How to Paint Your Oak Kitchen Cabinets, and Survive to Tell About it!

Were painting the cabinets white! Were painting the cabinets white!! 

What started as a great idea, ended up being a great idea and also ended up taking over my sanity for three plus weeks...what was this you ask? Why it was the painting of our builder oak kitchen cabinets! Here is literally the only photo I could find of a before for the kitchen. That is our good friend, Adam, and our son playing on the floor as we toured the house (AGAIN) before putting in our offer! Anyhow, before we even moved in I knew I would one day tackle those UGLY oak cabinets and paint them a beautiful shade of classic white!  I know to some people painting over wood cabinets is considered a sin, but I just can not justify having blairingly orangey toned cabinets screaming at me when they can oh so easily be remedied! Easy, but VERY time consuming. I would say it was a good three weeks from start to finish...and by finish I mean re hang the cabinets and install most of the new hardware. We still have yet to purchase the rest of our knobs and install them. One word, LAZY! So here is how we, as in I, did it! There are many a detailed picture that I do not have, because I was trying to accomplish this ginormous task as quickly as possible so I apologize. 

Here is what I used:

-Krud Kutter

-Drill

-Electric Sander with 60 & 220 grit sand paper

-Tack Cloth

-Caulk

-Wood Filler

-Zinsser Primer

-Foam Rollers 

-2" Angled Purdy Paint Brush

-Drop Cloths

-1 Gallon Benjamin Moore Advanced Paint Simply White in a Satin Finish

 





Now our kitchen cabinets had exposed hinges and we opted to take the time and money to switch over to concealed hinges, to give the kitchen a more high end look...but that will be for another posting. We also took down a set of cabinets and installed some open shelving in its place which I will post about at a later time as well.  I'm keeping it real here, so here are photos of our kitchen and some of the top cabinet doors removed. My husband used his drill to remove all the cabinets, I would not recommend attempting to do this with a screwdriver by hand... talk about intense labor! Now at this point you can choose to remove EVERYTHING from your cabinets and store them in a location in your home that your children will not get in to and destroy... but because no such a place exists in my home I opted to be lazy and keep everything in the cabinets and hope for the best. It worked out fine except for when I sanded all the bases and then I had to clean all the dust from the cabinets out...but it was still less work than removing everything and storing it for weeks somewhere else. Moving on, I used my Krud Kutter to de-gloss and clean off the grime and grease that has been accumulating over the years off of all the cabinets, drawers, and bases. I then used my wood filler to fill all the holes that were left from the exposed hinges being removed. Concealed hinges have a completely different set up so we had to fill and sand down all the holes, one of the biggest, time consuming parts of the project. Then I used my electric sander with 60 grit sand paper to sand down all of the cabinets, drawers and bases. This wasn't as labor intensive as it seems. I knew that there was no way I would be able to sand down the cabinets enough to get rid of the oak graining, because they are solid oak, but I wanted to rough them up and get rid of all of the glossy finish in order to make sure the primer and paint sticks for life!! I do not wish to make it a habit of having to do this process again, so prep is everything for beautiful, and lasting finish! After sanding I wiped down the cabinets with tack cloth and did another pass with the Krud Kutter.

 Now we were ready for some priming action! I used a 2" angled Purdy paint brush to get in all the corners, mouldings, and nooks along with some foam rollers. I picked them both up from Home Depot. The paint brush may seem a bit pricey, around $14, but it is worth it to use the best quality you can afford. Same said for buying quality paint! After priming, pull out you caulk gun and prepare to caulk any and every crevice that is exposed in your cabinet doors and bases. Paint WILL NOT cover or fill in those spaces! If you want a professional finish please take the time to do this! It can be time consuming but it is worth it.  I probably applied 2 coats of primer on to EVERYTHING and then I gave it a light sanding with my 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out any drips or inconsistencies and get it ready to paint

