kitchen remodel part 2

So after securing the beadboard to the sides, I primed the cabinet fronts. I use Zinnser oil-based primer. I think it has better adhesion and holds up better. Just my opinion. I rolled and brushed. I have a sprayer I just usually spend more time trying to get it work then it would take to just roll and brush the dang stuff.
Hard to see in this picture, but notice the sides of the cabinet peeking out under the microwave. Luckily there was enough room that I could shove some beadboard there too. I just cut about 4 inches worth and liquid nailed it on there as well. A close up photo will show it a little later.

I had trouble getting some of the beadboard to lay flat. So I ended up nailing and clamping and whatever else I could do to get it work.

I primed and painted the doors. I ended up using liquid sand rather than actually sanding them. Just did. Can't explain it. Probably always better to sand than use the liquid sand. Just do what you have to do. I was faster for me to do the liquid sand.

I ended up doing 2 coats over the primer. I used Door and Trim latex enamel in semi-gloss from Sherwin Williams. It is what I had made to match my existing trim. Why not use it on the cabinets too? It is an antique white.

I am not sure what I am showing in this picture. Maybe it is the caulk. I caulked where the beadboard met the front of the cabinet. I wasn't trying to fill the crack to invisibility. Just so it looked like it was supposed to be there. Caulk makes everything look more finished. Make sure it is PAINTABLE caulk.

I also caulked the cabinet door fronts. As I painted I realized that the cracks were very evident. Love caulk. I keep a damp rag around and use my finger to smooth the caulk. Then I wipe my finger on the rag as needed. Sometimes I just take the rag and wipe it down the caulk line to so as to clean it up a bit. Or start over. But that never happens.

Here is a close up of under the microwave. I am so glad I did that. Makes it look like it was all intentional. And I didn't have to take the microwave down. Bonus.
This is a shot of everything getting the final coats. Let me remind you that I was focusing on the uppers to make sure they were done before the granite comes. I haven't gotten to the lowers yet.


This is where I started trying out paint colors for the walls. The green was here when we moved in 3 years ago. We didn't hate it so we left it. In the 3 years we have been in the house we have painted every room except this one. So this is really finally putting our stamp on the house and erasing all the evidence of the previous owner.
Oh! And here is one of the doors on with the new hardware. Note on hardware: I tried repainting the hinges and I didn't like it. When the hinges did their thing, they rubbed the paint off. I got all my hardware from ebay. You will find better prices there than at Orange or Blue. Really. Even with shipping. And they are not USED. Some people think everything on ebay is used. It isn't.
I wanted a warm color. Beige I guess but warm. Golden. But not yellow.
I tried it all over the kitchen to see how they would look in different light.
My husband of course liked the darkest choice. My daughter walked in and said, "Oh! I like the purple!" And we realized the darkest brown did look purple. So it was out. I started with 4 samples.

I intend to tile a backsplash, but until then it will have paint too so I tried it out under the cabinets where it is a little shadowy.
Then I went back and got 2 more samples. And then I mixed some together and tried that.
So I finally went to the store and talked to the dude and told him why I was having such a hard time and he helped me pick out one more. I was not willing to buy any more samples so I decided I would go with what he and I chose together.....I will keep you in suspense until my next posting! (insert evil laugh)

kitchen remodel part 1

Well, it has started. A cascade of events that were unexpected have started the ball rolling. I looked into getting a granite remnant for the kid's bathroom and learned that it would make more sense to do it when I do the kitchen. The kitchen counter leftovers will go toward the bathroom counters. Overall it will save me money to do them at the same time.

Wow. So I got the estimates and decided on a company. I soon realized that I will not DARE stand on the granite after it is installed so I better get busy on painting the upper cabinets. They came and did the templating today and they will install in about 2 weeks! I better get going!

Here are some befores. Lame-o orange, builder-grade oak cabinets. Oak fronts and doors, particle board everything else. You can see how hard I worked to stage the photos. Not.



Here the counters are cleaned off a bit since the templates were going to be done that day.

Here is a good shot of the sides of the cabinet boxes. Laminate. With...a sticker finish? I don't get it. I don't want to paint right on the plastic veneer so I decided to cover it with beadboard like I did in the bathroom. Look for that coming up.


Took the doors off (and removed hardware) and washed the cabinet boxes and doors. I just used oxiclean. I opted to use deglosser/liquid sander to rough up the cabinets. I decided I wasn't willing to deal with the sawdust. I do have 3 small kids after all. I can't totally shut down operations in here. I will sand the doors (out in the garage).
Below you can see where I removed the oak backsplash. (What were they thinking?) P.S. I am seeing a lot of empty space in there. I need to organize better. I am short so it isn't real convenient to have to reach things up high.

On another note, the cabinet doors above my fridge can't open all the way because they hit the fridge parts just so. I may have to leave the doors off and use baskets or something. What do you think? Storage is at a premium y'all. Gotta find a way to use every bit.
I cut some beadboard to size and used liquid nails to secure it. Nail or tape it to hold it in place while it sets.


Tonight I will try to get on the first coat of primer (oil based in this case).
Stay tuned!

Dining Chairs

I bet you didn't know that there are as many shades of black as there are any other color. More on that later.

I found a dining set (table and 6 chairs) and a matching hutch for a decent price on Craigslist. Of course, they were old and ugly. And filthy. They weren't so bad except for where hands touch. 20 years of oily hands make chair arms disgusting. FYI.

Here are some before photos of the chairs. 4 chairs are armless, 2 have arms.
I took the cushions off (they screw off from the bottom) and washed the chairs. I just used some soap and water (oxy clean, actually). Check out the before and afters of the dirty spots!!!





Don't forget the undersides of the arms!
I primed with a gray primer since I was painting the chairs black.
I can't believe I don't have a photo of when I was painting them black. All that time in my garage drying and I didn't take ONE photo?

Sorry.

Anyway, remove the fabric from the cushions. Just pull out the staples. I didn't bother keeping the old cloth for a pattern since you just pull and staple.


Here is how I layered it: wood seat, old foam, new foam (foam is exact same size as wood seat), batting, fabric. (Batting and fabric large enough to pull to under side of seat.)

Cutting out batting and fabric:

I ordered this fabric online from fabric.com.

Pull batting and fabric around and staple. I started in the middle of one side, then switched to the opposite side.

Then again on the other 2 sides. Just to be even.

Then stapled my way out to the corners.
Then I trimmed off some of the corner fabric to make it easier to work with.
Another view:

I found that the screw had trouble going through the fabric and batting. It just picked up the batting and wound it around and around the screw. Weird. So then I cut a little spot where the screw would go into the wood.

All stapled up:

Flip it over and admire your handy work. I didn't worry too much about the pattern. Trying to make them all match would make me lose my mind. Plus I only had so much fabric to work with.
Then screw it back into place!


About the black color. It is wrong. It is too gray. I painted the table (no photo here) first and that black was too green. Yes, green. Then this was too gray. Since it is so humid and all right now here in Oregon, I am going to just have to wait until it warms up to repaint it all with a true black. Any advice on that? But for now they work and look great! Don't you think?