We moved into our Nashville dwelling 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 carry some extra gentle into the small kitchen.
Let’s simply say that years (and one toddler) later, the paint job had gotten just a little dingy and worn in locations, and I saved questioning after I’d ever have the time to refresh my kitchen cupboards, for the reason that unique act of portray them was such an enormous course of.
After I actually sat down to consider it, I spotted that it might not really be as large of a job because it appears. And, as soon as I made a plan, I spotted that I may really 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 carried out it made an enormous distinction in how contemporary the house feels—I’ll present you what I did!
You possibly can see above within the earlier than footage that we had been positively in want of a refresh. Years of each day use actually does go away a mark!
Clear and De-Grime the Cupboards
This step might sound like only a preparation for the actual change later, however I used to be amazed at how significantly 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 means of, however it felt so a lot cleaner general, and confirmed me the place the paint was nonetheless in good 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 maintain your touch-up paint from adhering correctly, so that you wish to use some soapy water or degreaser product to get it off first. Additionally 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 facet has been cleaned and the precise 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 superb sandpaper (I like this model) to softly tough up the paint within the areas the place you wish to do a paint touch-up. You don’t wish to sand by means of right down to the wooden, so don’t really feel like it’s worthwhile to sand very laborious.
A lightweight scuffing of the floor will assist the brand new paint stick just a little 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 gentle 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 general. Use that the place you possibly can on any flat areas (be certain that to take off your cupboard knobs and pulls first).
I used to be simply going to color essentially the most worn areas of my doorways, however as soon as I received going, I spotted that it’s really fairly fast to do the complete door or drawer while 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 in case you can take out your drawers first, that may make them lots simpler to color as nicely.
As you possibly can in all probability guess by now, I’m assuming you already know what paint was used on the cupboards final time they had been painted so you will get extra for a contact up.
So, in case you don’t have already got a technique to maintain observe of what paint colours you utilize in your house, I extremely advocate writing it down someplace so you possibly can reference the checklist as wanted!
In the event you don’t know the precise colour, you possibly can carry dwelling 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 reasonably than only one nook in case the colour isn’t a 1,000% match.
Additionally, when you’ve got 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 whilst you’re portray is a superb thought. It will get kicked and scuffed lots together with your toes (therefore the identify)!
It’s a comparatively small space and it solely took 4-5 minutes to repaint mine, however it positively 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 wanting just a little dirty. So if that’s the case for you as nicely, giving your {hardware} a cleansing or a polish may also actually assist make them look pretty much as good as new.
And, you possibly can work on this whereas your paint is drying, so it received’t take any longer both! It could even be an excellent time to do a {hardware} improve in case you selected a extra budget-friendly possibility the primary time round.
I personally love Schoolhouse {hardware} and discover it wears very well over time.
How significantly better does that look in only a few hours?!
In case you have further time, one other factor that may make cupboards look new once more is altering out the hinges that connect the cupboard doorways to the wall.
That’s positively extra of a time consuming activity if you must do lots of them, but when yours are in unhealthy form, simply make it a purpose to change out one or two doorways a day together with your energy drill and that may make it really feel extra doable.
It’s far more work to change them out with totally different hinges which have totally different gap areas (you’d should restore, fill, sand, and paint all of the outdated gap areas), however in case you’re utilizing {hardware} with the identical gap areas, it shouldn’t be that large of a deal.
There you go!! It truly is wonderful to me how a lot newer the cupboards take care of only one afternoon of labor—completely value it! It’s also possible to pop a cute pan on the counter or new kitchen rug into the house to freshen it up.
It looks like I spend most of my day within the kitchen, so it’s positively definitely worth the effort to make it look its greatest. I’ve additionally organized my fridge and closet in a single afternoon so take a couple of days and actually get your home collectively! Hope this challenge thought helps to brighten up your kitchen too! xo. Laura
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