Guest post by David Francom
So, you have heard all about Carolyn’s fabulous month-long cruise to South America and the Antarctic. And, you have likely read multiple posts about her fruit/veg art which she got into due to the cruise (and is very excited about). But, you haven’t heard about what happened at home while she was gone. There is a lot that you don’t want to know about but generally speaking we men (husband and son) did much better than anyone expected. I even had the time and psychological stamina to complete a project that we had wanted to do for years. Paint the kitchen cabinets. The cabinets weren’t horrible but very out of date and didn’t really make our kitchen feel very appealing. I admit that I started the project a few times and then decided I didn’t have time or really want to do it… but finally I just decided it had to be done. So I did it.
So, you have heard all about Carolyn’s fabulous month-long cruise to South America and the Antarctic. And, you have likely read multiple posts about her fruit/veg art which she got into due to the cruise (and is very excited about). But, you haven’t heard about what happened at home while she was gone. There is a lot that you don’t want to know about but generally speaking we men (husband and son) did much better than anyone expected. I even had the time and psychological stamina to complete a project that we had wanted to do for years. Paint the kitchen cabinets. The cabinets weren’t horrible but very out of date and didn’t really make our kitchen feel very appealing. I admit that I started the project a few times and then decided I didn’t have time or really want to do it… but finally I just decided it had to be done. So I did it.
One of my major concerns with the project, and the reason it took me so long to “just do it” was because of the failures I had with my entry way bannister. I had completely remodeled the stairway with paint and new carpet runners and decided to paint the bannisters that had been stained a dark oak. For the first few weeks we really enjoyed the fresh, light look of the painted bannisters but very quickly noticed where the hands mostly touched the paint was starting to rub off. Ugghhh. Yes, I know that I need to sand the old varnish off the wood; and yes, I know that I needed a primer but I made a dire mistake and assumed I could just use a basic paint as my primer under the final coat. Nope, that definitely didn’t work. That failure also scared me off of trying to paint the kitchen cabinets – if they started peeling paint no one would be very happy, especially Carolyn. So I hesitated. Finally I thought it has to be done so do some more research and make it work. I think I nailed it with the excellent primer I found just at Home Depot.
I took off all the cabinet doors (with help from daughter and son) and labeled each door, hinge and cabinet so I could make sure each door got back where it belonged and I wouldn’t have to redrill holes for hinges that were micro centimeters off of where they should be.
I power sanded the varnish (although I am sure not all of it came off with the sanding). The genius was in the primer which stated that it could go over varnish. The primer adhered beautifully and I could even see it starting to dissolve some of the varnish and really create a bond to the wood.
The other concern that I had was to get the actual final coat of paint nice and smooth – not only no drips but also few brush marks. Well, here is a shameless plug for Sherwin Williams Pro Classic XXX. Wow! It blew me away how nicely it self-leveled with a brush application. I tried a thin-nap roller but found it left a little of an “orange peel” effect which wasn’t terrible but didn’t level out quite as well and I just liked the other look better.
I sanded, lightly, between coats and, yes, there were some drips but not too bad. The biggest problem was finding space to put all of the doors and keep them lifted off the tables so that I could paint the edges without getting newspaper stuck to them. I finally just found a bunch of individually wrapped soap tablets for the dishwasher which work well to raise the cabinet doors off the table.
I sanded, lightly, between coats and, yes, there were some drips but not too bad. The biggest problem was finding space to put all of the doors and keep them lifted off the tables so that I could paint the edges without getting newspaper stuck to them. I finally just found a bunch of individually wrapped soap tablets for the dishwasher which work well to raise the cabinet doors off the table.
Anyway, here is the final result. I think it turned out beautifully and Carolyn (I think) was surprised that I did such a good job without her present for quality control. So, hopefully the paint will hold up but it certainly looks like it will.
Thank you David!!!!!!
Not only for the post but for the beautiful kitchen!
I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only for the post but for the beautiful kitchen!
I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!