Kitchen Cabinet Makeover With Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan

by

How to Paint Wood Cabinets

So my sweet friend Krystal wanted to update her oak kitchen cabinets in a big way.  For like 10 years she wanted to update them.  A decade of cabinet dissatisfaction is enough. That is why I was super excited when the chance to use  Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan came my way.   Today I am sharing how we seized the opportunity, using the Chalk Paint® in colors Old White and Graphite, in addition to the Clear Soft Wax to create the look she was after!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Annie Sloan Unfolded sent us the paints and wax.  This paint is simply amazing.  More about that later.  For brushes, what to use depends on the look you are trying to achieve.  We wanted texture and messiness, and we knew we would be distressing with sandpaper after painting, so we went with the cheap chip brushes you can find in the dollar bin at your local craft store.  There is a wide variety of techniques to use and looks to achieve with these products.  A fantastic place to start is with Annie Sloan’s numerous books on the use of paint in decorating.

Kitchen Before Paint

Here you can see the oak cabinets before we got at them.

Not so great, right?  

We decided to go multicolor, Old white on top, Graphite on the bottom.

How to distress cabinets

 Kitchen Makeover

We just removed the doors and started painting them and the frames.

NO PRIMING, NO SANDING.

This paint is amazing.  It looks wonderful and takes no prep.  Um, yes please.

Distress Technique

It dried super fast.  We did 2 light layers, letting dry about 20 minutes between.  For a distressed look, we lightly sanded the edges and corners randomly on the cabinet doors.  A little bit of distressing goes a long way!

After distressing, we applied the wax with a polyurethane brush.  Super easy!

The coverage  of this paint is unbelievable, really.  I use a lot of different paints in my projects, and this is tops.  Granted it is more expensive than other options, but the difference in quality is significant.

Annie Sloan Paint Project

This entire project was about 24 hours in duration!

Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

What a huge difference!  Remember the yellow above the cabinets…

Kitchen Cabinet Redo

We painted it Old White and added crown molding.  For more on how to install crown molding, see my first experience here!

I think the biggest surprise for all of us involved in the project is the countertops.  That’s right.  We were making plans to do a countertop transformation after painting the cabinets.  We were just certain the new cabinets were going to make that totally urgent.  We found the opposite!  Somehow, the pinkish/mauve looks adorable with the Graphite and Old White!  Did not see that coming at all.

Kitchen Cabinet Upgrade with Chalk Paint

If you want to transform your from outdated to rich and beautiful, this is a great option!

Find everything you need to get going here:

DIY Subway Tile Backsplash

by

[pinit]DIY Subway Tile Backsplash Tutorial[pinit]

Our kitchen renovation continues with this DIY subway tile installation.  It was easier than I thought it would be, but there are a few ways you can avoid heartache through learning from our mistakes and our victories!

Mussel Bound Adhesive Tile Mat

So this stuff falls under the “Victory” category of our first tiling experience.  We saw Mussel Bound Adhesive Tile Mat at our local big box hardware store and had to try it.  It is super sticky double sided tape, basically.

How to adhere tile

 You just stick remove the backing from one side and stick that to the wall.  It is easy to cut to go around your various outlets and corners.

Place Tile over adhesive

When you are ready to place the tile, you remove the backing from the other side and stick the tile in place!  I am not sure you are supposed to do this, but we removed tiles and repositioned them with no problem when we had to.

Blue Hawk Tile Cutter

This falls into the “mistake” category.  We saw this Blue Hawk Manual Tile Cutter and thought we would buy it for the $30 instead of renting or buying a tile saw.  It scores the tiles then snaps them at the score line.  Ideally it does that.  Lots of chipping took place.  Also, if you have to cut out a section of the tile, forget it.  It is fine for cutting straight through the height of the tile, but don’t even think about trying to cut out a rectangle section.  Nope.

We ended up renting a tile saw for one day.  That was $40.  Then we bought one for $89.  Should have just started there.  It is the Skil 3540 and it worked great for cutting these tiles.  Since we know we will be tiling again, this is a great option, costing just a little more than we wasted spent on the manual cutter and 1 day wet saw rental.

As far as grouting once all the tiles are placed, I used this video from Pretty Handy Girl to guide me.  Love her!

DIY Backsplash Ideas

What do you think?

I LOVE our new kitchen!

Kitchen Before

In case you missed it, here is the before.

WHAT?!

Read about our DIY Countertop Revamp!

Take your kitchen cabinets to the ceiling and get rid of the outdated oak with our DIY Kitchen Cabinet Upgrade!

It is my favorite room.  Stay tuned for the final step in our Kitchen Makeover with Moen!!

DIY Budget Backsplash Idea with Subway Tile @savedbyloves

Privacy Policy