bright and white

When we moved into our house, I knew I would want to paint our kitchen cabinets! As we have began checking things off of our to do list, I finally got done to the kitchen cabinets.  I am a teacher, so my summer is winding to a close, and I knew if I didn't finish them now, I never would.  My husband and I began the process of a cabinet makeover on Saturday then finished everything up on Sunday! Here is my beautiful cast of characters that helped me through the process.

This my friends, was the leading role in my cabinet makeover.....

Before I did any painting or anything, my husband took off all of the doors and we labeled each door with a sticky note.  I then one by one used TSP to clean each cabinet door and drawer.  This was a LIFESAVER! This stuff is amazing! It ate away any yucky grease and grime that was left on my cabinets.  Here is the key though.....make sure you wear gloves.  You will HIGHLY regret not wearing them! I used latex gloves and they worked fine.  I used a regular kitchen sponge and wiped the front and back of each door.  Let's just say they were kinda gross. After the initial rinsing, I went ahead and wiped each one down again with a wet rag to make sure there was no TSP left on the doors.  They seemed a little sticky after I was done with the first step, so this is why I used the rag afterwards.  

Now, most people would think we should have sanded in here some where.  Our cabinet doors were original to the house, so they were about 20 years old.  After cleaning with TSP, there was hardly any varnish left on our cabinets.  Therefore, I committed the cardinal sin of painting.  I did not sand. :)

One I was done with the cleaning, I got to painting.  Quite awhile ago, my mom bought a paint sprayer, so we borrowed her sprayer and got to painting.  I gave each cabinet 2 coats of Valspar Kitchen and Bathroom, bright white.  It since has been re-named, and I am struggling to remember the new name.  Same color as the rest of the white in our house!

While the cabinets were drying, I went inside and we began painting inside.  Instead of using the sprayer indoors, we went ahead and brushed the entire inside cabinets.  This took about 2-3 coats, but they look spectacular! I was very pleased with how they turned out! 

The next morning, after all was dry, we replaced the doors and installed new knobs and drawer pulls.  I bought the knobs and drawer pulls at Target about a month ago for half off! They are oil rubbed bronze, with a hammered look to them! 

After all the hard work, I love my new kitchen cabinets! Our next big remodel....new tile and countertops! I will update you when those are installed, but for now, enjoy some pictures!!!!

Thanks!

Ashley

In with the old...

It's been a long week in our household! Now that we are back home, I can finally get around to posting a new furniture renovation! When my husband and I were married, my in-laws gave us a dining room table and chairs that have been passed along to many different family members. At first, we had both decided that we would just keep it until we saved money to buy a new table. Yet, after looking through all of the wonderful blogs online, I decided that once again, I would take on a new project and try to make this old family heirloom, a new improved dining room table. I love the look of white furniture, so we decided to go with the same white that we used on our buffet. I painted the table and chairs after removing each seat cushion. We have a paint sprayer, so this made my project MUCH faster and efficient! My husband helped me sand, sand, sand. I primed the table using KILZ primer, then I painted the first coat. After the first coat I sanded again, using very fine sandpaper. I repeated the process of painting and sanding twice before I finally sealed my table. To seal the table I used Minwax, Fast Drying Polyurethane. I was skeptical at first, but I am really pleased with the way my table looks after sealing! So far I have seen no yellowing!!! After looking around for quite awhile for the "right" fabric, I decided on a damask print black and white fabric from Hobby Lobby. After the 40% off coupon from the internet, my material ended up being about $12 for 3 yards. I covered five chairs, as one of our chairs was broken! The cushion of my chairs were in good condition, so I didn't add any padding or remove anything from the previous chair. I traced each seat onto a piece of cardboard. This made having to cut out my fabric MUCH easier. I allowed about 3 inches over the amount of fabric I needed, just incase I somehow cut it too short! I was VERY pleased with the way my table and chairs turned out. Unfortunately, I don't have a before picture of the table, but it was solid wood, being the same color as the chair. Now, I am trying to decide on a cute centerpiece for my table....any ideas?

-Ashley

people give me their trash....

My husband and I have been married for close to a year and a half. When we first got married, we relied on the things given to us to use as furniture. Thanks to our parents, we have couches to sit on, tables to eat on, and a bed to sleep in! In February of this year, we bought our first home. We were both SO excited, and ready to get started on our first big adventure together. From the day we moved in, we have done nothing but try and perk this place up! Collin and I's styles don't quite match up, but with a little pushing, and I'll do the work if you agree, I was able to get Collin to go for some of my crazy ideas! We had a small TV stand before we moved into our house. It was cheap, and didn't match anything that I would say was our style. So, I called on my mom. If any of you know her, you know that she is the QUEEN of thrifty. I can only hope that someday I will be able to take over the thrown. She suggested that we find a cheap buffet and repaint it. Thus began my obsession with painting and re-purposing furniture. My mother-in-law called one day and said some friends of her were throwing away an old buffet and hutch, and if we wanted it, we were welcome to take it! Of course, knowing I needed a buffet, I gladly accepted! Thus, this beauty made it's way into my garage.

The top previously had a hutch on top, but I removed the hutch and it made it to the dumpster. Now - to try and describe the colors in my home would be hard. Our kitchen walls are Valspar Asparagus Green. We wanted to tie this color into our living room, so we painted a few lamps the same color and added one unique color to the room : orange. I know what your thinking....BAD IDEA! I promise, once I post pictures later, you will see how cute everything has actually turned out. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of each step of the process in painting my buffet. We sanded, scrubbed, and then took to painting. First, we got smart and purchased and electric paint sprayer. I must say--this has saved us a ton of time and money. We took all of the doors off of the cabinet and painted the buffet a cre

amy white color. I also removed all hardware except for the hinges. We purchased knobs from Lowe's, and spray painted them with Solid Black Valspar spray paint. When we finished the entire buffet, we decided it needed an extra "punch" of color. My mom and I being the sneaky people we are, told my husband we were off to Lowe's and would be back soon. When we came back, we had trim, baseboard and Valspar Dark Palomino in hand ready to paint - otherwise known as orange. We added the trim to the sides in order to cover up some nasty nail holes. On the very bottom, we added trim to make it look more like a piece of furniture meant for a living room! After all of our labor and hardwork, this is what we finally accomplished.

(This picture doesn't show the knobs...they weren't dry yet!)