Painted Farmhouse Kitchen

$850
3 Weeks
Medium
Every year toward the end of winter I get this irresistable urge to lighten and brighten. Clean and purge. One day this spring I had had it with my ugly kitchen cabinets. I decided one morning in early March that they were getting painted. that. week. I literally started that same day. After dropping the boys off at school, I headed to the hardware store to get my paint. Painting my cabinets was not a new idea to me; I've actually wanted to do it for a long time. I just kept stalling because of all the work I knew it would be. So that's why the day I decided it was happening, I just dove in. If I thought too long about how much work it would be, I would put it off again. The improvement was so drastic that I wonder WHY I waited so long! Take a look at the photos and see what I mean...
But painting is not all I did. I rearranged and added some cabinets to make the kitchen layout more user friendly and practical. I moved the stove away from 'behind' the refrigerator to the other side of the kitchen where we had taken out a built-in desk. We added cabinets to fill in the gaps to make a nice open, functional, u-shaped kitchen.
I now also have a pull-out trash can and under the cabinet microwave. All the changing around caused a countertop issue. They were in really bad shape anyway with the laminate separating from the wood in several places. Not only was it separating, it was warped and didn't even lie flat. Since we plan to do custom cabinets sometime in the future, we didn't want to sink a bunch of money in new countertops. I researched several budget options and we came down to 2 choices: DIY concrete or DIY butcher block. DH has poured a lot of concrete and was seriously considering that route. Ultimately, though, he opted for the DIY butcher block. And he did an awesome job with them. Look how lovely they are!
He used hard maple wood and I finished them using Minwax dark walnut stain and Waterlox Original sealer. This was by far the most expensive part of the makeover at around $500 including the Waterlox and stain but they are so pretty that I can't imagine putting the old countertops back on my beautiful white cabinets.
My kitchen has a lot of natural light but the dark cabinets just sucked up that light. Now I don't even need lights on for most of the day. I highly recommend the paint I used: Cabinet Coat by INSL-X available on Amazon. The color I used is called Swiss Coffee. It's a nice creamy white. Some beadboard wallpaper (available at Lowe's) and new hardware complete the look. And I do LOVE my kitchen now.
The paint goes on so smooth with a foam roller and dries nice and hard.
Some much more functional. I actually don't mind cooking as much now. ;)
I have links for the paint and hardware in my blog post. To visit, click the link below.
Rachel @ The Olde Farmhouse...
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Tanya Lynn Tanya Lynn on Mar 16, 2015
    I love Cabinet Coat paint! I had really dark stained 1970's looking cabinets and it made my kitchen very dark also,even though I had plenty of windows. It has really brightened it up. Love your counter tops too!
  • Terecia Terecia on May 22, 2015
    Thanks for all the information on everything.. Great job.. We have lots of trees around our place, so it can be kinda dark at times, plus I have oak cabinets. I love the beadboard wall paper.. Counter top looks great too!
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