Guys. Why did I wait so long to do this? I am so, so , so happy with how this project turned out. I cannot wait to do it upstairs on our other bathroom cabinets in the future! I promised Spenser I would take a break from house projects for a bit and enjoy the rest of our summer with pool time and relaxation instead of spending our nights and weekends on a project, so this will be my last big overall for a while. But I can't waiiiiiiiiit to tackle our other bathrooms once my chains have been released ;)
I was nervous about painting the cabinets because I tried to do it at our last house and the paint peeled horribly. I later realized that was because our cabinets at the old house were coated with thermofoil, a plastic coating that doesn't adhere to paint well. This house has wood cabinets, so I was willing to give it another shot.
The process was relatively straightforward, but did require some patience and proper steps to get it right.
Here's how we did it:
1. Remove the cabinet doors, hardware, hinges.
2. Sanded everything down with an orbital sander. Our cabinets were coated in the factory with an ultra glossy coating, so we wanted to sand as much off as possible to make sure the paint sticks. The electric sander in this instance worked better than doing it by hand. We didn't make them rough to the touch, but we did make sure to get as much sheen off them as possible.
3. Wipe off all residue with warm water and dry, making sure no sawdust remained.
4. Prime everything with 2 coats of KILZ stainblocker primer. This part was more to help the chalk paint stick, but isn't completely necessary. Chalk paint doesn't require a primer, but I figured it was an extra step that may help extend the life of the project! Also, sorry for the dark photos. I definitely did this at 9PM. It was too hot all day here in NC, so I waited until the sun went down.
5. Using a small angled brush, paint in the crevices of the cabinet to make sure all the edges were covered. We got our chalk paint at Ace Hardware. They had a new Magnolia by Joanna Gaines paint line you KNOW I was excited to use.
6. Use a roller to roll out the flat areas, ensuring a smooth finish with no brush strokes or bubbles.
7. I did 3 coats to make sure I got solid coverage, waiting until each coat was fully dry before applying the next. Chalk paint dries really quickly, so this didn't take too long. Maybe 2 hours or so in total.
8. Coat everything with the Rustoleum chalk paint sealer. Chalk paint has a chalky feeling - it's really dry and rough. I don't love that texture, and the sealer helps protect it from wear and tear, so we did 2 coats of this sealer. Again, letting it dry completely between each coat.
9. We let them cure overnight before flipping them over and doing one quick coat (without primer) on the inside of the cabinet. I figure this area isn't going to experience much wear and tear, so we just did it quickly.
10. Let cure again overnight.
11. The next day (2 days after the start) we reapplied the hardware, and reattached the doors. We also spray painted the existing hardware -- it was brushed nickel, and we sprayed it gold to modernize a bit and tie into our new, gold mirror. I am loving the look and cost savings since this project did go a bit over budget.
12. STEP BACK AND MARVEL AT YOUR BEAUTY! I am really thankful that the cabinetry in this home is nice and new, but it just wasn't my style. Thankfully, I was able to update the look of it and make it look 10X better (in my opinion) with a relatively quick paint job!
I really am so, so happy with how this turned out. I'll give you guys an update in 6 months or so about how it's holding up to normal wear and tear. This is our most frequented bathroom, so I definitely think it will get a good amount of use and be a good case study if it's worth doing in our upstairs bathrooms, as well!
OH and exciting update! My extra roll of wallpaper from my #icantdomath mishap got delivered today from WallsNeedLove.com. This room will be *finished finished* today! Yay!
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