Kitchen Update: Choosing a Cabinet Color

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January 2018 Update: We’ve since moved from this home after selling it about a year after this post. We never did paint the whole kitchen, but the cabinets we did paint held up beautifully and helped us sell the house for top dollar. We love our new home and I’ve written about it extensively, including posts about our paint choices, white kitchen and lucite cabinet hardware, lighting selections, and other DIY and home decor adventures. 

I’ve been undergoing a kitchen renovation/facelift since August 2015! Catch up on the progress by reading post one, two or three.

Welcome to post #4 of my kitchen renovation! I haven’t updated you all with any progress since we really hadn’t made any since August. We are so slow when it comes to renovations.

This holiday break, we finally made some strides in the kitchen reno, and I’m excited to show you the progress. Here’s a peek (there’s more about the cabinets further down in the post).

Let’s start with this uber gorg light fixture that we chose for our breakfast nook/eat-in kitchen area. I ended up choosing the fixture I mentioned in post #2, and I have ZERO regrets. The hubby put it up one day all by himself while I was at work, and he said it was a piece of cake.

I think it instantly classes up the whole space and it adds just the right amount of light. We also have nine (yes, nine!) recessed lights in the kitchen. You can also see that we’ve primed over the original dusty aqua paint color. I loved the blue/teal paint color originally, but now I want a more sophisticated color and finish.  We also removed that floating IKEA table and replaced it with another IKEA table that I’ll show you in a future update.

And now moving onto the most major decision of all…the paint color for the cabinets. I decided against the java (I know, I know…don’t hate me!) because I think it’d be too dark for our kitchen. I wanted a bright, cheery, airy kitchen, but didn’t want white cabinets. I wanted something a bit unique, still on the timeless side, and something that will be good for resell.

The folks at General Finishes were kind enough to send me some samples of their ah-may-zing milk paint in the snow white color and seagull gray color.

I used a paint brush to paint some of each color on the extra cabinet door we had. I read another blogger’s review where she said there wasn’t any brush strokes, but I definitely had brush strokes. So, I switched to this foam brush, and I had flawless, factory finish results. You can still see the wood grain though, which I expected. 

After seeing both paints on the door, it was clear to me that seagull gray was perfect. It’s not too dark, it’s not your normal white, and I think it would appeal to most buyers once that time comes.

After two coats, my cabinet door looks amazing! I didn’t sand, didn’t prime…I literally just slapped the paint on with a foam brush, waited for it to dry about half an hour, and slapped on another coat. Once I start painting the actual cabinets, I will clean them thoroughly with this super amazing deglosser and seal them with my most favorite satin poly for good measure.

How to Transform Your Kitchen Cabinets With Milk Paint

Supplies:
–Milk paint (I chose this gorgeous gray) I recommend the gallon size for kitchens and quart for bathrooms.
–Foam brush (different sizes helps for beveled doors)
–Sanding block* (see step 2)
–Deglosser
–Satin poly

Directions:

1. Clean your cabinets thoroughly with a deglosser. I love this one and had great results when I used it for both my espresso DIY cabinets and the milk paint ones. It really cuts through the grime.
2. If your cabinets aren’t smooth, a light sanding is probably a good idea. I recommend this specific type of sanding block if your cabinets have bevels like mine do.
3. Once they’re dry, get ready for paint. Milk paint is very, very thick, so stir it well before applying to make it easier to work with. 
4. Using a foam brush, paint on thin coats in the same direction as the grain. Let the paint dry about 30-60 minutes before moving on to the next coat. Three coats should give you ample coverage. Let dry for about 48 hours (or 24 hours in non-humid conditions) before moving onto sealing. These will help you paint twice as fast by allowing you to paint both sides of the cabinet on the same day.
5. Seal with a high quality satin poly or semi-gloss poly if you want a more shiny finish. I’d recommend two coats of sealer for kitchen cabinets and one for bathroom cabinets.
6. Let the sealer fully cure for about 48 hours before adding hardware. 

And that’s my update! We’ll be painting the walls and ceilings this weekend, and I’ll show you all a sneak peek of that later this month. Then I’ll start prepping for painting the cabinets.
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