Spring ’24 ORC Week 6: Painted Lower Cabinets

I’m halfway done with the kitchen renovation but we’re already three quarters of the way through the One Room Challenge! That means I only have two weeks left to get it done! It’s going to be tight but we might just pull it off. But before I get all stressed out about how much more I have to do, let’s look back at what’s been accomplished so far. You can check out the painted tile floors in the previous blog post here.

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After I finished sealing the freshly painted tile floors, it was time to tackle the cabinets. I decided to do this in two parts so we could still use some of our kitchen and not have to completely displace everything all at once. So I started with the lower cabinets. First, I had to empty them which seemed like a great time to organize and get rid of things we never used and forgot we even had. Like this ice cream maker that was hidden in the very back of the cabinet that we’ve literally never used since we moved in. Time to donate it!

After they were empty, it was time to clean! I used the same degreaser I used to prep the floor to get the years of grime off of the cabinet boxes, doors and drawers. I removed the hardware and then screwed in two small hooks on the bottom of the doors so that I could hang them up when painting. This way I could paint both sides at once and not have to wait for them to dry to paint each side.

I decided to roll on the primer on everything since I had never used a paint sprayer before and I’ve heard it’s a bit difficult with primer because it tends to be thicker and sometimes needs to be thinned out. I also didn’t want to spray inside and have to cover everything with plastic. So I went about priming everything with the same primer I used for the floors. These cabinets are pretty glossy so I wanted to make sure the bonding primer would stick. I did scuff sand the doors and drawer fronts but I’m not sure it was necessary. We’ll see if I notice a difference in the wear and tear over time.

After priming, I rolled on the paint on the cabinet boxes (still afraid to use my new paint sprayer). I did two coats, allowing it to dry for 24 hours in between, although this paint said it could be re-coated in 4 hours. The color I chose was “Utterly Beige” from HGTV Home Sherwin Williams line and I used Valspar Cabinet paint in a semi gloss finish.

I did muster up the courage to use the paint sprayer on the doors and drawers outside and it was surprisingly easy! The hardest part honestly is the setup and cleanup. The actual spraying is easy and goes so much quicker than brushing and rolling! I’m definitely sold! The finish is also a lot nicer because it goes on so finely and leaves a very smooth, even finish. No brush strokes to hide! I did do two coats with the sprayer as well and I lightly sanded with a 220 grit sanding sponge in between coats to give it an extra smooth finish. Using semi gloss paint makes it easier to see imperfections and I wanted them to look as professionally done as possible! I don’t think I could have gotten such a nice finish without the paint sprayer. Highly recommend if you don’t have one already!

After the two coats of paint had dried, I reinstalled the same drawer hardware and added shiny new drawer pulls for the finishing touch. I debated using handles instead of knobs and had ordered a few samples from Rejuvenation in this beautiful unlacquered brass finish, but also realized if I was going to change from knobs to handles I should have spackled the screw holes before painting. So I’m going to go with the knobs for now and maybe change them out later if I find them too small to easily open the drawers.

I had also bought new soft close door hinges, but didn’t realize the base cabinets actually were attached to the frames whereas the upper cabinets are attached to the cabinet boxes and are frameless. So the ones I bought I can use for the upper cabinets but until I buy the right hinges for the lower cabinets, I’m going to put the old ones back on for now.

I almost forgot! The hubs surprised me and installed the new kitchen sink faucet and replaced the outlets and light switches while I was at work! What a guy. The new faucet is so much nicer than the old one we had and the new outlets and outlet covers in the color “light almond” to blend in as much as possible with the backsplash. They really make a big difference! It’s the little things, right?

I also got these plug in fly traps which are pretty awesome! Look at all the bugs it caught! You can find the fly traps HERE. They are pesticide/chemical free and perfectly safe for your family and pets!

The drawers and doors look so good! Getting them all adjusted again was a bit of a pain, but finally got everything situated.

In the picture below you can really tell the difference between the top part of the cabinet that I couldn’t remove to paint and used the brush and roller as opposed to the doors below where I used the paint sprayer. I will definitely be using the sprayer from now on, especially for projects with glossy paint!

That’s all I got done for this week! Next week I’ll tackle the upper cabinets and you can see if I decided to go with the same color as the lowers or white instead. I was having a hard time deciding but I think I finally made a decision. But you’ll have to wait until next week! Or follow along on Instagram and Facebook stories to see it first!

Until next time, happy DIY-ing!

-Selene Builds Things