Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links, at no cost to you.

Honestly, it’s almost kind of weird to have the pantry door back on.

But it’s a nice way to remind myself that the kitchen walls are DONE. Wallpaper removed. Walls skim coated and sanded. Primed. Bubbles removed. And Painted.

Which used to look a lot more like this:

2010
2010

Not half bad, don’t ya think? Sure, there’s still more to do… as always. I still need to add window treatments, crown, molding to the tops of the cabinets, cabinet hardware, and decorate for Christmas. But after spending a couple weeks snarling at my walls for being so persnickety, they are smooth (!), and I feel pretty satisfied with the results.

For those wondering, the paint color is called Cold Steel by Olympic (mixed at 50% tint to make it lighter). I knew that you could ask for tint percentages at the pricier specialty paint stores, but was really pleased when Lowes and Home Depot said I could do the same (the more you know, right?)!

I first picked out the color back when I was looking for one in the dining room as part of a partnership with Olympic paint. Jacque & Matt from the DIY Village used the same (100% tint) color in their bathroom, but there’s enough blue/green in the paint that it looks a bit different depending the light in the room. I wound up going with Olympic again (not just the color, but the paint) because they impressed me with the finish; that may seem like an insignificant detail, but I get curious about paint brands a lot. So, here’s why I’m rambling about this:

In terms of painting over a fresh skim coat or a patch job on normal drywall, there’s a thing commonly called flashing. This is basically the term used for a lack uniformity on the sheen because some of the joint compound (thicker spots?) will absorb the sheen and appear dull. I’ve been using a Glidden primer, then paint to resolve this, but since I knew I’d be doing two coats anyway, I gambled with seeing how much flashing would happen with the first coat. To my surprise, while there was some flashing, the second coat covered it and a lot nicer than I usually expect of any paint and appeared perfectly uniform without additional primer.

(I do realize that most people are never supposed to care this much about paint, but part of this blog has often been about testing products for curiosity’s sake, and I was experimenting. I’ve recently seen some brands, like Behr’s Marquee line, claim to cover things like this in one coat, which I found hard to believe. So I thought I’d figure out if it was true and was disappointed with the quality of those claims. … That’s pretty much answering a question you probably never asked, and this isn’t sponsored or anything, so I thought I’d pass on the comparison shopping results for the next time you’re picking new paint.)

Now, it’s just a matter of getting all the finishing touches… you know, finished. Like painting the baseboards, touching up areas I had to caulk, switching out the nasty old outlets, raising the curtain rod for the sliding glass door, etc.

It also involved putting in a new light fixture, but here’s the thing: I bought it a long time ago assuming I’d get this project done a long time ago (because things only seem to take this long for me), and I’m not thrilled about the light anymore.

It’s not bad…. but it’s not great, either.

I considered taking the bottom (silver) part off as a way to fix the main thing I disliked, but I’m now considering a whole different look (damn you, internets, for making window shopping so easy!). More to share on that search and some more plans coming to the kitchen soon!

kitchen cabinet makeover

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Comment Policy: I love comments, especially if they make me laugh. Feel free to let your words of wisdom and humor fly (there's no swear jar on this blog), but if you're overly spammy, rude, or just plain boring, you're just going to have to accept that your comment may not see the light of day. P.S. If you leave an affiliate or monetized link when making a comment on this site, such links might get overwritten by a plugin I have installed that uses my own internal tracking. See terms and disclosure page for more info! Thanks in advance. You rock.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

7 Comments

  1. It’s amazing how much a fresh coat of paint can completely change the ambiance of a room.
    I admire your being particular about the painting. Too many people don’t and the final result mirrors that, wall snots, runs, “holidays”, etc.. Keep up the great work it looks awesome!

  2. love the wall color – looks amazing!
    i am wondering if you plan to re-color your pantry (and/or other door) hinges to match your cabinet hinge color? I am currently pondering removing the brass hinges from various doors in our house and spraying them metallic with rustolleum. i know you can work miracles with spraypaint. spraypaint is how i found your blog way back when! (after you’d sprayed your light switches). maybe the hinges aren’t even on your radar, just curious as to how easy/hard it might be.

    1. I’ve spray painted hinges before but it was a LONG time ago. I also painted some metal outdoors a long time ago, and it’s still just as good as the day I did it. I would recommend steel wool (to rough up the surface), TSP substitute, primer for metal, and lots of LIGHT coats. The hinges are tight moving parts though, so there’s always a chance that the paint rubbing together will cause it to flake off. Still, it’s cheaper than buying new, so if you want to try it, go for it!

      Oh, and to answer the hinge question: I’ve considered repainting these, but I’m in no hurry. The same brass hardware is all over the house, so it’s an expensive endeavor and re-hanging doors is a beast. It’s just too much work for me to think about for now.

      1. Thanks for the tips! All our door hardware is brass, too. I’m not a fan. I was thinking it would be possible to remove and paint one hinge at a time from each door. Like remove the top hinge from 5 doors, paint them, replace them, then remove the middle hinge from the 5 doors, etc… that way I wouldn’t have to remove any doors.

        1. True, but even still, you might have issues trying to re-hang. My pantry door isn’t happy that I removed it and now refuses to close properly. I’m sure I’ll fix it once Dad comes over, but it’s just goofy for now.

  3. Another awesome project Sarah. I like what you did with the cabinet but I think it would be better if you stained with ebony or darker shades. What you think?

    xo,
    Nancy

    1. I decided to paint the cabinets back in 2013, and I really like the look. Seems to suit the house well. Cheap old oak cabinets would probably still look somewhat blah after staining; they’re just not good enough quality to do much else than paint for a nice (and easy) upgrade.