kitchen cabs going dark

It has begun.  I’ve been talking about painting my kitchen cabinets for years and now it’s finally getting done.   So far 3 out of 20 doors have been painted.  12 drawers will need painting and then the cabinets.  I don’t have a lot of cabinets but what I have is enough to keep me busy for a few weeks.

So what was the final color choice?

I went to the dark side and chose Graphite from the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint collection.   I sat on the fence so long about my color choice, that my rear began to get splinters.  I pondered Off White.  Even tried that shade on a few cabinets.  I use a latex brand that I had left over from another project.  I lived with that for a few years.  Needless to say, my kitchen has been in reno mode for about 5 years.

The walls were redone last fall and now it time for the cabs to get a facelift.

I was so eager to see what the finished results would look like, I rehung the two doors that I painted after painting one area of cabs.

 

Would you like a sneak peek?

That’s all for now because beyond the borders of the photo on the right, is pure mayhem.  But this one little spot got cleaned for the photo.

I hope to have this side of the kitchen painted by the end of the weekend.  I will be applying wax to the cabinets after painting and some very light distressing.

With just the top cabs on the one side painted, it looks so different and dark, but not in a bad way.

While I’m painting, these are the decisions I get to think about;

Wax – clear or dark?

Wall color – leaning toward a tan shade, not sure yet

Hardware – probably oil rubbed bronze, BUT…maybe not.  Question:  my hinges are exposed and for budgeting reasons I’m just using the existing hinges, they are antique bronze, very dark because the are old, they almost look like oil rubbed bronze.  my question is; “do my handles (knobs) have to match my hinges?

Counter tops – granite or resurface?  I have about 36 square ft of counter top surface.  About 6 sq ft of that would be cut out for sink and stove top.  I suppose I have to consider that too when pricing granite..right?   So even if we go with granite, it would not cost a ton, but still not cheap.  Resurfacing is an option. They can come in and remove my existing counter top treatment and glue down another, more updated color.  I’ve seen this done and in some cases it looks pretty darn close to granite.

Back splash – the existing will be removed and I am doing tumbled stone.

New oven – ours is the original oven.  Our house was built in 1985.  Do the math.  It’s pre-historic.  Decision to make; the current oven is just one oven and I don’t have a microwave.   So do I go with a double oven and put the microwave in place of vent-a-hood?  Or a single oven with a microwave built in above it?  Either choice would require some retro fitting of the opening since oven dimensions have changed slightly in twenty-seven years.

Sink – probably keep what I have for now.  It’s stainless and in okay condition.  It’ll clean up nicely, but I will need a new faucet, which kind of stinks because I think I want the oil rubbed bronze faucet and it’s not going to look real cool on a stainless sink.  (stress)

Island and phone cubby – paint them graphite or a contrast color?

and…not right now but sometime this year we will be removing the pantry/message center and putting in shelves and a door.

We also have to replace the trim around the top of the cabs.   Already have that, just have to nail it up.

That’s not too much to think about.  geesh!  no wonder I don’t sleep well at night.  All I can say is “thank goodness for Pinterest“!  It has made my decision making much easier since I have so many examples to look at.

Oh and by the way…I knew I had made the right color choice when I stood back and saw how awesome my crystal chandy, that hangs over my sink, looked with the graphite color all around it.   Oh snap!

peace.love.rust