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This has been my kitchen for the past eight years. It’s not my favorite place. Mainly because I don’t like to cook food, buy food, or make food, or clean up food. I really just like to eat food!
But lately I’ve had these nesting feelings. No I’m not pregnant, I just have this feeling like I want to be home and I love home and I love my family and therefore I want to cook for my family. I have this picture in my mind where we have family and friends over for a nice dinner made by me, not my husband! Me whipping up appetizers for the big game on a fall Saturday, summer dinners outside by candlelight, a nice dinner for my hubby when he gets home from work tired and worn out. These feelings started a while back but really took over a few weeks ago when I decided to make a nice meal for my husband who was coming home after being out of town for work. The look on his face when he realized something smelled good and that something was food made my heart so happy! I could tell he really felt loved by such a small gesture on my part.
So why am I telling you all this!?!?! Well if I’m going to learn to cook at the almost age of 39 (my birthday is Feb.17th in case you wanted to write that down), I want to love the place where I create. Cooking is a type of creating right!?!? I would much rather cook/create in a place that was more me and a reflection of what I love. I want my kitchen to be a place I want to spend time in. One thing I have always loveddddddddddddd are white cabinets.
Not wanting to spend a ton of money to get my dream kitchen, I was all ears when I heard about Rust-oleum’s Cabinet Transformation kits. I finally talked myself and my husband into letting me tackle painting my kitchen cabinets WHITE. We bought the whole kit at Lowe’s for $149.00
We got started last Thursday taking down the cabinet doors. It turns out it was VERYYYYYY important to number your cabinets! I almost skipped this step because I was so eager to get the white paint on the cabinets. Turns out there are lots of steps beforeeeeeeeeee you start painting. Lots of steps I really wanted to skip but so glad I didn’t.
Taking down the cabinet doors is one step I totalllllly did not want to do. I wanted to just paint the cabinets without taking the doors down. My husband said he would only agree to this project if I did it the right way and that meant taking the doors off. Dang ittttttttttt. Now that I’m done I am so so very happy we did.
This was the exact moment when I decided I no longer wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets. I had bitten off more than I could chew. If my husband would have agreed to help me hang them back up I would have.
I had 25 cabinet doors. First you had to degloss (in other word clean the hell out of them) both sides and allow for drying time in between. Then I painted two coats of white on the back of the doors allowing 2-3 hours between coats of paint. Then it was time to paint the front of the doors which took THREEEEEEEEEEE coats of paint, 2-3 hours drying time between those coats of paint. In other words this was a very difficult project for someone like me who wanted the whole thing done in one afternoon.
My awesome husband jumped right on in to help even though I told him I would do it all by myself! I think it would have taken me three weeks to complete this on my own. If you have two people working on this project it goes so so so much faster. Although the instructions said that two coats of paint should be enough we definitely had to go with three coats. I cried when we started the third coat. The Nester even came over to paint a bit and lifted our spirits with her encouragement and her excitement. So if you do decide to paint your cabinets make sure you have a cheerleader scheduled to come over towards the end of the third day. Instagram was also a great source of encouragement! When I would whine a bit with my photos people encouraged me and commented how much I would love them once I was done. Boy they were so right.
Living with no cabinet doors for 4 days was a little like torture for a neat freak like myself.
This was my favorite money saver! I thought I was going to have to go out and buy all new hinges to match our new silver pulls. My husband suggested simply spray painting all the gold hinges the same color as the pulls. Brilliant!!! The man is brilliant!
And now I introduce to you my NEW KITCHEN!!!!!!!!
Ahhhhhhh I love it so much I slept by the refrigerator the first night.
I swear it’s my dream kitchen. Although come to think of it, my actual dream kitchen would include a personnel chef. So this is like my second dream kitchen.
My second favorite money saver were the pulls. We went to Lowe’s and Home Depot and picked out what we wanted. However what we wanted was $4.90 per piece and we needed 25 cabinet door pulls and 18 drawer pulls. We went home and found almost identical pulls online at overstock.com. The drawer pulls were 2.91 and the cabinet door pulls were 2.45 a piece plus free shipping! Huge savings!
Before
After
Now I am ready to paint all the walls a beautiful grey color to go with the beautiful white cabinets!! Do you think I could be putting off learning to cook?
The winner of the giveaway from Wednesday is……..Jackie at Empty Nest Full Life!!! Congrats!!!
