How I Refreshed My Kitchen Cabinets In One Afternoon

We moved into our Nashville house seven years in the past (man, time flies!) and the very very first thing we did was sand down and paint the darkish wooden kitchen cupboards white to convey some extra mild into the small kitchen.

Let’s simply say that years (and one toddler) later, the paint job had gotten a little bit dingy and worn in locations, and I saved questioning once I’d ever have the time to refresh my kitchen cupboards, because the authentic act of portray them was such an enormous course of.

After I actually sat down to consider it, I spotted that it might not truly be as huge of a job because it appears. And, as soon as I made a plan, I spotted that I may truly do a full cupboard refresh in only one afternoon!

That sounded far more doable than devoting a weekend to the job and as soon as it was finished it made an enormous distinction in how recent the area feels—I’ll present you what I did!

You possibly can see above within the earlier than photos that we have been undoubtedly in want of a refresh. Years of each day use actually does depart a mark!

Clear and De-Grime the Cupboards

This step might sound like only a preparation for the true change later, however I used to be amazed at how a lot better the cupboards regarded simply by doing an intensive cleansing with a magic eraser.

I may nonetheless see the spots the place the paint was worn by way of, however it felt so a lot cleaner total, and confirmed me the place the paint was nonetheless in fine condition.

I knew if I ran out of time, I may skip repainting these areas. It’s additionally a good suggestion in a kitchen to make use of some dish cleaning soap and water to wipe down areas earlier than repainting.

Any grease from cooking that’s nonetheless on the paint might hold your touch-up paint from adhering correctly, so that you need to use some soapy water or degreaser product to get it off first. In addition they make these magic erasers which have cleaning soap in them so you are able to do each jobs in a single!

You possibly can see above that the left aspect has been cleaned and the appropriate hasn’t … regardless that there may be nonetheless some chipped paint, they appear a lot newer already!

Give the Cupboards a Mild Sanding

As soon as your wooden is clear, use some high quality sandpaper (I like this model) to softly tough up the paint within the areas the place you need to do a paint touch-up. You don’t need to sand by way of all the way down to the wooden, so don’t really feel like it’s essential to sand very arduous.

A light-weight scuffing of the floor will assist the brand new paint stick a little bit higher. I additionally like utilizing a sanding sponge with a foam again so I can sand an space after which wipe off the mud with the mushy foam half.

Add some Contact-Up Paint to the Naked Spots

I like to make use of a brush (that is my favourite one) for hard-to-reach areas of the cupboards, however portray wherever I can attain with a foam curler actually provides you one of the best look total. Use that the place you’ll be able to on any flat areas (ensure that to take off your cupboard knobs and pulls first).

I used to be simply going to color probably the most worn areas of my doorways, however as soon as I acquired going, I spotted that it’s truly fairly fast to do the complete door or drawer if you’re simply doing a touch-up coat of the identical colour.

So, I simply painted all of the fronts and it actually didn’t take for much longer. And if you happen to can take out your drawers first, that may make them lots simpler to color as properly.

As you’ll be able to in all probability guess by now, I’m assuming you recognize what paint was used on the cupboards final time they have been painted so you may get extra for a contact up.

So, if you happen to don’t have already got a approach to hold observe of what paint colours you utilize in your house, I extremely suggest writing it down someplace so you’ll be able to reference the checklist as wanted!

In case you don’t know the precise colour, you’ll be able to convey house one million paint swatches till you discover one that appears tremendous shut, however you’ll in all probability want to color the complete cupboard door relatively than only one nook in case the colour isn’t a 1,000% match.

Additionally, when you have a “kick plate” space like I do on the backside of your cupboards (it’s the place your baseboard/quarter spherical is close to the ground), touching that up when you’re portray is a good thought. It will get kicked and scuffed lots together with your toes (therefore the title)!

It’s a comparatively small space and it solely took 4-5 minutes to repaint mine, but it surely undoubtedly helped the entire thing really feel new once more.

Change Outdated/Worn {Hardware} (Or Clear It)

It was fairly apparent to me that tarnished {hardware} was another excuse that our kitchen was trying a little bit dirty. So if that’s the case for you as properly, giving your {hardware} a cleansing or a polish may actually assist make them look nearly as good as new.

And, you’ll be able to work on this whereas your paint is drying, so it gained’t take any longer both! It might even be a very good time to do a {hardware} improve if you happen to selected a extra budget-friendly possibility the primary time round.