Painting Cabinets

When I moved into the condo, this is what the kitchen looked like- medium brown cabinets, faux butcher block counters, black appliances and yucky tan linoleum floors.

I decided that one of the first projects I would take up was painting the cabinets and adding knobs and drawer pulls. I'm not quite sure when I started it, because I've been working on so many things and kind of all at once...but this was an early project.

I wanted to paint the cabinets white, so I went to my favorite hardware store and bought some supplies. I could have gone the kit route, but I thought I could do just as good of a job myself. So I bought a gallon of oil based Kilz primer, and a gallon of Valspar's "Dove White" paint. It's nearly just the white straight off the shelf. I just wanted a white white. This has done the job.

In the mean time, I actually decided I would do the vanity in the bathroom first, as it is identical to the kitchen cabinets but smaller and that way if something went terribly wrong I wouldn't have wasted much time. I washed down the cabinets and set out priming. The can of Kilz said that you could re-coat after an hour, I think, but I let it dry for about 24 hours, until the next morning. 

I then did coats of the white paint. I did a coat, and gave it several hours to dry, then did another. Once I was satisfied with the coverage I let it dry for about 24 hours, and then added knobs to the cabinet doors.

The kitchen was a much bigger project, taking many more days and hours. At any given point, my kitchen look like this...

...or this...

Starting to see some progress...

And how it looks tonight, all finished!

Before:

 

After!

 

Kitchen Progress

I'm kind of torn about whether to show progress pictures or wait until its all done, but here they are.

One of the first projects I dove into upon moving in is painting the kitchen cabinets.

The cabinets were actually wood, but they were a medium brown that really didn't look great with the faux-butcher block counter tops.

 

I immediately knew I would be painting the cabinets white and adding some brushed nickel knobs and drawer pulls. So I was super anxious to start that project once I moved in.

I don't have a lot of "process" pictures, but here's what I did:

- washed the cabinets down really well with lysol or something similar

- did a light sanding 

- used Kilz oil based primer-- for most places I just did one coat, but where stains bled thru I did a second

- Then I brushed on a coat of Valspar paint called "Dove White". I didn't have a strong opinion about which white color I used, and I liked how this looked on the swatch so I just went for it. No planning.

-After the first coat I did another light sanding. Maybe a little heavier in places where there were imperfections or drips.

- Brushed on a second coat of Dove White.

- Let the doors dry for a couple days

- drilled holes and added knobs

At the same time, I was taking care of the hinges. I decided it wasn't in my budget to buy all new hinges, but the ones I had needed some work. They were like a dirty bronze color. I took them all down and gave them a scrub, then I spray painted them with Krylon's Satin Nickel spray paint. It took about thin two coats on each side to get them looking great! (Anyone else a Young House Love fan? Every time I started spraying I heard " If you’re a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin" but its good advice!)

I started with the top cabinets ...because I wanted to.

BAM!

You can see the swatches behind the sink. I had the darnest time picking a color. At first I thought I would use Wild Aster, as I did in the living/dining areas, but after painting just a small portion (as seen on the wall behind the coffee maker) that color just wasn't doing it for me in this space. Next I thought maybe yellow, and picked up two samples from Lowes- I can't remember there names but one was a light yellow and the other a light greenish-yellow. Too pale.

Next I got a little more crazy and picked up the two samples at the other end of the paint chip from the first two yellow colors, which you can see in this picture.

Neither color was what I wanted. Both are too...yucky. So then I pulled out the samples I had used in my bedroom, and low and behold, I liked one! And even better, it happened to be the one I used in my bedroom! (The grey on the bottom right) So I went with that. The color looks totally different In the kitchen, I think.

In the midst of all this painting, I also installed some under-cabinet lights. So here is my final "progress" picture of the kitchen, walls painted, most cabinet doors installed, and some drawer hardware showing plus the under cabinet lights....

Other lights off

Other lights on- ignore the mess!!

Before:

After:

Can you believe that is the same kitchen? I am super, super excited about how good it is looking! And it will look even better when I get pictures with the remaining doors installed and get the mop out of sight!

Linking to:

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Closet Crazy

What happens when you have leftover closet organizer pieces, and a poorly designed hall closet?

Another closet redo!

My hall closet had that same crazy backwards hanging system, and just one shelf about 2/3rds of the wall up the wall--which seems like a waste of space. I would have loved to put in rows and rows of shelving, but I do actually need a little bit of hanging space for my coats and those of any guests I have over. 

I decided to do half and half. One side would be a hanging bar and the other would be shelves.

I followed a similar process to my bedroom closet- I cleaned out the closet and this was what was left. This closet is over the stairs that lead to the basement, which is why the floor is strange, I think. Even with the sloping floor, my long coats hang freely so it's fine.

I again ripped out that strange shelf and put a coat of paint on the walls and the bottom (its yellow in the picture above). I gave it a few hours to dry, and then I had this:

That bottom portion still looks kind of yellow, but it is definitely much better. Looks much cleaner for sure!