I did A TON of research and blog stalking before tackling this project. I mean TONS...for the past year and a half we have been in our home I have spent googling different methods on painting oak cabinets. All in all I would say the processes are about the same, and the quality of products is SO important. Don't skimp!!!! As these cabinets and drawers will be used day in and day out! Speaking of paint, after so much research I came to the conclusion that I DID NOT want a oil based paint, for clean up reasons and future possible yellowing reasons. Regular latex didn't exactly appeal either, what to do? What to do? Then I found the holy grail of paints! Benjamin Moore Advanced paint!! Here is a shot of some of the "white" paint chips my hubby lovingly drove an hour to get for me...TRUE LOVE!! The nearest store that sold this paint in the satin finish was an hour away!! I would suggest taping up all your white options so you can see them in your kitchen with your lighting.  We ended up deciding on Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore.

Here is an expert form their website:

ADVANCE offers the application and performance of traditional oil paint in a waterborne formula that cleans up with soap and water. It is a 100% alkyd formula water-dispersible alkyd developed with proprietary new resins that keep VOCs low even after tinting. It flows and levels like a traditional alkyd with the extended open-time required to achieve high-end finishes. ADVANCE is available in unlimited colors, giving you more ways than ever to achieve the perfect look on every job.

 The painting process is what really took the longest for this project! I started with the backs of the cabinets that way when I worked on the front of the cabinets any damage that may possibly occur would happen to the backs. Read any and I used my angled brush to "cut in" the door fronts and I went over it with a foam roller. After rolling the first bit of paint on I panicked as I saw millions of tiny bubbles all over the surface of my door fronts...luckily the paint is self settling and it ended up evening itself out. I probably did 4 thin coats of paint in order to get what I saw as "perfect" even finish. I allowed the paint to cure for 5 days out on the dining room table before we, as in my hubby, started the process of drilling out holes for the new concealed hinges and installing the doors back in the kitchen. I searched every home improvement store in the area in order to find the perfect pulls for the cabinets and I finally settled on some from Home Depot by Martha Stewart. They are classic and shiny and add the perfect amount of class and bling to the kitchen! If you have any questions let me know, and I will answer them best I can!


Here are a couple shots of the finish:

BEFORE

AFTER

                                                                          {QoK}

New Crate turned Vintage Easter "Basket"

Every time I set foot in a store I am bombarded with a multitude of pastel reminders that Easter will be upon us quickly!!  Our two boys are the first grand kids on my side of the family, and with my brother and sister-in-law being stationed on the east coast we have yet to have an Easter egg hunt around here! In fact, our boys have no clue who the Easter bunny is and he supposed role in Easter. In all honesty we will probably never share that with them. Because it's not about the bunny!! We want all our holidays with our boys to be focused on Christ and the reasons that we as born again Christians celebrate them! Granted we aren't grinches and do intend to let them have divulge in some fun...just minus stories of false gigantic bunnies running around planting random eggs in our yard and leaving pastel baskets filled with far too much candy than humanly possible to consume, in the mornings.


This post however isn't about what we will and will not take part in, but rather I wanted to share with you a tutorial on a alternative to the plasticky, or wooden bright Easter baskets that are available in our stores. First off, they are expensive...$9.99+ for a basket? One that is so specifically colored that there is no way on earth I could incorporate that in to my home decor to give it more use. Secondly, they are as I just stated very specifically colored. Thirdly, have you ever tried to store these things? They are such a odd shape and I can never find a great place to store them without them getting damaged or buried underneath random items in our garage or closets. So this year I sat, trying to think of an alternative to the traditional Easter basket. Something that looked great and I could incorporate in to my home decor, if I decided to. Or, something that would be functional the boys could continue to use all year long. Thus the Easter crate idea was born!

Here are the supplies you will need:

-Small Wooden Unfinished Crate -Bought mine @Michaels with a 50% coupon for $3.77
-Wax Paper
-Ink Jet Printer
-Damp Towel
-Miniwax Stain
-Old rag
-Sharpie
-150+ grit sandpaper

-Craft Paint

-Sponge Brush 

First things first remove the label off of your crate. It does leave a sticky residue that WILL NOT stain properly so I used some Krud Kutter to remove the residue and gave it a light sanding with 220 grit paper to make sure it was a smooth as a baby's bottom!!

