Kitchen Cabinet Job

I had an opportunity this summer to paint kitchen cabinets for a very sweet lady. It was a small charming space that needed a little face lift. The cabinets were over thirty-years old and not in the best of shape. None of them closed properly, not one! And she needed these done in one week, just in time for a party she was giving. Even though it was small kitchen there was so much work to do!

I spent three days cleaning them with TSP and sanding them. I then primed them with Aqua Lock (purchased from a paint store that sells Benjamin Moore). Sorry, I am terrible about taking project pics so I don't have any. I used a 2 in. angled Purdy paint brush. I painted the cabinets with two coats of Benjamin Moore Aura in Satin. The color was not a BM color and I can't remember where it came from. It is a creamy white with a gold undertone. Thank goodness my husband helped or there is no way I would have ever finished in a week. We spent two full days on sight painting and did the rest ( the doors) at home. We were determined to get them to close properly. We took several of the doors to a friend's house and used their table saw to shave the sides of the doors off that wouldn't close. Even though it may not look like it this job took over 30 hours to complete! I forgot to take before pics until after I already had the doors off but you get the idea of what it looked like. A lot of old brown cabinets.

My pics don't do it justice. I was beyond exhausted when we finally finished. I'm surprised I even snapped these. I didn't even get a shot of the entire kitchen. Oh well!

The best advice I can give for painting your kitchen cabinets is to make sure the prep work is done properly and make sure you use the best paint you can afford. It is A LOT of work but when it's finished it is so worth it!