Kitchen Transformation: Part II

I admit: Major fault #1 of mine is when I get a plan/vision/idea of any sort on any magnitude, I usually expect for it to be an easy one day project if that.

Sure transform my kitchen: NO BIG DEAL.

Take cabinets off, paint, whip back up and waaa-la... new kitchen.

Not so much.

This project, which yes I wanted to start at 10pm the first time because I was so excited quickly got shot down by Chris and our 2 best friends staying out of town. Of course I knew I wouldn't finish it, but I wanted to get started... I am a night shifter.. 10pm means NOTHING to me. I forget that I have to take every door down, label every piece, degrease and clean every nook and cranny, tape off everything so I don't ruin my kick ass $20 painted countertops that I just guarded with my life for 3 days while they cured.

So I went to bed to rest up for my big project that I started bright and early the very next morning.

So here it is spelled out for you, keep in mind I am NOT a perfectionist, I am an impatient procrastinator and I get bored VERY quickly.

Step 1

Take off all the doors, label with painters tape the door number to where it came from. I also numbered cups to each door and the hardware from each numbered door went in the specific cup. this was to make sure everything matched up the way it was before I attempted to paint this beast of a kitchen.

Taking the doors off

Labeling

Step #2

Cleaning & degrease the cabinets. I used oven degreaser (only because that was already under our sink and I was too impatient to go to the store to buy anything else and I used Lysol & water). After letting them dry I started the first step of the transformation kit. "Deglossing"
This was my least favorite part, you use a scratchy pad that comes with the kit and scrub the cabinet doors and cabinets with the deglosser. Royal P.I.A!

Cleaning & Deglossing sucks!

I'm SO sexy here!

Step 3

PAINT!!! Apply the "bond coat" which is the actual paint & color your using. We picked Linen and decided not to do the optional staining.


A: I didn't want to wait an extra 12 hours for THAT to dry on top of the 8 hours of the bond coat
B: We tested it on the back of one of the cabinet doors and quickly found out I am SO not an expert on staining. I pretty much looked like I leaked coffee grounds on the cabinet.


It took 2 days to paint EVERYTHING. We used 2 coats on the doors and 3 coats on the frames. Not sure on my theory there, but it just looked better.

3am night shifter painting while everyone sleeps

While all this was going on the kitchen was also being painted because once again, I was impatient and wanted it done. I'm pretty sure Chris wanted to murder me during this project. HA! I had this place turned into an assembly line of glossing, painting, trimming, taping.. you name it.

Step 3
Apply the "Protective Top Coat"
The trick is painting with the grain and finding the quickest most efficiant way to cover the piece before the top coat starts to dry and get sticky. We hung the doors after several hours and had no issues.. Ok.. so maybe I cheated and shorted a few hours but I just wanted to see the finished product.


So...
a $20 Rustoleum Countertop Coating in Midnight Blue
a $150 Rustoleum Kitchen Cabinets Transformation Kit in Linen
a bunch Purdy paint brushes & a few foam rollers
a can of Behr's Silver Drop
and you have.....
Drum Roll...........................

A sneak Peak of our newly transformed kitchen

The complete before & afters coming soon. After the knobs go up, all the tape is gone and I clean up the mess. I am so happy with how the entire kitchen looks and I can't wait to post more pictures. I did weeks worth of blog stalking other transformations and was fully prepared for the good and the bad. Thankfully, it turned out better than I expected. This little transformation will hold me over until we win the power ball and can pay someone else to redo our entire kitchen. A girl can dream, right?