Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

Finally! I can say that the cabinets are officially complete!!! Here's a "quick" recap of what we did:

1. Removed overhead cabinets
2. Added cabinets below desk
3. Stripped
4. Primed
5. Painted
6. Protected
7. Touched Up
8. Re-Protected
9. Molding Filled with Putty
10. Hardware added

COMPLETE!

Not at all what I thought I was signing up for when I started with Step 1. We used the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation’s Kit. Rustoleum promised a "weekend project:" and I knew that it wouldn't be done in a weekend. So I thought 7-10 days. I was being realistic right? Try 7 weeks beginning to end. Granted I took a 2 week breather in there, but still. No, I'm not going to go on another rant, but if you missed it before, here's the link: Don't Ever Paint Your Cabinets Blog Post

I bought the hardware for the cabinets during the huge Lowe's shopping trip since I was getting 10% off of everything. I found these really chunky black iron knobs and handles. They have a hammered/weathered look to them:

I like they way they contrast so dark against the clean, crisp ivory of the cabinets. So let's remind you of the before of the cabinets:

Anyway, now that they are done, I can say that I'm glad I did it. I'm also glad that I didn't know from the beginning what I was getting into, because I probably wouldn't have started. It must not have been too bad because I'm already thinking of using the leftover supplies to redo my powder room vanity. We were going to completely rip it out, but the more I think about it, the more I like the existing one. Why not change the look with a little paint and get a new vanity top? More on that later, but for now, did I mention that...

THE CABINETS ARE DONE!

UPDATE 5/23/12: I have heard from many other people in the past year that they have had similar issues with the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations Kit. A couple of things that I would mention that make the process easier:

• If you're using the light color kit, plan on 2 coats of the “bond coat” and a third coat of a separate paint in the color you want. The benefits of the bond coat are still there, but in the light colors it’s just not a heavy enough product to cover over dark cabinets. The dark comes through and it looks streaky.
• After you have the look you want, then apply the Protective coat but be very careful with it. Be sure to catch drips and wipe areas where it collects. It goes on kind of milky white but dries slightly yellow. You definitely need to make sure you catch that.

1 year later, I would still use this product even though the process was torture, I’m not sure that it would be less painful with another method. The cabinets look great, wipe off easily and have held up extremely well.