Kitchen Makeover Part 1 {The Kitchen Cabinets}

I recently started yet another project at my parent’s house. This one I am super excited about and have been wanting to tackle for a while… THE KITCHEN CABINETS! While some people may enjoy the look of oak cabinets, my mom and I do not. I’m glad we were both on the same page about wanting to see them gone. Like many other rooms in the house, the cabinets were giving off that dreaded orange tint, which made the room look small and yellow. Long story short, they had to go.

Rather than buy new cabinets, to replace the standard oak cabinet that came with the house, we decided to paint them. This project wasn’t too challenging considering my mom had painted the kitchen cabinets in two of her previous homes, so it was safe to say she had it down like a pro.

The first step was to remove all the cabinets and hardware from each cabinet door.

Once all the cabinet doors were removed it was time to sand down the doors and the frames. Originally I had tried to skip this step on the frames of the cabinets. I soon found out that taking shortcuts during a project like this one was not a good idea. The paint quickly began to appear clumpy and the residual oil left on the cabinets that cleaner could not remove was creating an oil affect. In other words SANDING IS 100% NECESSARY!

Once the sanding was complete we began to paint the frames of the cabinets.We used a small paint brush for all the edges and small corners and then a foam roller for the rest.

To keep things simple, and to make the cabinets last through the home decor trends of time, we decided to paint the cabinets white, using Behr Marquee Ultra Pure White in satin. Because we used Behr Marquee, which has paint and primer in one, we didn't prime the cabinets. In the previous cabinet painting products my mom had done, she had never primed before painting and the paint held up fine.

{you may want to prime your cabinets before beginning to paint them with the color of choice. My mom has painted kitchen cabinets twice before and has never primed them and they have held up fine, but if your cabinets will receive a lot of love aka wear and tear, then you should not skip priming}

It is important to use a foam roller to ensure the paint goes on smoothly and evenly without leaving any sort of unwanted textures.

We’ve only painted the bottom cabinets so far, but stay tuned for the before and after once we’ve finished painting ALL the cabinets in the kitchen! I’m so excited!

Paint Colors in this Post:
Behr Marquee Ultra Pure White

Guest Bath Makeover

After making over my moms middle floor half bath, I decided to tackle another one of the bathrooms in her house. The walls and the ceiling were painted with a orange beige color which made the room look small and gave off a nasty yellow light.

I decided to paint the walls and the ceiling white to make the bathroom feel larger and to eliminate the awful yellow lighting. I also painted the baseboards and molding with a fresh coat of paint.

I painted the walls Behr Marquee Ultra Pure White. Literally I just picked a can of the Behr Marquee paint in a Satin finish up off the shelf, no color mixing necessary. I did the same thing with the Semi Gloss paint which I also got in Ultra Pure White.

For the cabinet I got Behr Celtic Gray. I only needed a tester size to fully paint the cabinets which was awesome and saved me a lot of money.

It’s amazing what a little paint can do.

Here is the before picture of the cabinet

And here is the after

Painting the walls and the ceiling a bright white really had a huge impact on the feel of the room. It looks much cleaner and larger than before and I couldn’t be more pleased with out it turned out!

The shower curtain is Cynthia Rowley and was purchased from Home Goods for only $16.99!

The next step to finish up this bathroom makeover will be to add a little color to the bathroom with some coral towels.

Coral Towels from The Company Store

Garnett Hill 

My Bedroom Updates

So, recently I have been doing some shopping and have come across some much needed things for my room, and for a pretty great price!! Marshalls, Home Goods, and Walmart are some of my favorite places to get things for my room and at a great price!

Lamp Shade —-> $12.95 Walmart

I had the lamp base from a bedroom when I was a kid, but it was some awful pink color. A while back I had spray painted it white and since the old lampshade had some weird embellishment on it {and I had lost it so I wasn’t even able to fix it up with a little DIY} I was using the lamp in my room without a lamp shade and it was AWFUL! Lamp shades can be expensive, so I had been putting off buying one but I decided to finally bite the bullet and when I found one for only $13 I had to get it!

Isaac Mizrahi Comforter —> $59.99 Marshalls

The comforter set was something I had been looking at buying for a while {not this one specifically} but a comforter in general.

Rug —> $200.00 at HomeGoods

I also recently purchased this awesome rug from Home Goods for only $200!! Finding a rug large enough to fit nicely in my large room at a decent price  is a challenge so I was lucky to have found this gem at such a great price!

Some of the other awesome pieces I have in my room {but I have had for a while} include this beautiful side table that I got for FREE from Jake. I simply repainted the side table with a little leftover paint and it looks amazing now!

