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You are here: Home / Interior Decorating / Before and after / Re-painting the kitchen cabinets

Re-painting the kitchen cabinets

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Before and after, Interior Decorating, The Victorian

The base cabinets in our kitchen looked horrible.  It wasn’t the cabinets themselves, it was the finish.  As with much of the house, their paint job was pretty terrible.  It was streaky and bumpy, which made lots of grooves for oils and dirt to collect, and they were badly stained all around the handles.  Which meant it always looked dirty, no matter how much I scrubbed.

Before re-painting:

White kitchen cabinets with wall shelves and brackets

I wanted something darker anyway.  The color they were painted was very similar to the wall color and it made the room look pretty flat and dull.

So I painted them Martha Stewart’s Zinc (which you can’t get color cards for anymore) 🙁 but it’s a nice rich slate gray, in a semi-gloss finish.

Painted-Cabinets-1

Once again, I texted Dad, and asked the best way to paint over a badly painted cabinets in a semi-gloss finish.  I was quite surprised when he said to wet sand them.  But the results were amazing.  It smoothed all the bumps right out and left a nice, flat finish.

Of course, I removed all the hardware and took all the doors and drawers outside.  To sand, I took a sanding sponge, dunked it in water, squeezed out the excess, and lightly sanded everything.  The sanding block had to be rinsed out several times during the process.  (Very important note if you are going to try this: make sure that you put a drop cloth down, because the wet sanding re-activates the paint, and it will drip.)

Painted-Cabinets

There was a film left on the doors after sanding, but since mine were completely sealed with at least 4 coats of paint, I just rinsed them off with the hose and dried them with old towels.  The cabinets themselves took a little more work since I couldn’t just hose them down.  I didn’t get the sanding block quite as wet and then once they were sanded, I wiped them down twice with damp cloths.

painted-cabinets-before-and-after

To repaint, I brushed in all of the corners and then rolled on the rest with a 4-inch foam paint roller (similar to this).  Love the easy changes that make such a big difference!  There were a couple more changes I made, but forgot to photograph them.  I’ll tell you about then next week!

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  1. Abbe PB

    October 20, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Maybe it’s just me, but your kitchen looks so much bigger in the after photos. I think it’s because they’re now so much better differentiated from the walls, so there’s no possible illusion that the walls are closer than they are. (It could also be that gorgeous sunlight, I don’t know.) It looks fantastic though, I love the color!

    Reply
    • Christina

      October 21, 2014 at 12:27 am

      It actually feels way bigger in person too, I wasn’t sure if that would come across in the pictures. Thanks, Abbe!

  2. Mini Dork

    October 20, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    WOW!! What a transformation. Wet sanding? Huh, I never would have thought to do that. What a great tip from you Dad. I love the new light fixtures too. Congrats, are you sure you still want to move? 😛

    Reply
    • Christina

      October 21, 2014 at 12:26 am

      Not sure at all actually, but it doesn’t seem to be optional right now. 🙂

  3. Sue Silva

    October 20, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    Oh, my! They look AMAZING! Worth all the hard work, as usual.

    Love the new light fixtures too!

    Reply
    • Christina

      October 21, 2014 at 12:25 am

      Thank you, Sue!

  4. Alana in Canada

    October 21, 2014 at 10:00 am

    They look fantastic. i love the dark grey colour. The kitchen looks quite sophisticated. Glad the painting process went smoothly.

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth

    October 21, 2014 at 10:33 am

    I love everything about it! Really liked the look after the first go but wow what a difference now.

    Reply
  6. [email protected]

    October 21, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    What a tremendous job! But it looks amazing! It definitely makes the walls look brighter by creating contrast.

    Reply
  7. brae

    December 5, 2014 at 12:22 pm

    Looks fabulous!!! I know painting cabinets is a lot of work, but the transformation is so worth it in the end! 😀

    Reply

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So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 

Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 

3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
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@little.victorian

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Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle is painted a warm gray. It will be soon. 
It was $94 for the whole thing. 
Swipe for the before. See everything at littlevictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 

Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 

3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
Surprise! The house is going on the market today. Surprise! The house is going on the market today. (Long story that I'll fill you in on when I have more than 2 seconds.)
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But we're once again with a realtor that calls our house "unique" instead of calling it a Mid Century Modern. 🤦‍♀️
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We can't count how many locals came into this house and mentioned that those windows should be removed and walled up and the beams cut off. And then it would be a "normal" house. 🤯
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Still can't really identify with people in this area. 🤷‍♀️ SO happy to be going back home to the East coast TOMORROW!
Right? We're getting back into the house restorat Right? 
We're getting back into the house restoration and we'll be working on the powder room in the master bed. 
Guys. It's bad. Swipe to see.
And we're going to try to make it pretty with a super tiny budget of $100 in 4 weeks and we're joining the #100roomchallenge to keep us (me) motivated.
The bedroom design is starting to come together th The bedroom design is starting to come together thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill. 
#OneRoomChallenge
@little.victorian

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