I really regret not taking before pictures, but you'll just need to believe me when I tell you that the walls used to be the most hideous watery pea soup 1960's color ever imaginable...and the original cabinets were pine...
Once I painted the walls blue, I sent a picture to my mother, and she suggested I paint the cabinets white. Here you can see the original pine finish on the lower cabinets, and the white I painted on the top...
MOM WAS RIGHT (as always, when it comes to decorating)...
I think it looks great. Definitely much better than it was.
However...
I didn't anticipate it taking as long as it did!
I have learned that painting, especially painting with a baby strapped to your back, is a LOOOONNNNGGGG process. The key to good painting is good prep work, which I unfortunately learned the hard way the first time I tried to paint these without sanding them...the paint looked good, but quickly started peeling off...I think my heart actually sank the first time I realized my mistake!
Anyhow...
On my super productive day, I finally convinced myself that today (Saturday) was the day to roll up my sleeves and FINISH these once and for all. I knew I'd have Auntie Josie's help, and with another set of eyes there to watch the kids, it seemed doable.
Auntie Josie hit the garden (see other post)...Boppy and Ben hit the burn pile (see other post)...and I hit the cabinets...see below...
I unhinged them and took off all of the hardware...
I sanded them down...
I lay them flat and painted them white...
Then I sprayed them with a white gloss...
It took 4 cans...
Then a gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew leaves, mulch, and dirt all over my lovely wet cabinets...they stuck and were nearly impossible to get out...
I brainstormed...
The best idea I could come up with was to grab the hand vacuum and try to suck up the dirt...
It kind of worked...
What I ended up having to do was put another coat of spray on them, literally spraying the remaining pieces of dirt white...
I didn't have the energy to sand them down and paint them for the third time...
I'm sure you understand.
Then I sprayed the hardware with this really neat black spray paint that gives things a "hammered" effect. The hardware came out great!
In fact, the hardware came out so great, that I got the idea to go and spray our ugly oil tank which was rusting with the remaining paint...it came out well, don't you think? I know it's still quite the eye sore, even though my paint job appears to have seriously helped the rust problem...I'm thinking of enclosing it with a trellis...maybe some morning glories climbing the trellis?
Then I powered up Boppy's power drill, and I attached all of the hardware onto the cabinets, noticing only after I had mixed up all the screws, that even though at first glance they appeared to all be identical, there were really three different types of screws, and if I mixed them up, the results could be devastating since it would mean having to unhinge them all and start again.
So good thing I noticed that. Phew.
Putting the cabinets back up was tedious...I was actually on my back at times trying to get the screws and hinges just right as I drilled them...(Please don't worry - I passed the baby to someone when I did this part of the job)...
On another note, I've had a few items on my "wish list" for the downstairs guest suite...
A fridge...
A 20 inch electric stove...
A little white coffee maker...
and and little white microwave :-)
We were able to locate a few of the items for cheap!
We got a white fridge from the local Habitat for Humanity RE-STORE for a good price to furnish the kitchenette, and I got a little white coffee maker at a yard sale for $3. I'm keeping my eyes peeled on Craigslist for a 20 inch electric range stove which would fit perfectly down there...these are surprisingly difficult to come by...it seems that gas ones show up more frequently than electric ones...
It is coming along! I'm making progress! My goal is to finish the entire guest suite by the end of May, so stay tuned!
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