Painting Cabinets = Worth It!

It has been a while since my last post but now you'll understand why...

In our latest attempt to sell one of the houses from our bachelor/bachelorette days, we did a major kitchen overhaul on Ryan's old house.  Although some might find these orange oak cabinets and blue countertops to be beautiful, we thought some might like a more neutral take on a kitchen.

Step 1: Remove all cabinet doors and place hardware inside of each cabinet.

Step 2: (No picture but highly recommended) Use painters tape to number cabinets from left to right. You can move it around on the door or drawer as you're painting.

Step 3: CLEAN areas to be painted including cabinet fronts, drawer fronts and doors. I have seen fancy cleaners advertised for this but we just 409'd the grime off of everything. Areas around the stove needed several wipe downs.

Step 4: Liquid sander on all areas to be painted to get rid of the shine and any left over grime. This stuff is easy to wipe on and then you get to walk away! Once it is dry you are set to start painting. No need to wipe everything down again.

Step 5: Prime everything with a white latex primer and dry

Step 6: Repeat step 5 :)

*Door recommendation: Paint on top of a piece of plywood. I tried the nail set up on top of the plywood but didn't find it to be worth that extra step. If I ever do this again, I will just lay it right on the plywood.

 

We took the doors to our house so we could put the multiple coats of primer and paint on them without going over to the bachelor house.

After one coat of primer

* A foam brush and foam roller were the best tools for this job. I recommend painting the crevices first with the foam brush then...

Paint the flat surfaces with the little foam roller and make sure everything is smooth.

Any flaws can be gently sanded down and touched up with paint later if needed.

Steps 7 & 8: Semi gloss paint coats

Steps 9-12: Flip doors and paint other side. Easy but time consuming and monotonous!

TOTAL COATS:

2 coats latex primer

2 coats latex semi gloss paint in color of your choice + touch up coat where necessary

BIG ADVICE: DO NOT STACK PAINTED DOORS ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER FOR TRANSPORT. They like each other too much and will end up taking paint off one another.

Although I don't want to look at white paint for a long time, these shots make it well worth the time!

 

New granite counters, sink and faucet!

+ a cute rug from TJMaxx, candle and soap dispenser which my husband rolled his eyes at but clearly make the kitchen.

SAAP Fosters

When Good Buddies dissolved last year, the volunteers from that group were on a hunt to find a group to donate our remaining funds and have as a back up for any returned dogs. They found the Stray Animal Adoption Program (SAAP)! When we were ready to foster again, we filled out our foster application with them and had our first guy, Balto, within a week.

I have been absolutely amazed by the number of people involved in this organization across the Greater Cincinnati area. The Facebook group for SAAP constantly has people posting about animals in need and more importantly, people swinging into action to help those animals. We are able to take a foster on whenever works for us. Here are our SAAP guys and girls so far:

Balto- This big sweetheart was returned to SAAP because his owner fell ill. He was adopted to his new forever home after being with us for almost two months. He lives in our area so I am always on the lookout for him on walks!

Woody- This gorgeous guy was with Owen County Friends of Animals for months. One of my sister's friends fostered him for the shelter during Christmas time. When we told SAAP we were ready for another foster, they brought Woody into the organization and we fostered him. My co-worker and her family had lost their beloved dog a few months before this and I overheard her talking about getting a new dog. I immediately took out my phone to show her pictures and videos of Woody and she was in love! We had Woody for 3 DAYS before he was adopted to his amazing new family.

(Naughty) Nadia- Our first female foster made her mark the first day! She was the sweetest thing with us but not at all interested in having our dogs around. The great thing about SAAP is their size, so when I knew Nadia wasn't a good fit for our pack, they found her a new foster. She was adopted out to her new foster's coworker within the same week!

Brutus- Oh Brutus! The final adoption event I took Brutus to began with me telling them, "He has to get adopted today!" I was absolutely in love with this big guy. After our experience with Nadia, I asked SAAP for a younger dog. Brutus was 4 months old and perfect for our pack! He was completely submissive to Sam, but would play really well with Coffee. He had to wear the "cone of shame" for the first few days because he wouldn't leave his neuter stitches alone. He was not a cone fan! He was adopted after a couple of weeks to a great couple with three other SAAP dogs and can be blamed for my new found interest in this age!

