While the Cat's Away........


After watching every blogger and their neighbor repaint their kitchen and bathroom cabinets, I subtly forwarded a few pictures from other blogs to my sister. She has a Midwestern home built around 1999 - you know - the white oak bathroom cabinets are nice but are EXACTLY what you would expect in every home built in 1999.

Background:
My brother-in-law (her husband) was out of town for the weekend with some college buddies. So, Jennifer and her three kids naturally got to work on some major home projects once he stepped foot out of the house for the weekend.

She called me Friday evening -
"I can't find any of those blogs that show how different women re-painted their cabinets. Help me - I am trying to get to Home Depot before they close."

We found many tips on many blogs (including a lady who said her finger always hurts on Monday from spraypainting all weekend - sorry, misplaced the link - let me know if that was you!) We both decided spray paint would work nicely, since the plan was to paint the kids' small bathroom (no one in their right mind will carefully inspect a kids' bathroom cabinet paint job.)

Jennifer started with cabinets like these (note that I said "LIKE these" because she did not take the before pictures like I told her to - so this picture is actually a shot of her other bathroom's cabinets - which are identical - and still white).






(The kids' bathroom cabinets actually had more fingerprint marks than the above photo.)

She chose Rustoleum black lacquer for the cabinets and used a RED Rustoleum primer. She wanted the red primer to show through once the cabinets experienced a little "wear."


Jennifer's Handy Bathroom Painting Guide:
(1) Remove hardware and take doors off the cabinets.
(2) Have your three kids help you carry all of the doors to the front driveway so the neighbors can watch you and your project.
(3) Have the three kids help you sand and wipe down the cabinets and doors. (use medium grit sandpaper)
(4) Prime the doors TWICE (two light layers work better than one big, gloppy layer)
(5) Empty as much junk as you can from beneath the sinks - tape off what needs to be protected.
(6) Plug up a fan to ventilate the spray paint fumes.
(7) Once dry, reattach old hardware until you have time to shop for new hardware that you really want.


Here is her finished bathroom..........





New Hardware coming Soon!


This bathroom was builder beige before her husband left for his trip. It is now Spanish Olive by Glidden.

Linking to Centsational Girl!
Please visit A Soft Place to Land and The Shabby Chic Cottage AND The Shades of Pink for more DIY projects!

Comments

Terry said…
Sister's bathroom was invisible before. Now it rocks. Our "new" kitchen hardware didn't fit the old holes.
Mandy said…
Love the out of town husband projects! I'm working on some right now :)
Pretty re-do! Much better than the old flat white!
Fawn said…
What a great transformation! I'm getting ready to tackle my kids bathroom cabinets... Ours are that pink colored oak from 1990... ugh. Hate them. I was planning on white, but I may go black now! Thanks for the inspiration!
Anonymous said…
Looks fabulous!! Painting our bathroom cabinets black is on the list! (And aged white in my bathroom).

I host a "Room a month makeover" every Monday (Don't worry, you don't have to complete a room, a small change!) Stop by and link up!
http://theshadesofpink.blogspot.com/2009/09/room-month-is-back.html
Shanty 2 Chic said…
WOW... looks Awesome!! I love, love black... so pretty!
~Whitney
Love the Decor! said…
Wow
I"m trying to work up the courage to do the same with my 1996 oak cabinets. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Abby said…
Great project! I'm now wanting to spray paint my cabinets! Do you have any idea how many cans of spray paint it took?
Jennifer said she bought 4 cans of each, but used less (like 2.5 cans of each).
Pauline Wiles said…
Looks lovely. I'm also curious, was Mr Jennifer pleased with the transformation?

Your line about the neighbors watching made me smile. We too have a neighbor who is apparently amazed by our never ending project list. She was quite alarmed when she spotted us both on the roof one day. :)
Dresser Girl said…
Ok... I'm gonna do it... I'm gonna do it... You've inspired me. I LOVE IT!!
Carrie said…
I'm GONNA DO IT, TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm also gonna get some spanish olive from Glidden, tyvm!!!
I did my whole kitchen myself, when I lived in Texas...what a job, but the final look was spectacular! Your sisters bathroom is gorgeous.
Anonymous said…
Great new look for the bathroom- the color on the walls is so bright and cheery also!
The cabinets look GREAT! You did a great job on this project!
Anna said…
I think that post was at Like Mother, Like Daughter. Or, it was a commenter on her post about the lawn furniture.
Bette said…
those look great!!