Painting Your Cabinets: The Best Thing Ever

I sat here for about five minutes thinking, "Aaaahhh!" instead of writing actual words, so I'm just going to stick with that for an opener. Excitement wins. (I also did a lot of something we call Champion Arms, which is essentially the touchdown signal. I feel like I earned it. This was the Superbowl of painting.)

If you've ever thought about giving your cabinets a brushed-on facelift, I present to you exhibit A: my vastly improved kitchen.

Wait, wait. I've barely showed you any befores, so let me do that, too. It's better when you see the amount of '90s oak I started with. The original sticker was still under the sink, so we know these babies were installed in 1990. Which will not surprise you:

Okay, let that sink into your brain for a second. Now scroll down again.

Mind. Blown.

Literally, all I did was paint! Everything else--countertops, backsplash, hardware--is the same. I just can't believe it. Every time I walk in here I squeal because it doesn't even look like the same room anymore. That particular shade of oak isn't my favorite anyway, but getting the cabinets a lighter color was important because the room only has one dinky window above the sink. It was SO DARK before. We'd have to turn the lights on during the day, which would help, but then the sun would go down and we'd be in the cave again.

What's really bonkers about this is that I used the remaining paint and primer from the basement. I didn't have to buy anything. And there's still a little bit of both left.

Technical stuff:

The paint was Benjamin Moore Advance in the satin finish. We left it un-tinted, a very pure white. The white trim around the house is actually the same, so I just stuck with what was here. I went with Advance because it's low-VOC (yay!) and self-leveling, which means that brush marks flatten out on their own. It IS $50-something per gallon, but it's worth every penny. The primer was Aqua Lock, and while I've used other things like Zinsser and Kilz for painting walls, I have to tip my hat to Aqua Lock when it comes to wood. I will probably never buy anything else. You need two good coats, but my god does it hold up.

If you do this yourself, take the doors off and sand everything really well first. Then do two coats of primer, followed by two coats of paint. I always let each coat dry overnight before moving on. Use a small foam roller--the plush ones will make it harder to get a smooth finish. Get into any corners and grooves with an angled brush. Purdy is my favorite, and similar to getting a higher quality paint, you'll want to spend a little more on a nice brush.

This picture again. It's my precious.

I'm so happy this is done. And definitely glad I fast-tracked it before school ramps up. It's been a sore and tired couple of weeks around here (because we ALSO knocked down our sunroom over the long weekend--more on that later) but it feels fantastic to be making such big improvements on our own. I should do a budget breakdown for you guys sometime...

Anyway, that's the kitchen! Isn't she pretty? Actually, I feel like our kitchen might be a boy. He's handsome. And so much younger looking! Have you ever painted cabinets? What's a big project going on at your house? What area do you want to tackle next?