Amazing Kitchen Makeover (done mostly with paint!) Lot's of Pictures

My sister was in terrible need of a kitchen makeover.  She lives in a beautiful older home in Chicago. This is the type of home with the wonderful creaks of real hardwood and the beauty of properly applied plaster, gorgeous archways and very cool crown moldings.

The kitchen, however, was another story.

The previous owners had decorated the kitchen in puke green(yes, I think that was the actual name on the color sample) plastic tiles and bright yellow laminate kitchen counter tops.  They put in their own cabinets which were neither level nor centered and the cabinet pulls were from the 60's.  At the sink, the water had eaten through the back splash laminate and created a wonderful hole that was artfully covered by a hand mirror.

I could see my work was cut out for me!

My sister was working with a budget and I thought it would be fun to see just how cheap inexpensive we could be on the redesign.

Step #1: Repaint the cabinets.  Since the kitchen was small, we decided to go with another white.  The white that was on the cabinets was an off white or cream color. After removing the old hardware and plugging the holes with wood putty, and sanding the crap out of them with a coarse foam sanding block, I double primed with Zinser BIN primer using a  4 inch foam roller to get a perfectly smooth surface.

     We decided to stay with white, but chose a beautiful clean white called "White" from Benjamin Moore. I chose an eggshell finish because I knew I was going to seal the cabinets, and I wanted a dull, but not flat finish so the sealer would grab onto the surface. Benjamin Moore's "eggshell" is a bit duller than standard eggshell finishes at other paint stores. I painted two coats of the white, sanding with a fine grit foam block sander between coats and again using the foam roller.

    Cost for step #1:   $82.00 (paint, primer--1 gallon--to be used elsewhere in the project, sanders, wood putty)

Step #2: Paint the tile.  I wanted something different for the back-splash, and being a faux finisher, I thought of doing a faux brushed nickel.  The plastic tiles were painted with a product called Prime Etch which makes any smooth surface paint-able. I then primed with the zinser BIN- two coats with a foam roller. I used Faux Effect's Master Dutch Metals which is a wonderful product that I have mentioned before (see You Cant Beat This Metallic Gold Paint) This was rolled on and then gently brushed in one direction diagonally with a chip brush and let dry.

   Cost for Step #2:  $52.00 (prime etch,paint, rollers)

Step #3 Fix the laminate. The only way to fix this hole was to cover it. My sister found these cute rosettes at Lowe's made out of wood that are used in decorative molding. I attached then to a piece of 1/4 inch thick wood and glued it to the backsplash with liquid nails(my #1 favorite product) I, of course primed and painted first with regular latex paint. I then sealed with Aquathane--a wonerful polyurethane product that seals and water proofs.  You could also use any polyurethane brand.  I like the Aqua products because they are very durable, clean up with soap and water, and do not have any odor.

   Cost for Step #3:  $58.00 (wood, liquid nails,aquathane)

Step #4  Make a chalkboard to organize the area and paint the rest of the walls. To make the chalkboard, I used a thin piece of panneling that was smooth. Any wood can be used, but it must be very smooth-like plastic.  I have used thicker pressed board for this project as well.  Ask for help at any hardware store and tell them you need a very smooth surface, but you must be able to nail through it.  After the board was cut to the right size, I nailed it to the area. I painted the surfae with primer, and then painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint. I then made a border with some molding, painted it, and cut the pieces using is miter box.  This allows you to get the correct angles for the corners.  I then used the prime etch, primed and painted the walls. My sister chose a softer yellow than the counter tops. This softened the color of the countertop and made it blend with the rest of the kitchen.

  Cost of Step #4:  $68.00  (board, molding,paint)

Step #5 redesign a separate cabinet in the kitchen  to have a unique look.  This piece was painted originally to be part of the rest of the kitchen cabinets, but it really is  not. I sanded primed and painted the whole thing white as I did with the rest of the cabinets. We then found some interesting pulls to dress it up.  I used Modellos-sticky backed stencils to create a funky design. I then sanded prime etched, and primed the counter top. I painted a faux weave to make it interesting and functional(this won't show scratches, dings etc) I sealed the whole thing as I did the cabinets with Aquathane.

  Cost of step #5  $20.00 (the modello was actually $50.00, but you could use a regular stencil and get a nice design for $20.00)

I also found a silver aluminum corner molding that I put all along the back splash to give it a clean finished look. We bough new pulls for the rest of the cabinets Cost:  $66.00

before

 

Total cost of kitchen renovation:  $346.00!!

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