I then set out hanging the closet system. I did have to buy a new horizontal rail for this, and also a 2-foot hanging rod, but I had all the shelving and vertical rails left over from my first closet. So in all, I spent about $20 more to finish up this closet. That brings the total to about $150 for the two closets--or $75 each. But, I STILL have other pieces left over that I can use in another closet--the second bedroom perhaps.

Putting in the railing system is quite easy. Find how high you want it (ClosetMaid recommends 84 inches, I think), find the studs or use anchors, and secure it about every foot. Then you hang the vertical rods on the horizontal one, and screw those in the same way.

You cant really see the vertical rod on the left, but its there I promise. Also, since I knew I was only going to put a hanging rod on the right side, I didn't use a full length vertical rail. I can always add an extension to the right side if necessary.

Now comes the fun part-- putting in the actual shelves and rods! I put a shelf across the whole top of the closet, and then another 3 shelves down the left side.(the hanging rod overlaps about 2 inches because my closet is just under 4 feet wide- really, like 3 feet 10 inches, but I think this will work out fine.)

Next I loaded the closet up with the things that were in it previously, plus some more. I decided I would keep my cleaning supplies (that aren't kitchen-specific) in here, because its a centrally located closet. I also have my winter coat collection and some spare hangers for guests, plus my hats/mittens/scarves for winter.

The shelves are really almost too short, so I may adjust them down one slot later. That way my spray bottles will fit easily. One thing I learned by putting all my cleaning supplies in the same place is that I have an awful lot of redundant supplies! I guess I won't need to buy anything new for a while now.

These new and improved closets are just making my day. Every time I open them I get happy. I could not be happier with this system! It's so easy to put in and rather inexpensive, but still attractive enough.

Have you ever redone a closet like this? Am I the only one who is closet crazy?

Punch List, November 6th

House Punch List, November 6th:

Here is my room-by-room list of things to do as of today...I think this list will probably grow before it gets any shorter!

Throughout whole house:

• Replace lightswitches and outlets with new, white ones 
• Replace lightswitch covers and outlet covers

Kitchen

• Paint Cabinets (in progress)
• replace counter tops?
• replace floor
• Decide on color and paint walls
• paint trim
• Install under-cabinet lights
• Replace Fridge, Dishwasher, Range

Living Room

• Paint Walls "Wild Aster"
• Paint Trim
• Replace carpet with laminate!??
• Hang Curtains
• Get new Couch
• Hang Art, mirrors
• Hang curtains
• Hang blinds?

Bedroom

• Decide on color and paint walls
• Paint trim
• Paint Closet
• Redo Closet system
• Hnng Curtains
• Hang art, mirrors

Bathroom

• Remove shower doors
• Hang shower curtain
• paint vanity
• paint trim
• Replace or Frame mirror
• Remove Wallpaper
• Decide on color and Paint walls
• Clean grout or regrout?

Second Bedroom

• Decide on color and paint walls
• Paint trim
• Redo closet?

Basement

• Paint paneling white
• fix water damaged walls (probably a contractor will do this)
• replace carpet
• Finish basement bathroom (what a nutty set up!)
• organize and set up sewing area
• replace washer and dryer?

Closet of my Dreams

One of the tasks on the top of my to-do list was my closet. My closet had this funny little contraption for hanging clothes that required that you hang your hangers backwards. This was really aggravating to my type-a personality. 

Who invented this travesty??

So I did a little research (aka looking around Lowes/Home Depot) and decided I wanted to build a "custom" closet- with double rods and shelving and rainbows!
I decided upon this kit by Rubbermaid, sold at Lowes:

Source

I liked that it gave me the option of having double rods, shelving and full length hanging space!

I didn't take tons of pictures, but I started with emptying my closet onto my bed, and then taking out the existing shelf. It came out after about 2 minutes and very little effort. Then I discovered my closet actually had a light! The string for the light had been hiding, I guess, so I hadn't ever seen it. So check that off my to-do list!

The inside of my closet was due for a paint job. I pulled out some leftover white paint I had from repainting my old apartment (standard apartment white, nothing too fancy) and gave it a coat. I didn't bother giving it a second coat-- the first covered pretty well and I didn't think anyone would spend time judging the paint job in the closet. I did something else for a couple hours to let it dry--probably something I'll be blogging about soon--and then set out to put up this system.

I was a little scared by the weight of the box and the general complexity of the system that I might have trouble doing this myself, but really, it was a breeze. Within maybe 2 hours (not including a trip in the middle to the hardware store for drywall anchors) I had an awesome new closet of my dreams! 

Wouldn't this look better if the clothes were arranged by color?? Ahh type-A

The closet is basically divided into thirds. There is a rod across the top of the whole closet. The first third of the closet on the left has a second rod in the middle, the second third has a shelf in the middle, and the last third just has the top rod. This allows me to maximize my hanging space for tops, skirts/pants and dresses. I'm using the shelf in the middle for my jeans. I'm going to have to get some pretty boxes for my purses and scarves so it looks more like the picture above.

I have many pieces of the system left--I will either add in some more shelves in the middle or perhaps use them in another closet. Lowes sells many components of this system individually, so I can buy just the pieces I need to customize any closet I want. I'm thinking maybe my hall closet will get some shelving shortly.

