Painted Cabinet Update

After almost 3 years, I thought it was time to give you an honest painted cabinet update. 

Hey friends, I hope you had a great weekend. Have you been watching the Olympics? Every night, my eyes are glued to the tv. I have loved watching it with my kids and it’s been so cool watching it being hosted by my native country of South Korea. Last night, the USA team won bronze for figure skating and we were so excited. I love that there are so many Asian Americans representing team USA this year in various sports. Back to the post, it’s been almost 3 years since we transformed our kitchen and I wanted to give you all a painted cabinet update and share how it’s held up. 

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll remember this is what our kitchen used to look like.

When I saw our home for the first time with our realtor, I about died from the large island and space. We were moving from a small townhome so this was like the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. It still is my favorite space in our home because we spend the most time in here.

I loved the kitchen but it always felt dark even in the mornings when the sun was coming in. The cabinets weren’t the only dark component. The dark hardwood floors, dark granite countertops and dark beige backsplash all made this space feel so so dark. After buying our house, we lived with the dark cabinets for almost 2 years until one day when I decided on a whim to paint them. I mean I had been thinking about it for the two years we were living there but I also had 3 young kids and I just couldn’t fathom taking on that type of project. 

I shared on a post back then on some of important tips when it comes to painting cabinets. 

Here’s what it looks like today. And people, I feel like I need to preface this with the fact that THIS IS STAGED! If you think we live like this, I’m telling you that’s not true. Yes, actual human beings live here so although I love a clean home, there are still things on our countertops and floors. While taking these pics, there was a crapload of stuff on the breakfast table behind me. Okay, moving on!

It makes me so happy thinking about how many people have gathered here over the years. Isn’t that what it’s all about? 

Over the course of almost 3 years, we have painted our cabinets, added pendant lights, changed out the stools, painted the walls, changed hardware and changed out the decor here like these window treatments. 

You’re supposed to use different lightbulbs but I really like daylight bulbs and they don’t sell nicer looking energy efficient ones. If anyone wants to get on that and invent that, designers and home owners would be all over that!

Okay, here is an honest look at our cabinets. This is the worst looking one because it’s the one that gets opened and closed 24-7.

You can see some of the paint has peeled. BUT, this is one of the few areas that has this issue. It’s because I didn’t fully sand and prime this particular cabinet. I learned my lesson and didn’t skip this step for the rest of them. 

IMPORTANT TIPS: If you have glossy cabinets, it is very important not to skip this step of sanding and priming. Use a machine to sand because it really needs to strip the glossy finish off. Make sure you prime! And use a good quality paint sprayer and apply 2 coats. You will also need to remember that it will take a good 2 weeks depending on the weather for the paint to fully cure so you just need to be a bit more careful. 

The darker color on the island has held up great. Aside from minor scratches here and there which is normal for wear and tear, the paint has held up great. 

Another thing I wanted to note is that initially I used the same hardware but spray painted them gold. Over time, the gold finish was rubbing off and it started to look dirty and just bad. If you decide to use your old hardware, be sure to use a protective finishing coat on them after you spray paint them. We bought some inexpensive brass hardware from Ikea and installed them last year. I actually used the drill and did most of these without Jimmy’s help. I love the pulls that are installed on the drawers. These look so much better than my spray painted ones. 

We always have something yummy in that cake stand. 

I hope this was helpful especially if you’re thinking about painting your own cabinets. Aside from painting these cabinets, I have also painted the cabinets in our downstairs bathroom and girls’ bathroom. It’s such an inexpensive way to change and update the look of your space. 

If you want to know the colors we used, go check this post for those details. 

My final thoughts: I still love our kitchen and am so glad we took on this project. It was a ton of work but it has made the world of a difference to this space. No regrets!! 

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section. Thanks so much for reading, friends and have a wonderful week. 

xoxo,

yuni

Let all that you do be done in Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14