Bella Bee- She was a skinny mini when she came to us. She was absolutely terrified when I picked her up from the vet. We fattened her up and loved on her as much as we could before she was adopted at her very first adoption event! She was adopted out to a family who also adopted a slightly younger SAAP puppy at the same event.

Rocky- Our latest foster was a total puppy. I felt like a new mom with this guy, getting up every night between 2-3 AM for a potty break! He was also very submissive and believed he was a lap dog :) He was adopted out to a cute couple with 100 acres and a pond on their property. He will have the life!

Milo- We thought we'd foster for a few more months before Mason was born so we agreed to foster again in the fall of 2014. Little did we know, Milo would be with us for three months :) Milo was a good looking pup but his nickname was "Pee Pee McGee" because he would pee a little bit every time we got him out or pet him. Ryan loved that about him :) I felt like he was preparing me to clean up after someone else all the time aka Mason! Milo was adopted in December to a sweet couple who looked passed his puppy trait.

Dining Room

AFTER

BEFORE

Our dining room was one of the first rooms to be completed. Someday I want a full length regular height table but this one works for now. (Just waiting for him to go out of town. He said he thinks I can't build one. Challenge accepted!) We picked out the wallpaper from Lowes first then had it colored matched to paint the rest of the room.

 

 Buffet: Value City Furniture (Clearance of course!)

Mirror: Garden Ridge

The window area was Pinterest inspired. I want to do some type of wording over top that window someday soon.

BEFORE

Table: Craigslist $200 (was in immaculate condition- originally from Sam's Club believe it or not)

Light: Lowe's

Our Living Room

AFTER

BEFORE- YIKES!

When we purchased our house, the carpet was in rough shape and all of the ceiling fans had been taken out. We worked with a great guy in Bellevue to replace all of the carpet in the house after we finished repainting. My handy husband installed all of the ceiling fans. They are remote controlled allowing for extra laziness!

 

 One of the biggest investments we made when we moved in was this couch from Value City. We absolutely love it! It took me a little while to come around to the idea of a big brown leather couch but we both fell for this one right away. 

 

Ryan put these shelves together after we shopped around and realized how much plain black shelves were to buy. We bought one 2 by 2 and a piece of molding we both agreed on. He cut them to the sizes we wanted and painted them black. He attached the 2 by 2s to the wall first then used nail glue to attach the molding. We may need some more of these down the road to include all of our nieces and nephews!

 

We went with a basic Ikea TV stand and it has held up really well.

  

And of course, we have a dog zone! I purchased the blue rugs at Target last summer to place under their crates. That makes for an easy replacement if somebody has an accident.

Chairs: Target

Clock: Garden Ridge

Electric Fireplace: Craigslist :)

 

Currently featuring: the spring mantle!

AFTER

BEFORE

Chalk Painted Furniture

When I first started revamping rough pieces of furniture, I was moving into a huge house in Clifton for my junior year of college. We had no furniture other than our beds that had been sitting at our parents' houses during our first two years of college.

I had pieces donated to me from neighbors and raided thrift stores across Cincinnati to furnish it. The summer before we moved in, my parents let me fill up our garage with that furniture and paint away.

The obsession resurfaced last year and although I don't have many before pictures, here are some pieces that I completed using the chalk paint recipe.

 Repainted my nightstand from college and tossed on some new knobs from Hobby Lobby.

Formerly a green and brown entertainment center purchased at ebth.com, this piece is now sitting in our future nursery as a changing table. Knobs from Anthropologie.

My amazing husband spotted this vanity in the Free Craigslist section and somehow loaded it into his car by himself to surprise me. It will be the new vanity in his parent's basement bathroom.

One of my favorite rehabs which is now in my sister and brother-in-law's living room as their entertainment center.

In progress: Future nursery dresser coming soon. Painted but waiting to find some knobs- big decisions!