Kitchen Makeover Update: Getting to the Finish Line
Are you feeling frazzled this week trying to get everything on your holiday To-Do list done? I am trying to stay calm, but am working pretty hard on getting most of the kitchen makeover completed before Christmas which is this weekend.
I had a weeks’ delay in my progress when Ed and I decided to visit our daughters for a week over Thanksgiving. I enjoyed our trip, but it did put me behind, along with the colder temps. I was painting the cabinet doors out in my garage, but had to shift my operation indoors to get the last section of cabinets painted.
Here is where I left off in my last kitchen makeover update post. One last section of cabinets to paint, tile to grout and a countertop to paint. The scalloped trim above the sink is going to be removed, but that is going to have to wait until January. I painted it to look good for the time being.
I will be writing a full tutorial on everything I did to the kitchen in more detail. This post is just to show you my progress.
I finished painting the top cabinets and had to tackle the bottom cabinets. The cabinets are so dark that I needed a flashlight to remove the cabinet hinges in the corner.
I also had to remove this wine bottle rack. It was easy to remove, just two screws and I pulled it out from under the counter. This needed lots of TLC and had to be painted outside. Luckily it did warm up here over the weekend and the sun came out so I could hose it down and scrub it clean before I spray painted it. I thought it would be harder than it was to paint. Once it was dry from cleaning, I used 2 cans of Rustoleum 2X white spray primer and then 2 cans of Rustoleum 2X white semi-gloss spray paint.
I sanded down all the surfaces with 100 grit sandpaper and taped off a few areas to keep the paint off where I know my brush would end up that I didn’t want it to touch.
We got a new dishwasher, sink and faucet. The white sink I wanted did not fit. :-( I had to search for one one that did. (More on this in another post.) I protected the dishwasher with a roll of EZ Mask painters tape that comes attached to plastic sheeting.
If you look closely, you can see the black primer paint on the countertop in front of the sink. I stopped there because the Giani Countertop paint I am using needs to cure for about 2 weeks. Since the kitchen will become centerstage this weekend as my family comes home for the holidays I will paint the right side of the counter when the house is quiet again in January.
I placed my garage cabinet door painting set-up in my foyer which is undergoing a makeover of its own…under the staircase. I normally would paint drawers the way I painted the drawers in my previous homes kitchen. The drawers above have wheels attached to the back and I didn’t want to remove them so I lined them up so that the center back wheel is between the 2 x 4’s on the saw horses.
I had to use wood filler to fill in the holes in the center of each cabinet door from the previous pulls. Once everything was sanded and cleaned, I primed and painted both sides of the doors and the fronts of the drawers. I have a plan for the inside of the drawers and will post about that come January.
I used a paint roller for the center of each door and an angled brush for the molding and sides. The piece of bead board leaning against the staircase is for another project I am getting ready to work on in January….it is for the hallway of darkness. :-)
I did paint the left side of the counter with Giani Countertop Paint. It is pretty amazing. It requires about six 20 minute steps, but is not hard to do at all. The granite or marble look is created by applying a primer and then the paint in many thin layers. In the photo above I have the black primer coat on and then 2 layers of the paint. I still have caulking to do and lots of finishing details around the subway tiles.
When I paint the opposite side of the kitchen counter in January, I am going to make a video of the countertop painting process I use to make the paint look like Carrera Marble. So stay tuned.
Here is the paint after 5 layers of white limestone paint and veining I created with a brush. Today I will add the first of two coats of sealer that will make the surface shiny.
This is how I left the kitchen last night when I went to bed. Today I will be back at it, finishing painting the front side of the cabinets. I will let them dry overnight and re-hang them with their new hinges and knobs tomorrow.
Amidst all this I did manage to get all my gift wrapping done and even bake a batch of Christmas cookies. The opposite side of the kitchen is done so I can cook and bake. I am pretty confident I will have the kitchen totally up and functioning again by Thursday when my family starts to arrive for Christmas.
I planned another post for this week to show you how I am getting the second bedroom upstairs holiday ready, but I am waiting on a part for a new bed frame I bought. FedEx tracking has it arriving today. Keeping my fingers crossed. :-)
Are you prepping, baking, and/or wrapping this week? If so, I hope you can feel less frazzle and more dazzle as you go about checking off your To-Do list.
Stay calm and carry on. :-)