Glossy White Kitchen Cabinets

I neglected to post yesterday because we’ve been playing the waiting game on the kitchen cabinets for the past day or so.  On Saturday I removed all of the doors (found here) and gave them a little touch up coat of glossy white paint (Olympic No VOC).  It is imperative that the cabinet paint has proper time to cure before I started fastening the pulls and hinges back on.  It’s been 6 years since our cabinets were first painted and although they still look great, a little touch-up can’t hurt after all the sawing, sanding, and grouting that’s been going on in that space.

Because it was only in the 40’s outside we decided to set up a nice little paint shop in our basement rather than our garage.  I found some old school blankets given to us in the move from Ryan’s parents and used them as drop cloths.

I didn’t want the cabinets to actually touch the blankets because the paint could possibly stick so I grabbed some scrap pieces of wood and about a dozen of my dessert sized Fiesta plates to put face down under each cabinet, giving a little lift off the blankets.  (No Fiesta was harmed in the painting of our cabinets-and yes, I am completely boring, owning 12 sets of completely white Fiestaware).

On a side note (because I am big on getting off track), I know the appeal of Fiesta is the colorful miss-matched dishes, but the appeal for me is that they are oven safe.  I love the fact that I know I can throw each and every single piece of my everyday dinnerware into the oven for a quick heat up at any time.  And the reason I like white?  It totally shows off the presentation of food.  I am a big party planner/thrower and I love to make my plated dishes look extra special…OCD, I know.

You can see how using these “risers” (if you will) keep the cabinet doors off the blankets, therefore keeping the paint from sticking to both surfaces.

I used a 3 inch foam roller on the cabinets to ensure a nice smooth finish.  I started on the back side first just in case there was a scratch or two when I flipped them.   I’d rather have any imperfections on the inside of the doors. While the backside was in the drying process I started on the actual cabinets in the kitchen.  Again, I used the 3 inch foam roller and added the 2″ cut-in brush for the tight spaces.

If you want a really good 2″cut-in brush, I suggest the one they sell at Sherwin Williams.  It’s has a short rubber handle and is very comfortable to use.  It costs about 6 bucks.  I am on replacement #3 of this brush, that’s how much I love it.

We let the freshly painted cabinet doors cure for about 2-3 days before we starting putting the kitchen back together again.  My first step was to put the cabinet pulls back into place.  We replaced the pulls about 5 years ago, so there was no need to purchase new ones.  We gave them a bath in some dish detergent and water to get them extra clean and shiny.

Our new Milwaukee drill worked like butter on those screws.  I did get a little too excited a few times and had to remind myself to just “go slow” (something I’m not really use to, mentioned here).

Once the pulls were back on it was the daunting task  to get those 140 screws back into the hinges.  Yes, I counted how many screws I used.  It took 5 screws per hinge, 2 hinges per door, and 14 cabinet doors, hence 140 screws in and out in the span of 3 days.  I set up shop with my new glossy white cabinets (and a glass of wine) on my living room floor and started screwing those babies back in.

Oh yeah, Ryan helped too….we got deliriously giggly during the process…that’s what happens when you work 24 hours over a span of two days in one weekend.

After all 140 screws were back into the hinges, we then had 4 more screws per door to install so we could attach the hinges to the frames.

During the whole process we only lost two screws.  In my book that’s not too shabby!  Here are the pics of our newly painted glossy white cabinets, a (DIY) girl couldn’t ask for anything more!

While writing this post I actually came across a minor issue that was overlooked until now.  Did you notice it?  It was on the last 3 pictures.  The cabinet pulls under the sink are off.  we miss-matched the cabinet doors when we hung them.  The door on the right (under the sink)  goes on the opposite wall, which is why the pull is lower than the left.  We’re going to fix that one today!  Thank goodness for blogging, otherwise, I don’t know when I would have caught that mistake (it’s not so obvious in person)!!!!

As I promised, countertop talk will happen this week.  Probably tomorrow.  I have jinxed myself so many times after writing posts, so  I’m playing the waiting game before I know what exactly is going to happen there.  We just can’t afford any more set backs on this kitchen!!