Happy Friday! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! xoxoxo Angela
My name is Angela Statzer and I love to incorporate just about anything into my artwork. Ranging from recycled materials, vintage items, wood, jewelry, other people’s junk, buttons and fabric, my style is fun and diverse. You can find me smiling at any yard sale, thrift store or flea market. I am a momma to two amazing kids and wife to one hot husband. 
Oh. my. goodness. !!!!!!! I want to do this sooo badly to my kitchen, but am just so afraid that I’m going to REALLY mess it up. You know, mess it up to the point that my husband has a cow and says the whole, “I tooollld you so!!!” Maybe one day I’ll get up the courage to do it! I also have secret plans to knock down one of my cabinets and put up floating shelves! Shhh, don’t tell!
I love when you show pictures of your house! You’re so creative- it’s nice to see homes filled with that creativity! Also, I love that you fill your home with color! So many people are afraid of colors and still with neutrals- I just love it! Sometimes I’m a little fearful of adding color.. but then I do something, and love it!
Happy Friday!
xx
Yes I love color! I remember in college someone commented that my room looked like CandyLand! Don’t be afraid to paint those cabinets!!!! Well actually I couldn’t sleep the first night because I started worrying about if I messed them up we would never be able to sell our house!! IF you follow the directions and take your time they will come out beautiful and then you can tell your husband I told YOU so! hahaha!
xoxoxox
Angela
I don’t know if I’ve ever posted on here before, but I’ve been reading for a while. I LOVE your cabinets! I am so thrilled that you posted about doing this, because my husband and I were looking at that same kit online. We plan on doing ours soon, and we will refer back to this, I’m sure! You guys did a beautiful job, and your kitchen looks totally different. I can’t wait to do mine!
Oh good luck Jennifer!! What color are you going to do!?? Please send me before and after pictures!!!!
xoxox
Angela
Angela, I am so excited for you! It really looks amazing! Thanks so much for posting about this… after seeing your instagram pics I couldn’t wait to see the final result! I was just telling my husband this morning that I want to go ahead and bite the bullet and paint our cabinets b/c you inspired me so much…. (knowing that I don’t have to tackle paining the inside of the cabinets is such a huge weight off my shoulders!!!). And thanks for the tip about overstock.com…. I would have never thought to look for cabinet pulls there! Good luck with cooking in your “new” kitchen… once you get the hang of it, you’ll see that cooking is yet another way for you to express your creativity.
Thanks Julia!!!
You have to send me before and after pictures!!! It was a long few days but now looking back I am so so so happy we did it. And yeah I would still be painting if i had to do the inside! hahahaha! Hope you are doing well! I am in Bristol this weekend and so miss home!
lots and lots of love
Angela
Wowza! What a beautiful new kitchen! I am now inspired to spray paint my pulls and hinges again. Since the last time was in 1993! Time for an update, much?
Thanks Laura! 1993 doesn’t seem that long ago does it!!!! But I just did some math and that was 20 years so yeah maybe time! hahah
Angela
Beautiful job, Angela! I can’t wait to see the gray on the walls! May I ask what your countertops are? I’m in need of new countertops and yours are what I had in mind. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Hi Shelia!
I can’t wait to see the grey walls either but I think I need a little break. Was going to do them this week but I think I might just wait a couple of weeks!haha Oh my countertops are so badddddddddddd!!! I think they are just laminate! We hope to replace them once we get our tax return!
xoxoxo
Angela
It looks beautiful!!!! Good for you.
Thank you Cally! Hope you and sweet Lilly are doing well!
xoxox
Angela
Love them!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have just been waiting for my hubby to rip down our nasty backsplash and put up the new subway tile so I can paint mine. I was looking at the same type of kit at lowes and it was like $75 is this something more or just a bigger one? I want to make sure I get the right one. I was thinking I would do white on the top and a color on the bottom because I was afraid that the white would show every speck and with two dogs and 3 boys in the house I am thinking that might be a better idea. How is the finish? They look amazing, can’t wait to do this and get rid of the sea of honey oak. thanks for sharing.
Hi Rebecca
There are several different sizes. The smaller ones are for bathroom cabinets and small kitchens. If you have a decent size kitchen I would go for the big one. We almost had to get another kit because we had to do 3 coats. There is also a glaze you can put on but we decided not to use it because I just wanted plain white cabinets. Good luck!!!
lots of love
Angela
Wow! This is an amazing transformation and I’m so glad you shared the whole process!! I want to do this in my kitchen but never had the courage. It is time! Thanks for posting!
Yes Julie! It is time. Don’t think to much about it just go and get the kit and do it!!!! You will be so happy you did!
lots of love
Angela
That is an amazing transformation! Just beautiful! And, I would kill for that much cabinet space, or just kitchen space in general. You are one lucky lady.
