Kitchen Phase 2: Round 2!

I am done with the cabinets!

It took FOREVER to finish sanding and staining and sealing the cabinet doors. I had to work on them three or four at a time with a week or two in between because Jan and Feb have been SO busy for me! This post has taken two or three attempts to finally publish!

I wish the counter tops and floors were done for the full effect, but whatcha gonna do with limited funds and time!?!

I think everything came out really well, however, the sections below the stove did not come out as evenly as I would have hoped. I think my drawers were made from a different kind of wood as my cabinet doors, and on top of that I think they were all made from fake woods while the base cabinets were actually real. This made for some funny differences in textures and "character" lines. I'm thinking in another year or two I will probably end up doing a antique white paint job over the whole lot. For now, though, I will enjoy my hard work!

I had to do four or five layers of polyurethane on top of the finish to get the finish the way I wanted.

Hope ya like them!

-S

Kitchen Phase 2: Round 1

Well not new... just refurbished.

OH MAAA GAAAASSHHHHH

My friend and I finally got around to picking up some cabinet stain and by the time we got home from our quick Lowes run, I was WAY pumped. So at 6pm, the "little" project began! I didn't clean up till around 10.

Vacuum attached to help with dust.

I have had really good luck with Skil branded stuff. I used my Skil sander for most of the sanding.  In previous blogs I have mentioned tools that have been really helpful to me. I have referred to these tools as "my" tools. Unfortunately, they are not all mine. Some are my husbands tools and he wanted me to be sure that you knew this! Now that's out of the way, here we go!

I advise wearing some sort of ear protection.

Once all of the cabinets were empty, I took the doors off. The doors still need to be sanded, but this project isn't even close to being done. Anything I couldn't fit in the lower cabinets, I covered with sheets. I used sheets instead of plastic because I was worried that when the cleanup started, the dust would just fly off the plastic sheets. The dust kinda stuck to the cloth sheets and I was able to fold them up and get them into the laundry without making an even bigger mess.

Oops

In my haste to begin the project, I left a few things out on the counter. OOoooops!

I almost forgot to sand the inside edges of the cabinets. I was aaaallllmost finished when I realized this sad detail, and it made the project feel like it took forever.

 It got pretty messy. But between old clothes and swiffer wet mops, cleanup wasn't too bad.
The next afternoon I made tortellini over the stove. My stove MAJORLY started to smoke. I think I may have gotten some wood dust in the catcher thingy below my burner! I cleaned it all out and things were fine, but it kinda smelled like a bonfire!

Soooo Purdy!!!!

Tomorrow I plan on doing the rest of the kitchen.


Here's my Plan Of Attack! :
~Sand Cabinet Faces
~Stain and Seal Cabinet Faces
~Put Stuff Back In My Cabinets
~Sand Cabinet Doors
~Stain and Seal Cabinet Doors
~Be SUPER Excited.

I figured I didn't need the doors to be able to utilize my cabinet space. If I do the doors last, then I have a functional kitchen much much sooner! Plus I can sand the doors outside where the clean up will be virtually nonexistent!

Cant wait to get started again!!

-S

The Kitchen Phase One

I have had so many different dreams of what to do with this kitchen. They, of course, started huge involving knocking out walls, adding a wrap around bar and pot lights. Things have taken a turn for the more simplistic approach. We have found that over-updating, compared to the rest of the neighborhood, can actually decrease the value of the house. So we are going to stick with things that are relatively cheap but make a huge difference.

Changing the kitchen is going to have to take place in Phases.

• Phase 1 is to be shortly described. 
• Phase 2 involves sanding and refinishing all the cabinets in a lighter color. 
• Phase 3 involves either buying or making a moveable kitchen butcher block island. 
• Phase 4 sees a gorgeous new counter top/back splash. 
• Phase 5 is ripping out our floors and having polished concrete.
• Final Phase is replacing all appliances with Stainless steel to appease B. 

These Phases are subject to change at my whimsical desire.

Explanation for Phase One:
I have always been irritated that most of the items stored in the lower cabinets become forgotten relics only to be discovered during moves. Why would I get something to use in my kitchen, only to have it lost and underused. I used to tell myself that if I ever tore out my cabinets, that I would replace them with drawers. One day, not too long ago, I decided It would be much easier/feasible if I just made drawers inside the cabinets I already have!

After carefully examining existing drawers, I figured it couldn't be that difficult. So it begins...

The inside minus one of the shelf pieces.

I had to slide it out.

Phase one is complete. The drawers are pretty much finished. I think I'm going to hold off on putting a second drawer in the pots and pans cabinet to see if I really need it.

 When I hammered the shelves out of place, I had to very carefully turn them and slide them out length-wise. I re-purposed this wood into many of the drawer bottoms.

Tools used to remove shelves

Handy Dandy

I employed my handy dandy drill for purposes of screwing and drilling. I always pre-drill holes slightly smaller than the screw to avoid splitting the wood. I usually choose semi soft wood to begin with to help with this problem as well. After measuring the openings, I was able to construct a basic box using wood and screws. I had to remember to account for the thickness of the drawer slides.

First one!!

Some of my drawers had to be slightly more shallow that others because of electrical conduits at the back of the cabinet space.

I took the faces off some of the cabinets, but others i have left in tact. I don't really have a rhyme or reason for doing this. Its just seemed to work out that way. I may, or may not, go back later and affix the cabinet faces to the drawers anyway.

I made my first Drawer for the purpose of cans and dry goods.

Wish my mixer was a Bosch

I think the hardest part was making sure the drawer slides were level and even with one another. Creating something for them to attach to was kind of irritating too... and not always pretty.

Drawers three and four were for baking items such as big bowls, my mixer, and the blender. I love my mixer, but I still wish it were a Bosch.

I'm sure you have noticed there are three strangely light upper drawers. They were my test subjects. I had no clue what the wood looked like under the stain. I am super excited that it is so neutral. If it had a red undertone, it would have been more difficult to color. I feel like I can do ANYTHING with this, though!!

The drawers to the left of the sink turned out by far the best! Super even and super smooth. I still need to get a small jar of tinted Spackle to hide the screws, but that's not high on my priority list.


Hope you loved my drawers as much as I do!!!

-S