DIY - Kitchen Transformation Part 1

There hasn't been a lot of cooking going on around here lately

Why not, you ask?

Well its all about the DIY right now, and, boy oh boy there's a lot of it going on

At the beginning of the year we had a list of things that we were getting updated or finished this year, in the DIY department

It included the 3 car garage being built

Guest bedroom makeover

Master bathroom, bedroom, closet makeover

Kid friendly bathroom makeover

Never did it cross our minds to start on the kitchen

It all started when we got a quote for hardwood floors on the entire bottom floor of the house

The salesman happened to mention another customer who had also ordered granite

And so the question was asked " you do granite "?

So with the hardwood floors on hold until the master bedroom renovation is complete

We decided to go ahead and get granite counter tops

Our current counter tops are typical Formica beige, practical and easy to clean. I even use sharp knifes and cut straight on the stuff with no marks, its fine and functional but not cute and glamorous

Kitchen Before 

Good view of the Cabinets

So the granite got picked out and ordered

We went for Santa Cecilia classic

Mr Tartan Tastes and I got to thinking, maybe this would be a great time to paint the cabinets

Now, you have to understand, I have been wanting to do this for a while now, but Mr Scaredy Pants said No, we cant paint the cabinets, But now he was finally on my page....

Lets get rid of the oak wood and paint it white and do an antique glaze finish, I can do that

I have seen it all over "Blogland" and really wanted to try it out on a big project

Mr Tartan Tastes ( Mr Scaredy Pants ) said I needed to take my time and be careful and do it "properly"

I did

I have transformed our kitchen from boring and dull

The Before kitchen

To chic and classic......

First I removed all the hard wear (handles to my Scottish chums)

Then I sanded down all the doors and cabinet trim with liquid sander, this stuff is awesome. I found this particular brand at Lowe's.

You just get a rag and put some on and rub in circular motions all over the cabinets, it takes off the shine and leaves no mess like proper sanding does. Even better news, you can paint on it after it dries in about 10 minutes, perfect for impatient little me

Next I painted 3 coats of white latex interior paint on all cabinet frames and inside and outside doors, I didn't remove the doors, but I did take out the drawers to get to the frame of the cabinets easier, it can be done without removing the doors, trust me, I got a little paint on the hinges by accident but have since scraped that off with a blade

Cabinets getting painted with 3 coats of white paint

Phew, it took a lot of patience and time, but the results were transforming before our eyes

The white paint alone was perfect, I even thought at this point to stop and not glaze, but in for a penny in for a pound as they say in Scotland... in other words there's no stopping now...

Next I needed to paint on and wipe off the glaze

I used the Valspar Antiquing Glaze from Lowe's

Valspar Antiquing Glaze

I was a little scared of this part, I have to admit, it kinda goes on easy but looks frightening, Mr Tartan Tastes aka Mr Scaredy Pants could not look....

eeek.. the glaze before the wipe off

So you paint it on using a foam brush, getting it into all the nooks and crannies then ferociously wipe it all off leaving behind the glaze in all the grooves of the wood

whoa, the wood grain still showed up even after 3 coats of white paint, I was amazed and in awe of the results

Painted and glazed, do you see the wood grain?

Isn't it exciting

Next I bought this trim from (where else) Lowe's to put on the fake drawer under the sink, I took my drawer front into the store and picked one that fitted perfect

then I glued it on with some wood glue

Once dried, I filled around the edges with Spackle then painted it white, finished off with a good helping of Antiquing glaze

Cute trim from Lowe's

Trim all painted white

Trim in place with Antiquing glaze and a sneak peek of the new Granite

I got the idea for this kitchen over at Our Fifth House and Girl In Air both these Blogs inspired me tremendously

So I knew I needed to get the cabinets all done before the granite was to get installed

I had just under 2 weeks

Kitchen waiting for granite

Another view of old Counter tops with newly painted cabinets

Installation day arrived and I was nearly finished, I still had 2 cabinets to glaze and the protective top coat still had to go on but that was OK

Old Counter tops taken away

So the old counter tops were ripped out, yeahhhhh

And the granite was installed, and OMG I am in love

New shiny Granite and sink installed

Its not finished yet but already I am loving this space way better

My kitchen went from boring to sophisticated in the space of 10 days

We wish we had done it sooner

Its just seems to go with the rest of the house now

We love it

All we need now is our hardwood floors installed and a new tile back splash in here and it will be complete

I will update you with the finished item once its all done

oh, yeah, and stay tuned for episodes on our garage build, going on right now as we speak, too exciting for words, Mr Tartan Tastes will finally have that Guy Space/Man Cave area

Here is a sneak peek

Angela