 

 Now on to the ink transfer! Having not liked the fonts available to me on my computer program, Pages, I searched the web and found a plethora of free font downloads! I was torn between doing a very classic stencil font or something a little more vintage looking without being overly girly for my two boys! I ran across this font, Hawaii Killer, I am not sure what's so killer about this font, but I loved its vintage appeal!

After a green light from the hubby that it was not too girly, I proceeded to print some trials to get the sizing right! The first letter of their names was printed at 175pt font and the rest of their name at 200pt. Otherwise the first letter would not fit on to the crate correctly. Trial and error! Of course any font will do, so find something you love!

 Make sure to MIRROR your image before printing also! My program has flip horizontally button at the print screen, which took care of that! Easy peasy, as my four year old says!

For the actual printing I experimented with wax paper transfer! It worked the first time like a charm for my oldest sons crate, but I did run in to a few snags the second time around! So in the end I was able to print both names in two different ways which I will share with you.The first way was to cut a piece of wax paper the same size as a sheet of paper and tape it down to a sheet so the printer accepted it as one piece.  You do need to find out the way your printer will print the image on the paper, in my case I had to lay the wax side down in the paper feed for it to print on the wax side. I had no problems the first time I did this. I tried again this method and this time my printer ate it up!! So instead of wasting tons more wax paper and jamming my printer I printed the image on a normal sheet of paper and cut a wax piece a little larger than that and taped it on to another black piece of paper in the spot it would print the image again. I fed it in upside down and it worked perfectly! 

I separated the wax paper off the paper carefully and being conscious not to touch the ink in any way as it is very wet and WILL smudge if touched! I dampened the wood with a wet rag, just enough to help take the ink on to the wood darker. You don't want the wood to be sopping wet but just lightly run the dampened rag over it and it should work! Then just eye balling it I looked for the center and then lightly layed the wax paper down. I have seen many tutorials saying to use a credit card to transfer the words, and I did do that the first time around and it caused a lot of ink bleeding that I later had to sand out with the first crate. So I just lightly used my fingers to lightly tap down on the letters and transfer the ink.

I used a sharpie to carefully add any ink that I felt didn't transfer well onto the wood and sanded off any bleeding or markings I didn't want on the crate. Now you are ready to stain! I wanted a lighter, weathered look, but you can use any stain you prefer! I took my hammer and used the back part, I have no clue what the techincal name for it is... and made a bunch of dents all over the crate to give it a older look! Then I took my Miiwax, Classic Grey stain and used a sponged brush to apply. Make sure your words or images are completely dry to the touch before proceeding to stain!

Be sure to cover ALL your crate, for a true vintage look! You don't want parts of unstained new wood peaking out from the crevices! I gave my crate about 10-15 mins to soak in the stain and then wiped off the excess with a old rag. To give it some warmth I also used some brown craft paint I had on hand, and just wiped it on with a rag! You could also use some darker stain, but I was too lazy to go to the garage to retrieve it. I love the warmth it gives to the piece, and I think the colors really compliment one another.

 Be sure to seal your crate, I personally like buffing a layer of wax for a perfect finish! I love that my boys can continue to use these crates all year long to store toys or books in! I may add some caster wheels to the bottom that was they can roll them around the house as well! Good luck making your crates! 

                                   

{QoK}

Before & Afters

Enter one thrift store hutch find, solid wood I might add...

+ Annie Sloan Chalk Paint + bead board wall paper + stain 

=

Here is another Craigslist find. Sofa table with oak finish. I sanded, stained, and sprayed on a coat of poly.

