Thursday, July 22, 2010

Kitchen re-do

I wanted to update you on our kitchen cabinet re-do.  I feel funny posting pictures of my home, as if it's so grand and exciting that it needs to be seen.  Because it's really, really not.  That being said, I'm excited about how the cabinets turned out, and I think that if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to a remodel, painting is a great way to go.  (Note that I did not paint them, Kevin did.  It was my idea though.  While I'm not good at painting, I'm great at coming up with project ideas for my husband.)

So, without further ado,

Before:




After:

We used Behr's "Beluga" from Home Depot, and sanded the cabinets and drawers a bit first.  The project took several hours but I am so, so happy with the results.  Our backsplash and counters look so much better, too, against the black.  (The "before" photo was actually taken before we even BOUGHT this house, so I'd already painted, we obviously have different furniture, and our appliances are stainless steel now.  We also no longer have that flying-saucer-ish light fixture above our dining room table, although now with the popularity of mid-century modern, I'm kinda wishing I'd kept it and spray-painted it a fun color.  Oh well.)


I'm really glad we didn't opt to remodel the entire kitchen (there are much better uses for that much money), or even resurface the cabinets.  I'm also happy that we went with black instead of white, which had been my other idea.  I'm still wanting to paint the kitchen orange (to match the dining area) instead of the bluish gray I originally painted in there.  But for now I'm just so happy to have black cabinets!


Mary Lu and I are quite thrilled here.  Oh okay, I am quite thrilled, and Mary doesn't really care all that much.  Because she's just a baby.  But someday, she too might move into an old house with some quirky issues that need desperate attention.  And then she'll be pleased as punch when, little by little, her diamond in the rough starts living up to its potential.  There's something really neat about making improvements to your home especially when your husband does most of the work.  A big thank you to Kevin for his mad painting skills and for humoring me in yet another "let's do this to our house, and by let's I mean you" endeavor.

Now for the next project: closet doors and window treatments for our bedroom!  No, we do not currently have doors on our closet.  At all.  And no, our current blinds in that room do not work properly and the cords are a tangled mess because they're broken.  And they're horribly ugly.  Yes, we've been living here for 2+ years.  But these things take time, and we have five kids, and we HAVE done a ton of work already.  So we live with random less-than-ideal-nesses.  It's kind of like a brotherhood you're initiated into when you live in Denver.  Everyone is working on SOMEthing in their home.  Home Depot and Lowes are like old friends.  Nobody bats an eye when your basement is in shambles or, in this case, when your closet has no doors. 

But I have my cabinets now.  So it's all good.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your cabinets look fantastic. Really, really nice!

Allison Brown said...

Looks really good Brianna! Good job, Kevin! We don't have closet doors either and have a slew of house projects we're always doing. (And by we're I mean Tim) so Home Depot has become his second home. It will be wonderful to finally finish some of the major ones, like the kitchen, backyard, windows, front of the house, etc. But it's definitely going to be awhile!

Brianna Heldt said...

Oh Allison I'm glad we're not the only ones! I know, it is really time-consuming. Rewarding, but time-consuming!!!

Rachel said...

I love the cabinet color you picked! I too want black cabinets & soooo wish ours were in good enough condition to redo, unfortunately a pipe broke before we bought the house & 1/2 of them are unusable. Anyway beautiful kitchen! I love your blog & you have a beautiful family!!

Angel said...

WOW!! That looks FANTASTIC!! LOVE IT! Will have to keep that idea tucked away for future reference. ;0)Angel

Kristen Borland said...

so i'm way behind on blog reading (shame, shame), but how can i pass up reading this when i see it is a makeover project? LOVE it, brianna. it looks amazing! i think black was the right choice. and i know you aren't totally happy with the wall color, but i happen to love it and was wondering what color it is. because i myself have been planning a few home improvement projects for us (and you know i really mean just mike!).

andy gibson said...

Kevins the man. J could NEVER get me to paint cabinets...I'd make a trip to Home Depot, but it would be for...um...help....which you can acquire in the parking lot....

Shana said...

The kitchen looks great!

I am Katy, said...

I love the black! It defnitely makes your counters stand out more. Very nice. Makes me want to bust out the paint and get to work on ours.

Brianna Heldt said...

Kristen it is a color match at Home Depot to Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage." I think it's more blue, tho. It's the same color we have in our living room!

Andy HA! That made me laugh. :)

Amber said...

Nothing beats a good before and after photo! Your kitchen looks SO great!! I look forward to more posts like these. :-)

 

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