Since I currently live with two other people, there isn’t exactly enough room for me to have my own office space. Luckily, my room is large enough for me to incorporate my office space into my room. I have a deal that used to be in my little brothers room that I repainted to give it a fresh clean look and a file cabinet that I purchased to keep all of my misc paperwork in.

Desk—>FREE!!

See Jane Work File Cabinet —>$79.99 at Office Depot

Now, I know that $79.99 seems like a lot for a file cabinet, but I cannot tell you how worth it purchasing this file cabinet was!

See Jane Work® Kate File/Seat, 18 1/2″H x 15 3/8″W x 18 1/8″D, White

There is also this lamp that I spray painted Krylon Brushed Nickel and use as a desk lamp. It used to be this awful redish orange color that didn’t go with any decor. Now it matches the decor of my room perfectly!

Table Lamp —>FREE!!

And then there is my dresser, which my aunt wasn’t using at her house anymore, so she offered to give it to me which I gladly accepted!! It was originally cherry wood, but it was beat up and needed some TLC. I repainted it and spray painted the original hardware to give it the upgrade it needed to match the decor of my room. It wasn’t easy deciding what the upgraded it needed was, and I tried a lot of different combinations before finally settling on this…

Dresser —> FREE!!

 I will make sure to post I continue to update my bedroom. I am hoping to have my dream bedroom soon. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it is coming along!

Half Bath Makeover

When my parents moved into the townhouse they live in now, the house was in decent condition. There were just things here and there that desperately needed a makeover. The one room in the house that I felt needed it the most was the half bath on the middle floor. Not only was the room reflecting a hideous shade of orange from the paint the previous owners had chosen, but it also was very dingy and dirty.

Desk Makeover

My mom had picked up this desk and a set of bookshelves from her work. They were going through a remodel and were going to trash a lot of good furniture. Since my mom thinks a lot like me, she decided to bring some of the furniture home with her with the plan to refinish them. However, as the remodel finished up she became more and more busy at work and wasn't able to get around to refinishing the furniture she had brought home. That’s where I come in. I couldn't stand looking at the furniture whenever I would go over for a visit, and one day decided I would just refinish them for her. Here is a look at the desk makeover.

The Dining Room Chairs Turned Desk Chairs Makeover

My mom grabbed these off the side of the road. One of our neighbors was planning on throwing them out. She saw them and figured I might be able to do something with them, and SHE WAS RIGHT! I spray painted one of the chairs with Rustoleum Ocean Mist Gloss Spray Paint and the other with Krylon Aqua Matte

Spray Painting Furniture 101

Painting furniture can be a hassle. While I enjoy spending time painting for hours, most people do not. One great way to cut down on the hassle is to spray paint furniture rather than use a brush and a bucket of paint. There are many benefits to spray painting furniture.

Spray Painting Furniture Saves You Time… Spray painting furniture takes half the time of painting furniture the conventional way which means you can start your project in the morning and have it in the room of choice by the time the sun goes down.

You Won’t Burn A Hole In Your Pockets… Compared to traditional painting products, spray painting tools are extremely cheap! A can of spray paint costs anywhere from $3-$5, whereas a can of paint costs about $30 a gallon.

Avoid Drips and Paint Brush Strokes… The struggle with painting furniture is that it is very hard to avoid visible brush strokes and paint drips. When you spray paint furniture you are able to avoid all of that and get a nice clean finish on your furniture!

In this post I will discuss the common questions that people have about spray painting furniture.

1. Should I Use Primer?

It’s not necessary to prime your furniture before you spray paint it, but if you don’t plan on sanding down your piece before painting, I would suggest priming it. My favorite primer is Rustoleum Ultra Coverage Flat Gray Primer. It goes great under dark and light colors and really helps the spray paint adhere well.

2. Do I Need To Sand My Furniture Before I Spray Paint It?

Sanding furniture that you plan to spray paint isn’t necessarily necessary. It really depends on the condition the piece of furniture is in. If it is chipping and chunks of old paint are falling off then you might want to consider sanding just to ensure the spray paint adheres properly and also for the overall look of the piece.

3. Which Brand Of Spray Paint Works Best?

Choosing a brand of spray paint is usually based off of what color you would like to paint your furniture. I prefer using Rustoleum Ultra Cover x2 Spray Paint, mainly because I feel the paint covers better and you wont need to use as much. However, I also use Krylon spray paints and they tend to work pretty well too.

4. Do I Need To Use A Clear Protective Coat?

If you are spray painting a piece of furniture that will receive a lot of contact, then yes. Furniture such as tables, chairs, and desks could definitely use a clear protective coating on the top. I suggest using Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish Spray, but using Rustoleum or Krylon protective finishes will work as well.