Kitchen Details

Ok, I did promise I’d give details on this, and I wrote this blog like a week ago but forgot to hit publish. Sorry about that.

Hubbin’s dad made the doors for us; he’s phenomenal with woodworking, and we really could never have done anything like this without him. As for the other details, I initially bought a can of Moose Mousse in Valspar, which is the color of my office. I knew I liked the color and figured it would look nice, so I bought and painted it, and I was super pleased with it. That’s when this post was made.

And then I started looking for the perfect color blue for Hubbin’s sister’s dining room. While I was only looking for navy, I came across all these colors of blue that I loved, and fell in love with them. Then I started thinking about how boring white cabinets and khaki walls sounded. And the blue sounded way better. I looked for a while, though, because paint colors have undertones that you don’t even see until you compare it with another color you think is the same. I looked for the perfect color slate blue, but hadn’t actually decided on one until I went to the blue store to get paint stuff for the makeover. I looked around, pulled up Pinterest, grabbed a paint chip, and then the paint guy said he could mix paint from another maker. I had him mix two, and got samples…one of Battleship by Valspar, and the other, Storm Cloud by Sherwin Williams.

I really dislike Sherwin Williams paint. It’s really expensive, for one, and I hate the consistency. We used it in the bathroom and it took several coats, and it was runny and I just didn’t like it. Valspar is nice because the blue store is close and the primer and paint in one never ever needs a second coat. I came home and slipped Storm Cloud on the wall and loved it so much I didn’t even bother opening Battleship. I went back and got the gallon the next day and painted the kitchen.

The cabinets are just a gallon of the Valspar paint untouched. I never understood the “types” of white. I wanted the brightest, so I figured that the best way to get that would be to just buy the gallon unmixed.

The handles I got for super cheap because of a reason I didn’t even think of beforehand, and one that will likely only benefit you if you’re making new doors. One thing I knew 100% was that I wanted European bar pulls, but they are not cheap at all. I finally found these and had no idea how I was getting them so cheap when they are usually $5-7 a pull. I read the reviews and took my chances, ordering 20 of them. They arrived and I was shocked at how heavy duty they were. They were perfect and exactly what I wanted and I have no complaints. You should note, though, that they aren’t the normal length between screws, which is 3″. They are like 3 1/8″, which is just enough to have to manipulate your own template. Completely not an issue, unless you’re replacing current ones.

The big handle came from Hubbin’s dad as well, and he instructed us to which hinges to order too, which are European as well. They are comparable to these, but weren’t purchased at Lowe’s. You can’t see them, and they are easy to adjust, once we figured out how.

My father surprised us with a new jigsaw, and one day when Hubbin was at work, I decided I would cut the end cabinets (which was always the plan anyway). This was perhaps the dumbest part of the entire reno, because I’d never used a jigsaw, nor had any idea how to use one, so I watched one YouTube video and fancied myself an expert and tore into it. Without gloves or goggles. The Oldest One came home and saw me and made me at least put on 3D glasses when she couldn’t find her swim goggles.

As a side note, she bought me work gloves for Christmas. Yes, all of this is true.

I should have taken a picture of my knuckles, because they were in seriously bad shape. I couldn’t tell if they were splinters or scabs, but I figured time would tell, and it did. There are a few scars left, but the cabinet got done, and we were able to finish in time.

A couple of things that I didn’t realize:

1. If you use a paint sprayer, tape off the room. There was paint dust everywhere…it coated everything, and it worried me a bit because none of us actually wore masks. Also, get everything out of the cabinets. We didn’t, and it ruined ALL of our Tupperware. And everything had to be washed. I had used a roller to paint the frames, but the top of the cabinets were sprayed with a sprayer. I lazily hung the plastic sheets you’re supposed to use on the inside of the cabinets, but they didn’t at ALL protect it.

2. Get a babysitter. The Oldest One was away and The Little One was sick, so it was a miserable few days.

3. Look around before you take after pics, because you missed stuff. There are things I didn’t realized I missed until the paint was put away and I was taking the official pictures. Like that I forgot to paint one wall, or the side of one cabinet. I covered it with white contact paper and tried to avoid it in the pictures, but it shows. I’ll paint it when I get the paint back out, but in the meantime I don’t care enough.

4. Prepare to be horrified at how the house looks in the meantime. I actually took pictures I was so horrified. Here are a couple:

How relaxing…

And also? ALL of that stuff should have come out of the cabinets. Every last thing. I threw away every piece of tupperware because of the dust.

Not the typical picture you see on a home improvement blog.

All in all, it took a good four days, but Sunday we actually laid around and did nothing. I wish I’d used the Zinsser 1-2-3 stuff I’d bought but forgotten about. Oops. We did minor sanding and I’m unconvinced it was enough.

The countertops and sink will be replaced soon. We’ve gone back and forth between 10 different ways to tackle the countertops, but I think I’ve made a final decision. I’m also positive that the nice, heavy, cast-iron sink we bought is too heavy, so I think I’m going to have to sell it.

Beautiful cast iron sink we can’t use.

That makes me sad but I’m pretty sure I’ll live through it. Let me know if you’re local and want to buy it!