Coastal Kitchen Makeover Reveal With White Cabinets!

october 8, 2016 by rachaelsbooknook@gmail.com 4 comments

I’m so excited to reveal the final product of our gorgeous kitchen make over!  We moved into our new home just a few months ago and have been hard at work making it feel like our own.  I loved the layout of the kitchen with the large curved island, corner windows over the sink, walk in pantry and plenty of cupboard space.  I even loved the newer granite counter tops and back splash, but the dark colored walls and honey oak cabinets just weren’t calling my name.  We started by painting the walls in Sherwin Williams Sea Salt– the most lovely neutral grey color with blue and green undertones. The next step  was adding crown molding to the tops of the cupboards and board and batten wainscoting to the island and side cabinets.  I can’t believe what a difference this made already!

Now we’re ready to move on to the best part- my newly painted cabinets!  The hubs and I are fairly handy people, but after reading more tutorials than I can remember on how to paint them yourself I decide I really just wanted this done right- which for me meant hiring a professional!  If you’re in the Salt Lake area please check out Chameleon Painting, I called and talked to half a dozen different painting places and for the price, quality, and experience they seriously couldn’t be beat!  Mike was great, and he was even able to offer me an estimate right over the phone- you just send him a text with a pic of your kitchen along with the number of drawers and cabinet fronts to Mike at 801-915-5217.

Getting the right paint is important as well, and since lacquer has such high VOC’s and will soon not even be allowed in Utah, Chameleon uses one called PPG Breakthrough.  It’s very similar to lacquer but with much lower VOC’s, dries very fast, ends up hard and durable, and cleans up easy- super important in a white kitchen! I went with a satin sheen and I actually really like it.  I agonized over this one, but the only options were either high gloss or satin and I didn’t want the high gloss sheen reflecting back at me, especially since the home has such a nice coastal cottage feel to it. The paint color is Sherwin Williams Pure White. It’s this perfect clean white color while still having some warmth to it.

Day 1 Chameleon painting came over and got right to work.  They labeled and removed all of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.  The best part was I didn’t even have to empty my cabinets, woot!  Our cabinets are oak, which as many of you know is REALLY textured and porous. Even after you paint it, you’re just about guaranteed to see wood grain lines.  Now if you’re me,  you don’t mind that at all since it proves you’ve got lovely hard wood underneath that gorgeous white, but if grain lines drive you nuts then painting oak might not be for you-check out the “after” photos further down to see how it looks!  The base of all my cabinets were actually hand painted to help with all that texture, while the doors and drawers went off to the warehouse to get sprayed.

So remember all those gorgeous moldings and wainscoting we added to the kitchen?  Our painters did all the finish work on them while getting ready to paint!  Yep, that’s right.  Once we had it installed they filled all those nasty little nail holes and caulked it for us, and they did a FANTASTIC job.  Even my hubs, who inspects things with a fine tooth comb, was impressed. After prepping the kitchen with tape and paper they got to work and by the end of the first day it had all been primed.  Ahhh, even the crappy primer paint looks nice 

Day 2 the painters were back sanding and making sure everything was ready to paint.  By the end of the day all the bases had their second coat on them and we’re finally seeing what this kitchen is going to look like all done!  I am SO happy we did the board and batten wainscoting on the island, it made such a difference! Classy.

The cabinets fronts and drawers were delivered and installed a week later and thankfully I was able to use my kitchen that whole time, although it is awfully hard to child proof a kitchen with out drawers, lol. It gave me some time to wipe down the lower parts of the cabinets as well- all that sanding created a little bit of dust inside my cabinets. After the cabinets were installed we updated the lighting by removing the old florescent light on the ceiling and replacing it with recessed lighting and 2 pendants from the Lighting Specialists over the island! I’m SO HAPPY with my new(ish) kitchen!

How gorgeous is that?!?  I LOVE how much the back splash and granite counter tops really pop against the clean white cabinets and lighter colored walls.  The recessed lighting and pendants are just the cherry on top with updating the look of the whole room!

The space feels so much bigger and brighter now! And look how amazing those honey oak cabinets look all painted!  You can barely see the grain lines at times but it really doesn’t bother me at all- and multiple people who’ve seen the make over now want to do it for themselves!

This is my dream kitchen, I’m SO SO happy with how everything turned out!  The crown molding, board and batten wainscoting on the island, newly painted cabinets and walls, new lighting…. Ahhhh, it’s just perfect!

Just to remind you where we were at before, here’s a few more before and afters 

Those mercury pendants are just so darn dreamy…..

What would YOUR dream kitchen look like?  Love the white or prefer the natural wood look?  Let me know what you think of our make over in a comment!  Want to stay up to date with future projects as we go about our remodel?  Make sure to sign up for the newsletter, like me on Facebook, and follow me on Pinterest!

Want to get your own cabinets painted?  Don’t forget to call Mike at Chameleon Painting– they did a fantastic job! And be sure sure mention Rachael’s BookNook sent you