Perhaps you can see in these pictures that I have also been busy painting other areas of the condo, like bedroom walls. Details shortly!

Allison

The New Digs

Well, I have been fully moved into my new place for a full 6 days now! The amount of work I have ahead of me to get this place in the shape I want it is just beginning to settle in. I have already done a fair amount of painting, cleaning and updating, but there's still a lot to go.

A lovely mess!

For starters, I painted the dining room/living room and hallway. I used Benjamin Moore's Wild Aster, matched to Valspar paint at Lowes. I also painted the trim in the hallway (so far) using valspar's off-the-shelf white.

In addition, I've replaced all the light switch and outlet covers. I'm planning to replace some of the outlets themselves, as the current ones are both that ugly bisque color and are rather dirty.

Mess from another angle

I have already had some excitement- you may notice in that first picture the carpet is pulled back. Well, we walked into the condo just an hour before closing, final walk thru time, and there is standing water in the kitchen. In addition, there is a huge puddle below in the basement. Turns out there was a broken nut where the hot water supply is connected to the faucet, causing the flood. We had to scramble to come to an agreement about how clean up and repair will be handled in time to close, as I was NOT delaying closing.
In the end, there was a plumber there THAT afternoon and a cleanup crew (complete with fans and dehumidifyers) the next day. An insurance adjuster came out on Saturday, and at this point I am waiting for word from the insurance company about what they will pay to repair.

Basement before

Basement after!

In the end, it sounds like I will at least get a new kitchen floor and new paneling in the basement. You see, some of the paneling in the basement was wet and had warped, so it was ripped out. But paneling is not standard- there are different colors/kinds (who knew?) so matching 30 year old paneling could prove hard. Thus, insurance will pay to replace ALL of the paneling.

Later this week I'll post more details about other improvements I have made--including my very own new Karlstad couch from Ikea!

Packing...

The hardest thing about packing for my impending move is that I don't really know when I will be able to move. At the earliest, it will be October 21st- which is just 10 days, but it could be later than that with no limit. Patience is not something I have lots of, and this waiting game is just killing me. Particularly because I have no control over it.

In the mean time I'm trying to pack a box or two a day while keeping it relatively normal so I can still live (read: distract myself) until I actually move. This basically means I haven't packed my sewing supplies, although I have packed a lot of other creative supplies that I like to use. I've also packed books, taken things off the wall and patched holes, and oh yea....repainted every room I had painted here.

Bye Bye grey bedroom

Bye Bye Horizontal Stripes in the bathroom

And bye to something I don't think I have even gotten around to sharing- the pink kitchen. Apparently I don't even have any pictures of it! Just imagine the walls between my cabinets and counters painted "wild aster" by Benjamin Moore (had it color matched in Valspar). This project was a super-quick stress reliever that only took 1 tester to do two coats!

If you have bought a house, how did you handle yourself during this waiting period? Any advice for me about that or packing??

Thanks!

Allison

Sewing Studio

In about two weeks, I am moving into a new condo that has a 600 sqft finished basement! I intend to use the basement as my sewing/craft/hobby area, but I need advice on how to furnish it.

I am currently using my dinning room table for cutting, which is not good for my back. I know that the table I cut on needs to be higher than a normal table, but how high? My inclination is that it needs to be "counter height"- but is that right?

And in terms of size- I'd want it to be large enough so that I can cut large pieces of fabric easily. So I'm thinking maybe 2 yards long by 1 yard wide, at least. Maybe a square is best- 2 yards x 2 yards?

I have a couple ideas about how to achieve this. 

The first is to buy a table top and legs from Ikea. 

I could use cubby bookcases like the Expedit, or any of their other options, given they are tall enough. I'm rather 

Source

The problem with this plan is I'd be restricted by the size of table top available.

The second option would be to use Ana White's "Knock off Wood" Plans for the table pictured above. This might be optimal because I can fully customize the size of the table.

Besides a cutting table, what else do I need in a sewing studio? I'm particularly interested in ways to store fabric, both to keep it visible and to keep it neat. I would love to try some sort of hanging system. Has anyone ever seen this kind of system?

I'd love advice! How do I set up a dream sewing room?

A New House?

I have been relatively quiet lately, but there is a good reason for that. I have been in the process of buying a condo! I've been hesitant to share because I don't want to jinx the deal, but now that I'm under contract and things are rolling it feels ok.

To start, the condo is 820 square feet "above grade", and an additional 600 squarefeet in the FINISHED basement. It has two bedrooms and 1.5 baths.

The living spaces get great light, which is a change from where I live now, and the finished basement would make an awesome space for sewing and refinishing furniture.

The condo is in really great shape, I think (hopefully the inspection on Tuesday will confirm this), but it is outdated. It's currently a very groovy, matchy matchy condo.

I plan to replace the carpet before I even move in (er, you know, pending the discovery of what's under the carpets....) and probably shortly replace the counters and paint the cabinets. A place all of my own?? I can paint whatever I want? Garden space?? AWESOME!

Here are a couple pics of the place I've taken. Don't want to give it all away yet!