Hi everyone, today I am sharing with you our mini kitchen makeover. We are currently renovating and decorating our dream home. The kitchen in our house is in good condition, but it is a bit dated and definitely is not our dream kitchen. The big reno has been put on hold for a few years at the moment as we are trying to save up for our dream farmhouse-style kitchen, so for now we have to live with what we have. Which means one thing – upcycle the good old cabinets!
When we came to view this property we loved the kitchen but I knew that I would paint it as soon as I could! The hallway took us a little longer than anticipated so I only just got to painting the kitchen. This is the before picture.
Here is my Dream Kitchen board if you want to take a look.
Follow my Kitchen Inspiration board on Pinterest.
We are planning to knock two walls down and make it into a large open plan kitchen and dining room.
BUT we need to save up for it, so at the moment we are updating our old kitchen using some paint instead! I decided to spruce up the kitchen a little bit by painting the kitchen cupboards and the old tiles, without spending a fortune.
After reading many reviews and blog posts about painting the kitchen cabinets I opted for the easiest option – paint that is designed specifically for kitchen cabinets and required almost no prep and is already a sealant. Chalk paint is great but I was not going to paint, then seal and wax and buff…… too much work for the temporary kitchen I thought.
I ended up purchasing V33 renovation paint for the kitchen cupboards in Pearl Barley and wall tiles in Rye. The paint is not cheap but as we got gifted some vouchers from a DIY shop, it cost us nothing.
I started by removing the old hardware. It turned out to be trickier than I first thought as the brass applique was actually nailed to the cabinet with 2 tiny nails!
Once the hardware was removed, I washed the cupboard doors using sugar soap. Make sure all the dirt and grease is gone before you paint or the paint won’t stick. I then followed the instructions and lightly sanded the cupboards (read the instructions as laminate does not require sanding at all!). I then washed the cupboards again and dried them.
Then came the fun bit – start painting!! I left the cabinet doors hanging and decided not to remove them, I could reach all gaps and was happy to paint the doors as they were. It felt like too much work removing them and putting them back on… And also Coco kept going into here treats drawer as soon as the door was open!
I left the paint to dry overnight and it was ready for the second coat in the morning. The second coat dried nicely and was very smooth, there were no brush marks it almost looked like the paint was sprayed on! The cupboards were touch dry and ready for the new hardware by the evening.
My husband and I measured and drilled the new holes and added the new drawer knobs! I got these gorgeous country-style knobs and cup pulls from D.Lawless Hardware with my winnings when I came third in the Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest in 2015. I absolutely LOVE them!!
I then painted the tiles using their tile paint. There is an adhesive that must be added to the paint before using it to make sure the paint adheres. I encountered a slight problem, when I was painting around the sink under the window as the paint did not want to stick! I left it to dry and the next day sanded it off and washed it using sugar soap and some bicarbonate soda. I then realised (my hubby may have helped a little!) that the tiles were too cold, so I went and grabbed my hair dryer. It did the trick! Paint brush in one hand and hair dryer in the other, I applied the paint on a warmer tile and it adhered nicely!
I then simply painted the walls using our leftover paint from the hallway makeover and upcycled the old blind using some Clarke and Clarke fabric (tutorial to follow).
We may not have our new dream kitchen, but our ‘temporary‘ freshly painted kitchen is quite beautiful don’t you think??
*Disclaimer: I received the door knobs and pulls from D.Lawless Hardware free of charge as part of my winnings! All opinions, ideas are 100% my own and are not influenced in any way.
*this post contains affiliate links.
This is gorgeous evija! What a difference the white paint makes!
Thank you Medina!! Definitely, such an imporvement!
Painting these cupboards white and changing the handles has made SUCH a difference, hasn’t it? And the tile paint is fantastic too!
It looks great, and all the more gorgeous for the hard work you’ve clearly put in. Hope you enjoy cooking in your new temporary kitchen!
🙂
Flora
http://www.theeverchanginghome.com
That looks lovely Evijah!! You may decide you want to keep it like that! Certainly like the “after” look a lot better than the “before”! What is that little squared off door in your tile wall? Notice it’s open in some photos, but closed in another.
Thank you very much ! I love our little makeover . The little door is a “serving hatch” these were popular in the uk and dated back to the 50’s I think and became super popular in the 70s . It leads to the dining room so it’s easier to pass the food through. We will be knocking the wall down eventually but I must admit it did come in handy over busy Christmas dinner !!!
What a lovely kitchen, so clean and fresh, I would love a white kitchen.
You did an awesome job!!!
It looks so lovely Evija! I will do similar things to my kitchen back home…with some touch of purple, my favorite color! 🙂
Thanks a ton! These pictures of the hardware are beautiful. Sorry I got around to sharing it late!
Hi, great job!
Is the finished colour pale grey or beige?
Hi Heather the colour is a mix in between.. if you look on their website, you can see the colour maybe a little better. It is not cream, it has a little hint of grey I would say in it.
Hi, Evija, thank you so much for the ideas, it looks amazing, we are just planning to paint our whole kitchen cupboard with the same paint, but can’t decide what colour should we use on the wall, could You please, tell me, what shade did you use with it, as it looks wonderful together:-) Thank you so much!
Hi Vanda, thank you so much for your lovely comments! The colour I used for the walls was called – Victorian Lace and I bought it from B&Q (if you are in the UK) here is the aff. link
Thank you so much, Evija, that’s a great help 🙂
Have the cupboards chipped or the paint flaked?
Hi the kitchen has held up nicely it hasn’t chipped the only place the paint has rubbed off a little is on the edge where I kept cleaning (shouldn’t have used chemicals!) .. my dog keeps jumping on the bottom doors and scratching them and honestly the paint hasn’t even come off on there !
Hi Evija! Your kitchen makeover looks amazing! I have been eyeing the V33 paint for my cupboards and tiles for about a year now and was wondering how yours has held up? I was especially concerned about the tiles around the sink area? From the swatch in B&Q it seems like very tough paint! Good luck with your dream home makeover!
Hi, thank you so much ! The paint hasn’t chipped and the tile paint has held up especially nicely .. the paint hasn’t come off at all I was worried a little about the sink area but honestly it’s all in tact I would definitely recommend the v33 brand !
Hi, I’m looking at using this paint and was just wondering how it is holding up now? Your kitchen looks fab and exactly the same as mine! I am looking to use the ivory colour though
Hi Maria , it’s been two years now and I must say the tile paint is amazing ! The tiles have not chipped at all.. the cabinets have chipped slightly over the areas I didn’t prep as well .. I still think the paint is great, just make sure you do the prep work and degrease the cabinets to make sure paint sticks .
Your kitchen makeover is beautiful. I have exactly the same kitchen and hardware. I can’t wait to get started and just need to be brave like you.
Thank you it was a great temporary solution for our kitchen before the big renovation started!