Friday, March 11, 2011

When the cats away.....

The mice will do tons of projects around the house. My husband's been gone for training for the past two weeks and I had a to do list the length of my last grocery list. I loathe grocery shopping in case you don't know me. Usually because I end up taking all 4 of my kids and I get all sorts of comments like "Wow, you're brave" and "Are they all yours? You must be glutton for punishment". Anyways, one of the major things I vowed to do while he was gone was refinish the kitchen cabinets.
Here's the before.
















And here's a ton of after shots. I used the color "Swiss coffee" paint with primer from Behr, distressed them, applied a light coat of stain called "Provincial" over the top, then a poly top coat to finish it off. I got the pulls at this tiny thrift store near Fort Hood, Tx for $1.50 and the knobs are from Home Depot. I didn't know how I would feel about the tin back splash being the same color as the cabinets but I really like it. I considered painting the bottom a different color than the uppers but when I looked for kitchen images online I noticed that there are NO kitchens with a darker color on the top than the bottom. Only darker on the bottom. Why is that and have any of my readers (like I have any of those) seen it that way? Let me know if you have, I'd like to see it




















































































































































































































Edited to link up to Jennifer Rizzo linky party here

40 comments:

  1. From what I understand, the darker color is considered "heavier" and a more appropriate anchor for the room, so the lower cabs are usually painted the darker color. I love your new color ... it's beautiful!

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  2. Love! Time a bagillion. Dude they look incredible!!

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  3. wow i would never well infact i did go back to original picture 3 times to see if was same kitchen....nice very very nice, you could just do your island in a dark color if you like but if you do i would paint your bar stools same as your cabients but looks AWESOME!!

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  4. Your cabinets look wonderful! That had to have been ALOT of hard work! But boy are they beautiful!!

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  5. I love it Nikki!! You so such a great job. Boy I wish you lived closer to me....

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  6. Beautiful! I love the back splash. My upper cabinets are painted swiss coffee too. The lowers are black. I don't think I've seen any painted with a darker color on the uppers either.

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  7. Wow, STUNNING! I took a double take too! It looks so different I didn't think it could be the same kitchen. It really seems to open it up even more. Love the cabinets and the backsplash and of course all your decorations... absolutely beautiful! LOVE IT. You should totally go on the next design star show ( think that is what it is called).

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  8. That looks awesome!!!! Total transformation of what it was before! Love it!

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  9. I kept looking at the before picture. It doesn't even look like the same kitchen. Great job!

    Please remove the word verification. It really slow down the comment.

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  10. Your new kitchen looks just lovely! We recently gave ours a facelift where we painted the cabinets. Now we're working on counter tops. I'd love to get black appliances like yours, but that's just not in the budget yet!

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  11. Its fabulous!!!! Is there not anything you touch that you cant make beautiful!? I love seeing your Afters.:)

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  12. OMG! That's incredible! They look Fabulous! It looks like a whole different kitchen. This makeover is a jaw dropper!

    Cindy

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  13. Did I hear you right? You chose to paint while your husband was away? "You must have had your hands full"(my personal favorite comment on the amount of kids I have).

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  14. Lovely! And I love your ladder hanging from the ceiling! I just saw one of those out in my hubby's barn - way up on top the old grannary. I also know I have some of those 'ship pulley things' lying around... Now I'm gonna have to copy-cat. :)

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  15. Beautiful! Do you mind sharing more about your backsplash? How much did it cost, and how tricky was it to install?
    LOVE your ladder!

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  16. wow! your kitchen looks amazing! and you make it sound so easy - i'm sure it wasn't :) awesome job!

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  17. Turned out Beautifully! I'm going to be tackling my mother in laws cabinets soon...she wants the same treatment, so thank you for sharing the paint and stain colors...BTW L.O.V.E the hanging ladder...I just drew my eyes all the way up....Great Job!

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  18. Wowzer!!! That is gorgeous and I mean gorgeous! I am in love with all your touches and am now going to go through the rest of your blog! You have a touch! I came by from Before and After and can't wait to see more! I am a new follower!

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  19. Beautiful kitchen!!!

    I had to laugh at the beginning. I have 4 kids too and get all kinds of looks when we go out.

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  20. Just came over from Better After... WOW! You did this all by yourself with 4 kids in the house in less than 2 weeks??? Really? You're amazing! I love it!