Thanks Meg. Yes I do feel like a blessed lady!
lots of love
Angela
Angela, the cabinets look great! Let’s work out a “friendly neighborhood deal.” How about I make you guys dinner for a week and you paint my cabinets. I’d like mine distressed black.
Hahahaha! Amy we might have to make that 3 weeks of dinners! It’s going to be a while before I pick up a paint brush!
Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Angela
Beautiful! You are much braver than I am.
Maybe not brave just can’t sit still! hahaha
xoxox
Angela
You sure did make over your kitchen! Who would think paint could make such a huge difference. Ours are flimsy 1962 builder grade, not nearly as nice as yours, beyond painting. Hubs bought 2 cabinets at the ReStore hoping to find more again. One had the manufacturer and style so if we must we could get the remaining ones we need retail. For now just the top cabinets. These are semi-custom solid wood natural finish. I hoped for white, he says we can paint and may have to if we get mis matches at ReStore! I’ve heard the Rustoleum product has a very strong chemical odor, which I can’t even be near, much less use myself. Is that true?\
Janet
Hi Janet
Actually we commented several times how there was no order at all!!! Actually when you walked in the house you wouldn’t notice anything!!! love that you are buying cabinets from habitat!
xoxox
Angela
I am SO doing that!!!! That has been my dream forever…oh my goodness…when can I get to Lowe’s???!!! Looks beautiful…nice job!!!
Thank you Tiffany! Yep it took me 8 years but so glad I finally did it!
lots of love
Angela
Thank you sooooo much for posting this…I am in the process of purchasing a home built in 1979….The cabinets are solid wood..but, UUUUUUGGGGLLLYYY!!!!…Seventies style….I thought I would have to live with them until I could afford to replace them…But, not now! I can even transform the counter tops with this product….SO HAPPY!!! Thank You! Thank You! Can’t wait to get started. the only problem is…What Color?
Hi Lynette!
Please send me before and after pictures! There are so many colors to pick from and you have the option to glaze the too! Good luck!
xoxo
Angela
OMG, beautiful! What a difference, great job
Thanks Jayne!!!
LOVE LOVE lovity LOVE!!!! i’m so happy you stayed the course! they’re beautiful!!!
I love your new kitchen! I have been looking at this product for awhile and have been scared I could not make it look right. Did you use the plain white? It’s beautiful.
Your kitchen looks beautiful! Thanks for the tip about spray painting the hinges- I never would have thought of that!
Angela your kitchen looks great! I have the same oak cabinets I would love to paint white. Can you still see the oak grain through the white paint? Did the 3rd coat of paint help to cover that up? Love your blog and all your creativity! Thanks!
Hi Michelle!
Yes the third coat completely covered up everything!!! The glaze would have helped too but we just wanted plain white cabinets! Are you going to do it!?!?! If so good luck and send me before and after photos!
xoxo
Angela
What a great blog post…you’ve inspired and encouraged me to give this a try! Thanks so much!
Before and after pictures pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Good luck Marie!!!!
xoxoxo
Angela
Looks great!
I’m so like you…i want to tackle huge projects in a couple of hours and be done, lol. I’ve been thinking about painting my cabinets too. I might have to give this a try.
Yes this is nottttttttttttt an afternoon project! Hahahaha! I don’t know what I was thinking but boy am I glad they are done!
love
Angela
You go girl!!! They are fabulous!!!! I did mine all white last year and received not one single second of help! Yep, it took 3 weeks…so your time estimate was correct with no help! No cheerleading section, just me and my lonesome doing 3 coats of white….so boring, but so worth it!
Oh my gosh MJ you are my hero if you did that all by yourself. I thought I was going to die, but sooooooooo worth it!!! Are yours holding up pretty good!?
xoxo
Angela
They look amazing!!! I’m trying to talk my husband into doing this (with me) in our kitchen. So I’m saving this post so he can see it. Becca
Angela, OH WOW, I so love your new kitchen, it was very nice before but just amazing new look. I just love it the look. I too dont like to start something I can get done NOW… GREAT GREAT job
Joanne
I have been goin back and forth with my husband on painting our cabinets….i went to Lowes and the paint rep said this same exact product is what he suggested we do if we wanted to change the color with out replacing or sanding the cabinets. Plan on doin this asap now that i know what color i am goin to do, first i was goin to go with almost black but the white looks crisp with the appliances….thank you so much!! Great job!!