Kitchen Cabinet Refab

This week I completed a kitchen cabinet project for a customer.  Their cabinets were original to the house and had years of paint on them and needed an overhaul.  The homeowner spent weeks stripping the layers of paint off and to her credit, did an incredible job.  Stripping is hard. (In the words of Michael Scott of TV's 'The Office' - "That's what she said".

 

* My initial phone conversation with her went like this...

 

me: "How about I stop by today and look at the project to get a better idea of what will be involved?"

customer:  "That'll be great.  When you get here, I'll probably be in the basement stripping."

me: (long pause)  "Oh my.  Please tell me you're talking about paint."

 

Indeed she was referring to the cabinet doors, but I have to admit I exhausted every stripping joke I could think of on the first day of work there.

 

 

Here's what the scenario looked like upon my arrival.

 

 

 

 

The initial idea was to paint the inside of the cabinets white, but I proposed to her that we paint them the same color as the kitchen walls. (Mindful Grey by Sherwin Williams)

 

 

She is an avid baker, and readily treated me to homemade baked good.  This is the pumpkin bread.  Moist pumpkiny goodness!

 

The cabinet doors needed a few holes patched and a final sanding prior to priming.

 

 

The next day included these delicious oatmeal raisin cookies.  However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed those weren't chocolate chips instead.  Sort of like the dismay I experience when I bite into a filled stick donut thinking it's cream filled only to discover it's custard.  Nevertheless, the oatmeal raisin cookies were fantastic.

 

After priming and a basecoat of white paint, the glaze was applied using a dry brush technique.

 

 

The next day presented these babies.  I believe they were Macadamia Nut cookies.  Whatever they were, I ate about 17 of them.

 

The original hardware had years of wear and discoloring.  She wanted a fresh look revived to them so I used a wire brush spinny thingy (yes, that's the proper terminology) to shine them up.  Sometimes old patina can be great, but if it's not the desired look, then it has to go.

 

 

 

Evidently she was pleased with the hardware, because the following day I got these.  Brown sugar cookies with icing.  Sweet Moses, these were good.

 

The cabinets came out great and worked well with the light grey walls and white trim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last step was to give their kitchen island a new look.  The Hunter Green had exceeded its lifespan so they had to choose a new color.  They decided on a shade of orange would be their preference.  question: Can you guess which one they went with? A,B, or C?

 

Answer: It's a trick question.  They chose none of the above.  After the 3 of us discussed it, we decided a fresh bright green would be the route to go.  I love it.

 

 

 

 

In the end, the project came out great and they were happy.  Sadly, I now have high sugar levels and gained 47 lbs. 

 

Totally worth it.