'm on the edge of my seat...and I can't WAIT to see that light fixture!
ReplyDeletei love seeing these renovations!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like we're living twin lives! I also just painted my countertops and am working on painting my cabinets. I totally feel your frustration. I purchased Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformation kit for our cabinets but the two coats they suggest weren't enough. I'm looking at 4 coats plus the protective glaze. So frustrating!
ReplyDeleteAh you tease! I was so excited to see everything up! I saw a little sneak piece of the custom lighting piece on twitter so that will have to hold me till the full reveal.
ReplyDelete:) Camila
Oops! I'll learn from your mistake...always prime! Can't wait to see it.
ReplyDeleteTEASE!!! Man, I have no patience for living vicariously through those of you with blogs......darn it.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the custom light fxture in place.
I hate when I don't prime properly and have to do twice as many coats of paint...but it will be worth it! Can't wait to see you chic combo of white and navy!!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see the finished product because I think you have the same cabinets I do in my kitchen, and I can't stand them. However, since they don't seem to be high quality, I have been worried as to how they would stand up to paint. Glad you're digging in first!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am on pins and needles because I've been considering the exact same color scheme and I want to see how it turns out! Plus, your pictures would be good to show the landlord what I want to do. I'm surprised you knocked all of that out in one day? Two days? How long did it take?
ReplyDeleteNipple light...bahahahaha. I've been trying to talk my husband into replacing ours...too bad we didn't have a clue what we were doing when we picked lights out. You live and you learn...and you live with nipple lights...
ReplyDeleteWow, I really want to see it!!
ReplyDeleteahh serious suspense!! i'm terrified of painting anything ikea - i'm glad to see it can be done and will certainly prime if i do so!!
ReplyDeleteI, too, Mrs. Limestone, suffer from PTSD from two back to back renos. Not pretty. I have a master bath in our home that has been beaten with an ugly stick from several decades. So, I feel ya, on that aspect.
ReplyDeleteI'll be back to check out the progress on the kitchen...
can't wait to see!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the after photos! White on the top and blue on the lower cabinets sounds like a great color combo.
ReplyDelete"Death to ceiling fans". You're too funny, and this is too true! That lighting fixture is LOVELY.
ReplyDeleteOooooh, I can't wait to see how it all turns out! I think the color combination will be really pretty, and I'm sure the light makes the room even better.
ReplyDeleteCould you have applied the primer over that first coat of paint after you realized you forgot to put it on? I am sure all this labor is worth it.
ReplyDeleteIm not really sure the answer. I always thought primer has a bonding agent that helps the finish paint stick. I assumed that once one coat of the finish is on, applying primer over that wouldn't help. I could have sanded off the first coat of paint and then primed but I was too lazy. It seems to be okay now but Im sure it would have been a lot easier if I had just invested that little time in priming. Lesson learned.
ReplyDeleteOh ive been guilty of buying those back in the early days of home ownership. They do the trick and are dirt cheap so we've all been there. At least you won't feel too bad throwing them out when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteIt took about 36 hours if you count the hours passed on the clock. Actual time worked on painting the cabinets was much less because we did so many coats and I was waiting for each to dry before we moved on. There were a lot of breaks for Home Depot and lunch and sleeping as well - if you were in a rush, it could have been done in one long day. Ikea cabinet doors are easier to remove and rehang than traditional cabinets so that helped a lot. We didn't have a lot of cabinets so that made life easier as well.
ReplyDeleteI was actually going to use that kit but I couldn't get it in time and it wasn't stocked at my local home depot so I just went with regular paint. Im guessing the Rustoleum is more durable than using plain old latex but it seemed to do the job.
ReplyDeleteahh serious suspense!! i'm terrified of painting anything ikea - i'm glad to see it can be done and will certainly prime if i do so!!
ReplyDelete