Kitchen Update
5 Materials
$140
3 Months
Easy
Here we have yet another kitchen update from old pine cupboards to all painted white. I was so tired of our wooden cupboards, with all their nicks and yuck all over them. It was tough; our house was originally 1949, with little or no update to the wood. It didn't help matters when we did a small renovation to our kitchen in 2011, taking out the peninsula island and reinstalling those cupboards as a corner cubby, also adding cupboards above our fridge and stove; the wood stain didn't match, even though they tried. The best most cost effective solution for us was to just paint. So onward I marched, with much hesitation from my family.
Here's a picture of our main cupboards. I already started the update by painting the walls a very light blue. Painting the cupboards was a very daunting task for me. I deliberated for about a year whether or not I should tackle this project. My husband was not on board with me, either, so that made the decision even more difficult I knew I wanted something done; those cupboards needed updating! Up close, you could see all the nicks and dings, and we were not about to spend thousands for new cupboards. So after much research and thought, I took it on. I found that you didn't need to sand at all. Giving the cupboards a good cleaning was all that was needed if you chose to use an acrylic paint. So that I did. The paint I decided on was from Lowes, with some help from their paint dept.
Valspar Signature, High Hiding Paint + Primer, Stands up to Anything Paint, Ultra White.
I removed the cupboard doors, very carefully numbering each location, and with the help of my DH (finally!), we marked the hinges that came off of each door with numbers, too. Smart move, DH! I really couldn't have pulled this off without his help. Thank you, DH!!!
Here's the cupboards lining our small dining room wall.
I painted each door separately, and opted to do the interior of the doors black. It just struck me as a good idea for some reason, and I'm very happy I went with it.
I started off with black chalkboard paint, cuz that's what I had on hand, but decided to ultimately use black flat paint, which ended up being a very good choice. The Ultra White Valspar Signature paint was the best choice for the exterior, also. It went on so smooth and heavy. There were zero issues with peeling, chipping, anything. I thought I died and went to Heaven! This ultra undertaking of painting my kitchen cupboards was turning into an easy dream come true!
After painting all the interiors of all the cupboards black (with the exception of our corner cubbie), we reinstalled the doors and reattached the hinges that we soaked in Krud Kutter overnight. Amazing stuff, that Krud Kutter! It made our 70+ year old hinges look brand spanking new, all sparkly and silver!
The hinges actually appeared gold before going to the Krud Kutter, they were so battered with old varnish.
Here they are, all shiny and clean!
I even painted some old handles that we had.
When we first bought our house and wanted new handles at that time, we found that it was the old sizing that we needed, 2 3/4" from bolt to bolt. In order not to spend a fortune back then on new handles (we needed 27 handles), we found these wooden ones with bronze tips. My husband took every single handle apart and cut off 1/4" on each side and put the tips back on in order for them to fit perfectly. (Well done, DH!) I took those old handles and spray painted (with acrylic paint) the tips silver and the wood centers black. Snazzy!
Here's our corner cubbie before. I always loved the leaded glass doors, but could never get them to look as nice as I wanted, so I opted to take all the doors off for an open cupboard look, saving those leaded glass doors for another project further down the road.
Now I can dispaly my "good" dishes up top, along with keeping all my kitchen towels within easy decorative reach down below. I am in love with my teal and orange accents, too. :)
Here is our finished kitchen (with a very messy countertop!) I opted to take the wooden back drop off from the below the sink, too, reissuing a more old fashioned "grill" effect, by spray painting some metal screening purchased from Lowes, and cut to size. I never would have taken on this project if it wasn't for other Hometalkers kitchen cupboard painting projects. By learning that there would be zero sanding involved, it made the project so much more doable. My mother in law did pass away unexpectedly in the midst of this project, too, so the time frame in getting it completed has been extended, otherwise it could have been completed within one month, in piece meals. It is still a slow work in progress, with some minor details that still need some tending to, but I'll get to those updates down the road. In the meantime, I'm super pleased with the outcome and love, love, love our new kitchen! It's so much more visually open and streamlined with the white.
Thank you for reading my post!
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2 of 72 comments
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U should b very PROUD of your self!! U did a GREAT JOB!!!
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Wonderful job. I can see why you are Tickled Pink! I love the light blue walls and am particular keen on your corner cubbie. Yes, teal and orange go well together. I am in the process right now of updating my disgusting kitchen c. 1987. Usual faux wood pressed board in a mobile home. I am taking it very slowly as I am not physically well, but am doing better than I thought. Now on the home run and about to put up all the doors. I sprayed the old hinges black but bought new handles. I used General Finishes milk paint which required no sanding or priming and looks fantastic, even though I say it myself. What is your next DIY project? Oh, I see this is a very old post so you have probably done something else by now, just as remarkable or even better.
Frequently asked questions
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What did you use to clean the doors before painting? Beautiful transformation.
I want to try this project. I have original pine cabinets which look awful despite trying numerous things to clean them. What did you find to clean yours? Would the Krud stuff clean them up? Thank you.
Did you use a brush, roller, or sprayer?