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  21. Love your kitchen! I recently painted my cabinets with Swiss Coffee, distressed them and used an aging toner but I don't like the toner I used it looks too orange so I am going to do another coat of Swiss Coffee over the cabinets to hide the toner. I've also decided to paint the island in a different colour so I'm going with Behr Wheat Bread.
    I was also going to do a ladder over my island to use as a pot holder but I put up a chandelier instead. I love the pullies you have holding the ladder - it's a great idea! You have inspired me to get off my butt and finish my kitchen!

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  22. Boo! I left a long comment and didn't realize I had to come back and do work verification.

    Anyway...as I said on Better After, this kitchen re do is ALL KINDS of awesome! I mean really, just stunning. But, better than the cabinets even, is the fact that you know how to accesorize. That makes the hugest difference. LOVE the ladder, love it all.

    I also love the color Swiss coffee (or lack of color, whatevs). I just painted a dresser and the lower half of my feature wall in my bedroom that color.

    So happy to have found your blog.

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  23. Oh my heck...so cute!! I love what you did... can you come do mine next!:)
    I love your back splash as well... where did you find that and are they tile?
    And I Love your floors... did you do those yourself or where they already in when you bought the house?
    you are so talented!
    teag2000@hotmail.com

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  24. One of the prettiest kitchens I've seen! Followed over from Better After today :) Going to go look up the Swiss Coffee paint. We are trying to choose cabinet & wall colors too!

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  25. Just saw this on Before and After. Wow you are one talented lady! I love how it all turned out, and to do it with 4 kids and a husband away is amazing! Yes, what Katherine and Grass stains is true, the upper cabinets will be heavier in the room if you would of painted them darker. Good thing you didn't do it, you would of hated it and would of made more work for yourself. Your eye for design is stunning!

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  26. So excited to have found your blog! I absolutely *LOVE* your kitchen! Mine has a very similar layout, and it REALLY needs an update. (1995 tract house.) Thanks for the inspiration!

    Celeste @ The Maxwell Five

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  27. Your kitchen is gorgeous. It really does not even seem like it came from the same house.

    Looking forward to following you for more!

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  28. My husband finally gave me permission to paint our dated oak cabinets, and I'm just waiting for the weather to get nicer so I can open the windows while I paint. We painted the trim Swiss Coffee, and I'd like to do the cabinets in the same color. I love the way your cabinets turned out. They look great!

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  29. I have some major kitchen envy! It is so lovely! I really want lighter cabinets and we have dark granite and dark wood floors-need to brighten up that space!
    I'm excited to know that you are in AZ and do room re-design and decor! I'll be contacting you when it's time!

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  30. I sure wish you'd post some directions on how you did the painting/antiquing!

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  31. Beautifully done! I've been itching to re-do my kitchen in a similar way (and I think we have the exact same cabinets!). Thanks for the push! How much sanding did you have to do before priming the cabinets? That's the part I'm worried about doing incorrectly.
    --another Nikki (in Gilbert, just up the road!)
    tradewindtiaras.blogspot.com

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  32. Gorgeous! So much better than white and I love the matching backsplash, too. Fabulous job!

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  33. WOW...so happy to find and meet you...over from Jennifer's...Your kitchen and entire home are wonderful!..You have an amazaing talent ( and with 4 little ones)...WOW again...I'm following now so I can keep track of all of your projects...I HAVE to have that slipcover for the piano bench!!!...It's great!
    Happy Sunday, Mariaelena

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  34. If you ever come home from grocery shopping and all your cute suitcases are gone, it was me. If you ever come home and only six are missing, that was me too - I'll use them to put my six kids in while I go grocery shopping. (Actually mine are too big now for suitcases, but I vowed I would never say things to other's like "are they all yours"!)

    ~Bliss~

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  35. Thank you for this!! We have black appliances and I thought I'd have to paint our cabinets black, too. But your kitchen is beautiful! So now my ugly dirty oak doesn't have to be ugly!! yay!!

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  36. Wow! You are my hero! Your kitchen is my dream kitchen. You are so talented. I hope your husband was sufficiently impressed because you did a phenomenal job!!!
    How on earth did you find those pulls for $1.50? My friend used those (well, very similar) in her remodeled kitchen and paid $17.00/pull! I'm in Houston....Ft. Hood is a little over 3 hours from here...Where is that thrift store? just kidding! That's one great deal! Looking forward to seeing your next project.

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  37. I'm getting ready to paint my cabinets swiss coffee. Love your kitchen!! Can you tell me more about your countertops?

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  38. Can you tell me what your wall color is?

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