The Brown Family: August 2009

After much persuasion on my part….partly because the task of painting seemed so overwhelming and time consuming to Jason…we finally took the plunge. We painted our oak cabinets black!

<<BEFORE>>

<<AFTER>>

The process……

-2. Look at a million different kitchens online for months to make sure that you know exactly what you like…..

-1. ~~Pester~~ Have discussions with your husband until you ~~convince~~ ~~him~~ agree that it’ll look great. (not that I’ve ever seem a single black kitchen in my real life…but still…..)

1. Take off all cabinet doors and dispose of all the yucky brass hardware. BUT save those hinges and spray paint them black. Those suckers are expensive!

2. Sand the surfaces just enough to “rough” it up. Be ready to answer questions from silly neighbors (like, “Are you sure you know what you are doing?” haha. If he only knew…..)

Make sure that you wipe them down with a damp cloth (or tack cloth) to get all the dust off. Sawdust + paint = not cool

3. Go to Home Depot and buy their enamel undercover primer and paint. This stuff is awesome. Have the primer tinted black….or blue….which is how dark they can get it apparently. This stuff is hard as a rock. You can’t scratch the finish off even if your trying.

You can see the upper cabinets have already taken a coat of primer and the lower ones are on their first coat of black.

4. Recruit lots of help in painting. It gets a little boring by yourself.

5. Use a brush to get into the fine corners (a good brush is so worth the investment!) and a foam roller to get a smooth finish. DO NOT go over your paint when it starts to cure (dry). If you realize you made a mistake it’s better to wait and sand it down after it dries.

6. Decide that one project is really not enough. Realize your husband must really love you when he holds his tongue and says, “whatever you want babe”

7. Coat all cabinet doors, drawers, and base cabinets with one coat of primer and at least 2 coats of paint. It was most likely three when all was said and done. Give it plenty of time to dry between coats. Spend days looking at open cabinets :)

8. We added bead board and an extra piece of molding to the bottom and sides of the cabinets for some extra flair. I think it makes the kitchen!

9. Hang your doors back on with your newly spray painted hinges. Put on your new bling…um…your hardware.

10. Leave cabinets doors open because your husband insist they may stick if you don’t. Leave them open until you can no longer handle looking at your messy cabinets.

11. Enjoy your “new” old kitchen!