Category Archives: How To

That’s right, we finally climbed our Mt. Everest house project and painted the kitchen cabinets this weekend! We were both terrified of tackling this for some reason – it just seemed like SO much work and we were afraid of messing up.
Here’s a rundown of the products we used: Kilz Clean Start zero-VOC primer, Benjamin Moore Natura zero-VOC paint (color Paris Rain), spackle, brush, hand sanders and mask, a 6″ roller and trays, Quali-Tech Ultra Smooth High Density Foam rollers (not pictured), paint can lip and a metal comb brush cleaner.
Ben decided that it was silly that we hadn’t painted the cabinets yet, so Friday after work he took the old cabinet doors in the backyard and lightly sanded them (since it’s possibly they had a layer of lead paint). Next, we laid cardboard down in the guest bedroom with the cabinets propped up by books underneath.
We used the 6″ roller EVERYWHERE we could and a 2″ short-handled angle brush ($5 at Sherwin Williams) for the nooks and crannies. I promise that I was 50% of the painting muscle – I just forget to jump in the pics! Sure, we probably should have taped off the inside of the cabinets and backs of the new cabinet doors, but we winged it by having a damp paper towel handy.
Here you can see what a thin coat of primer looks like. You aren’t trying to get full coverage since the point of primer is to create a sticky surface for the paint to adhere to. Ben lightly sanded down the base of the cabinets as well.
The old cabinet doors were cream colored (like the bottom 2 left doors). I couldn’t believe how much better they looked just after the primer! Both the primer and paint said you could recoat after 1 hr, so by the time we finished the coat of primer, it was time for the first coat of paint!
We read that it’s good to get the first coat of paint on as soon as the primer dries so that it will stick better. We finished the primer and first coat Fri night and after a morning walk with Cali, knocked out the second coat Sat morning. These paper boxes really came in handy for the drawers and toe kick!
Just look at those beauties waiting to be hung! We somehow found floor space in the 2 back bedrooms for all the cabinet doors, but yeah they’re everywhere. We considered painting them in the carport, but we used zero-VOC products and would have had to move them inside eventually anyway to dry.
The bottom cabinet doors that were originally natural wood still showed the wood grain after 2 coats of paint, but we decided that we liked the look and opted not to do a third coat.
This gives you a good idea of what the base cabinets look like after everything. I love how the countertop even has speckles of the light green color!
We opted not to paint the insides of the cabinets even though we had previously painted them that mustard yellow. I actually think the colors compliment each other and you’ll only see it when you open the doors anyway. We experimented painting the small molding around the cabinets white, but it looked weird.
I can’t explain to you how great it already looks even before rehanging the doors! This neutral kitchen needed a splash of color (even muted green) and it’s all coming together. You also get a sneak peak of the new bamboo window treatments I got – I absolutely love the texture they add to the room.

Now, in the words of Tom Petty, the waiting is the hardest part. We’re doing things right this time and are waiting a full 5 days to rehang the doors. When it was all said and done, we spent about 8 hrs. with both of us working non-stop on this project. Friday will be the big, highly anticipated kitchen reveal!