 Now to one before and after, I think, makes a HUGE difference in our home. The stair railings! You know the things that are there that you dont'pay much attention to, and take for granted until one afternoon you trip over a car and take a plunge for the worst about to barrel down the stairs until your mind makes the connection that they are there to save your life! I can personally couch for this, and the fact that they save lives...The stair railings were all a old, dingy looking oak when we moved in. First I thought I would try sanding and staining the oak to get the dark look I craved. That went south very quickly and it was apparent very early on that it would be more hassle than it was worth and I would never achieve the try dark color I truly wanted on the railings using a stain. I headed back to HD and browsed the paint/stain section and this caught my eye...Rustoleom's Painter's Touch in Espresso!! Could it be too good to be true? It was worth a shot and I had a couple of bedroom pieces that needed some touch up so I threw it in the cart and brought it home to give it a go. Armed with one of my good Purdy brushes I started with a thin but even coat. Immediately I knew this would give the look I was after. It took a maybe 3-4 thin coats to get it all covered and I think the result is night & day to it's previous look. I haven't sealed it with a clear poly of any kind and I haven't experienced any chipping or flaking off in the past 6 months it has been on the railings. With obvious daily use, and two toddlers I definitely give it 5 stars!

Before shot- Sorry this is truly the only shot I have of the railings in their original state. This picture is from when we came in the night we closed to paint the rooms upstairs. Thanks Ivan & Kyle =)

After-6 months of wear and tear...and still looking fab!

Looking fab!

Chair Before & After

Once upon a time we were really into dark woods and a sleek and more modern design. I have always loved the traditional look as well but always felt it a bit too frilly and girly for my husbands taste so I curbed that when we were married and jumped on the modern bandwagon. I scored this chair at a thrift store and paid around $25 and forced it into our two door Honda coupe to get it home. I knew it would fit, the hubby said no but I said yes and made it fit. That's right, the woman is always right! Anyhow, when the house hunt became serious I started creating folders of looks and ideas I liked for our new home. I realized time after time I was selecting photos, or furniture with more traditional flair and some eclectic pieces thrown in here or there. Once we moved in to our home I knew this piece just wouldn't work to help achieve the look I was after so I needed a quick fix. I had scored tons of yards of a pretty quilted robin's egg blue fabric at a thrift store for $5, so that was what I grabbed to cover it up in a hurry. Sadly this project is only half finished. The front looks pretty good...just dont turn the chair around!  =) Eventually I am going to take a trip down to get a bold and beautiful fabric, and cover that bad boy up the proper way. But for now I am content with it. ..

Thrift Store find pre-kids...paid around $25

{QoK}

Home Before & Afters

We have been in our home for almost 7 months now and it have undergone many changes! I am going to share with you some before & after photos from our journey! 

Our home came with OAK! Lots and lots of oak...bleh! Among all the oak was this beauty,  a built in that was half built. Luckily my father in law has some decent carpentry skills and was able to build a desk area in the lower half of the built-in. We are not fans of oak so I knew this was going to be something on my list to re-paint. Man, was this guy a beast to paint though! I went through many coats of primer and paint in order to thoroughly cover it all and stayed up many a late night so my munchkins wouldn't touch the wet paint. I loved the result... that was until I noticed it was too stark and white for my tastes. You see, when we first moved in I had this notion that I wanted everything light and bright, and well white...after browsing through hundreds of photos on blogs and home decor websites I decided I needed a little less traditional, stark decor and more eclectic and warm decor. I decided that I really wanted the desk part to our built in to be dark stained wood... nice and warm. Well, that lapse in judgement cost me hours...I sanded all the primer and white paint off and then stained and waxed it to beautiful perfection. I also got around to using beadboard wall paper to cover the hideous seems of fake wood that paneled the back of the built in. I still need to finish up some details and cover a few spots with new moulding but all in all it is looking much more fabulous that it was when we first moved in. Here are some photos of the progress...

Here is the desk area with its white paint, too cold.

Here is the work in progress. SO MUCH DUST!! Never again!

Back to its original raw state!

Some stain and beadboard magic!

All the random accesories I have

Here it is as it is currently decorated and all put back together.
 Excuse some of the random cords floating around the back of the computer and the poor lighting.
 I took this photo at night

 Tacky brass around your fireplace? Nothing a can of spray paint cant handle..

Before-Ugly brass, bleh =(

After some spray paint magic! BEAUITIFUL

{QoK}