Despa's Kitchen is Finished: Yes, you CAN paint Laminate Cabinets!!!!!!

I recently was commissioned to give this kitchen an update.

Check it out.

 

Here's Despa's kitchen.

The laminate white cabinets have yellowed,

and some are peeling…

And the hardware is dated.

Despa wants a spruce up!

The countertops are a faux granite laminate,

and the backsplash and floors are black and white.

The walls are a yellow green.

Over to the left, 

Despa has an open shelving unit

that houses all her cookbooks.

On top, she has a TV and cable box.

I would suggest perhaps a hutch or cabinet here

that we can use to hide all the clutter and provide

more storage.

 On the other side of the room 

is this fun little built-in shelf that used to be

an ironing board cabinet.

 Can you tell Despa's favorite doggy breed???

Yep, Scotties.

She has two:

Boots and Minnie.

And lots of scotties in her decorative collections.

 She has a table and chair set from the 70's…….

The chair cushions are worn and need a makeover.

And over here at the door to the dining room,

is another open shelving unit.

I have lots of ideas…….

So here's what I recommended:

I suggested painting the cabinets in two tones

White above and a blue grey below.

Despa thought about a khaki for the wall color,

and I loved that idea.

 

Always always do test swatches………

I chose several different blue grays for the base cabinets and the doors.

 And i chose several wall colors as well.

I taped letters at each sample,

..and made a "key."

My recommendations were

Crisp Khaki for the wall color,

White Dove for the upper cabinets,

and Puritan Gray for the base cabinets.

All Benjamin Moore.

I also recommend painting both doors in the kitchen

a slightly lighter blue-gray, Boothbay Gray.

And the work begins!!

I started by painting all the trim in White Dove.

Next, I painted the walls.

Then I removed all the cabinet doors and 

moved them to a garage where I'll work on them.

I primed and painted the doors and the cabinet frames.

This is what I like to use for cabinets:

This bonding primer STIX is the bomb!!!!

Followed by Advance.

And here's a little tip:

When doing colors,

ALWAYS use a tinted primer…

For the doors that had peeling laminate,

I decided to remove all the vinyl.

The first one I did by scraping...

But then I decided to try a heat gun. It worked great,

melting and lifting up the vinyl.

Then you are left with the MDF doors…

Unfortunately, the adhesive didn't come up easily.

That involved hours of scraping with razor blades,

but finally, I got them smooth.

And before painting over raw MDF,

because the latex will make the particle board swell,

I like to always prime first with a shellac based primer.

I decided to paint the back of the little built-in

in Boothbay Gray as well.

Oh yes, it's coming together.

Doors are painted, walls and trim are done.

The Boothbay Gray looks great with the Crisp Khaki.

I hung this antique dough bowl on the pantry door.

And hung a few things on the wall...

 

And I purchased this hutch 

that I think will work great for storage.

It's a little Colonial looking, 

but I'll change out the hardware to update it.

All the cabinetry got a prime coat, 

and three coats of paint.

I lightly sanded between coats.

I had these dry overnight in the garage before rehanging.

It takes 30 days for latex to fully cure,

so it's important to treat them very delicately.

I put new satin nickel bar pulls on all the doors 

and drawer fronts.

They really modernize the look of the cabinets!

The base cabinets doors are back on.

I used a semi-gloss finish for the cabinetry

and satin for the walls.

Next I removed the open shelving unit

and replaced it with the hutch.

It really cleans up the look 

and brightens the room!

I repainted it in the cabinet colors, 

and changed out the hardware to match.

And the kitchen is finished...

Clean

Contemporary

Modern.

Streamlined.

It looks like a brand new kitchen!!!

A lot of work,

but well worth it.

It looks amazing, Despa.

Thank you!!

(I'm still working on upholstering the four chairs,

but I couldn't wait to show you this awesome 

kitchen makeover!!)

Have a kitchen that needs a lift?

I can do it!

She She, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-257-5515

Salvaging the decorative painting on a dated chest of drawers

 My neighbor gave me this little chest of drawers……….

 Dang, someone did a lot of work here!

All this decorative painting…….

but I can't take those flowers~

 And check out the faux marbre top.

Whoowhee…that is ugly.

 I decided to try to save some of the painting……

I love harlequins,

so I came up with a cool idea:

I used a stencil and turned each flower into a black fleur-de-lis.

 See?

Works like a charm.

 Then I painted the knobs and outlined each drawer in the same black.

 And I painted the top in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Versailles.

 So much better……..

I waxed and did a little distress sanding,

and then I added this little wood detail to the top back.

I lined all the drawers with this cheetah print wallpaper...

And there you have it.

It's resting now in my Greenwood Antiques booth.

For sale, $165.

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

Clark's "Big Boy" Bedroom at Grandma's

My cousin, Debbie, 

has had this bedroom suit 

since she was a teenager.

 Nice solid pieces…

They've been up in her attic..

I painted the bed a while back for her to use in a guest room.

She keeps her grandson during the day,

and lately, little Clark,

has taken to crawling out of his crib at nap time.

So those days are over,

and it's time

for a "big boy" room!

She wants me to paint the furniture to use

in his bedroom at her house.

 I mixed up Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in a 50/50 ratio of

Old White and Louis Blue

and painted all three pieces and a mirror.

 Debbie really wanted to purchase new hardware...

 But that would be a $100+ investment, 

so I convinced her to let me just paint them.

I painted all the pulls and knobs in Old White.

 After drying, 

I used clear then lots of dark wax.

 Now they look old and crusty..

(She can always replace them later with new ones,

but I really like this look.

Gives the furniture a little character.)

 For each piece of furniture, 

I painted two coats.

After drying, 

I waxed with clear waxes

and very lightly distressed the edges.

And then buffed to a nice sheen.

Here's the bed.

 The dresser…

with all the hardware reinstalled.

 And the chest of drawers.

 And here is little Clark,

modeling his new bedroom furniture.

Clark is my first cousin twice removed.

(I had to research that to figure it out!

I always get confused!)

 Grandma went and bought him a mattress and box springs 

and set up his room this past weekend.

Now she won't have to worry about him

toppling over furniture, because these

are quite substantial pieces.

They will last many more years.

Don't you just love it when you can reuse

pieces instead of buying new ones?

Have a piece that needs a lift?

Send me a photo!

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

Loss

I haven't been able to post anything for a while.

It's been such a difficult week,

with lots of loss….

So I'll just say,

farewell for now...

 To Robbin….

To Dan…

 To Dick..

Memories are forever.

Hope to catch y'all on the other side!