Kitchen Love: Part 2

Whew. After our huge kitchen planning post we have been logging serious amounts of time in the kitchen the last couple of weeks. Two days ago we started painting! Insert hallelujah chorus!

We picked out our paint colors last year and I have to say I was a bit nervous about the idea of doing a dark chocolate trim. I absolutely love the colors now though! It’s almost like tuscan paint colors, or coffee shop paint colors if you will.

We looked through a bunch of different paint magazines and fliers from the paint shops and had decided that our trim color would also be the paint color for the cabinets. A few months down the road though I got to thinking about the kitchen color scheme and realized it was going to be way too much dark in the room. Thankfully we were able to switch out the cabinets to the light cream color (Sherwin Williams Casa Blanca) and combined with the dark oil rubbed bronze hardware it looks fabulous! You can see that combo here.

We finished the living room last year (which I apparently never photographed….) so we know how great the combination of Java and Casa Blanca looks, so only the top color is in question. Kevin picked it out and he usually picks right so I am very hopeful.

Getting ready to paint we realized we needed to remove the lip of our old countertop since our new one doesn’t have one and we didn’t want any touchups.

The handy jigsaw did the trick.

We masked everything….

Anything exposed is in risk of paint mist so prep work is incredibly important. 99% of the work is in the prep. Painting kitchen cabinets is very similar to painting furniture. When you are spraying you have to work fast and be extremely smooth. It also is very important to have the right spray tip. One that lays down too much paint makes it almost impossible to get the smooth finish you are wanting. Remember the other kitchen cabinets? We were sold the wrong tip and had a nightmare trying to get it smooth. Runs everywhere!

But not this time! With the right tip and Kevin’s steady hand we came away with an AMAZING result! Not a single run!

Great job babe!

Next it was time to paint the trim…which means? You guessed it, more prep work!

Here’s a great painter trick. If you have a gross floor and are having trouble getting your masking to stick put down duct tape every couple of feet right where you are going to mask.

Then press down your masking onto it for extra adherence! Works like a charm.

And here we are after 1st coat!

2nd coat is going on in minutes and tomorrow night we will be reverse masking and painting the lower part of the walls!

Getting soooo close!

Oh and we have these glides on their way to us for reinstalling the drawers! Yay for no more falling out drawers!

Sidenote: Remember to take out all the food you will need for a couple days when you do this process or you will be forced to frequent the grocery store and restaurants for multiple days. Woops.

Here’s a quick recap on our to do list for this room:

Stage 1 (preventing flooring from going in)

Dishwasher End Panel:
Cut open cabinet, install dishwasher end panel supports
Create end panel, fill nail holes, cut hole in panel for dishwasher cord (oops, guess we forgot about this huh?)
Sand end panel
Attach end panel, fill nail holes, sand again
Prime end panel
Caulk end panel?

Base Cabinets
Remove, sand and prime cabinet doors
Empty cabinets and remove shelves
Remove, sand and prime drawers
Vacuum and clean interior thoroughly
Sand and wipe down interior
Paint interior with Behr All In One
Paint and replace shelves (stage 1) install pull out shelves? (stage 2)
Spray paint handles
Replace cabinet doors (after painting) with new hardware
Install drawer glides, reinstall drawers, replace hardware

Painting:

Finish prepping the trim
Prime the trim
Caulk trim
Spray trim 
Spray walls/cabinets

Dishwasher/Sink/Countertops:
Insert dishwasher, hook up electrical, drain and water lines to dishwasher
Disconnect sink plumbing
Remove sink/countertop
Cut and replace countertop
Install new sink
Tie dishwasher into plumbing
Reconnect sink plumbing
Test dishwasher then connect to countertop

Flooring:
Remove floor tiles around perimeter of room
Remove center floor tiles
Empty and move cabinets into living room
Move refrigerator, stove and table into living room
Clean floors
Prime floors
Lay vinyl tiles
Prime shoe molding
Install shoe molding
Replace refrigerator, stove, table and cabinets

Stage 2 (after flooring has gone in/painting done)

Backsplash:
Remove belly band trim behind countertops
Install backer board
Tape seams?
Install mosaic tile
Grout
Caulk
Mount microwave above stove or build in to center open cabinets?
Install hood vent

Lighting/Fan:
Purchase Home Depot Fan
Spray paint fan
Install light kit
Install fan

Shelving/Organizing/Fun:
Install open shelving next to sink
Build spice rack/baking storage for behind door
Build hanging gutter herb planters for window
Build pallet breakfast nook?
Install shelves above windows for high level storage?
Make menu chalkboard for cabinets
Make old window wipe off to-do lists
Make grocery list wipe off list
Spray paint dishwasher front panel–if it needs it?