Sunday, January 4, 2009

Cupboards

My house is 15 years old. So obviously my cheap, builders issue cupboards are also 15 years old. Here is how the story goes....
Two years ago, Andrew said to me, (looking at the cupboards under the sink) "You're right. These are gross. They need to be refinished."
Now. He had, a few years earlier, refinished the cupboard in the kids bathroom. Stripped and re-stained it. It came out great! Pretty and more water-proof than ever. It's held up quite nicely.
So I wasn't too concerned when he took off the door to the cabinet above the fridge and went to work on it.
Me: "Hooray! The kitchen cabinets are going to get a face-lift and look fantastic!"
Two years later. Three cupboard doors above the fridge are stripped. I'm sick of it. So I think "HEY! THIS WILL BE A GREAT PROJECT FOR THE BOYS TO DO THIS SUMMER! IT WILL TEACH THEM THE POWER OF HARD WORK!!! GO TEAM! So we begin. They're pretty half-hearted about it. "WHY OH WHY IS OUR MOTHER TORTURING US IN THIS FASHION???? WHY?"
But we got all of the doors stripped. They looked like $@&*. Seriously. Apparently this is quite a precision process. And we just weren't that emotionally invested in it. We stuck them back on their hinges and went about our lives. Every day I've had to look at these yucky things wondering what in the world I'm going to do now. I'm not sure I can explain how un-re-stainable they came out.
After some serious google-searching I came to a decision. Paint them. I really didn't want to, 'cause once you go there, NO going back. And I like wood. But I made my bed...etc. I went for the shabby/country/weathered look.
Enter Christmas Break. Two weeks without the one year old that I babysit. I see my opportunity to GET IT DONE ALREADY.
Jillian, bless her heart, agreed to help me prime. TWO coats of primer. TWO coats of paint. ONE coat of stain, FOUR coats of sealer over the course of EIGHT days. Andrew pitched in and painted about half of the doors in the garage 'cause I was out of sheet-space in the family room.

They turned out much better than I hoped. Of course, I didn't have very high expectations. Apparently, neither did my husband. He was against painting them at all. Him, standing in the kitchen: "Wow. They actually look great!" Then a few hours later "They look really good. I'm impressed." He keeps sounding so stunned that they turned out, which is appropriate for any project of mine!
I just said : "Don't look too closely at them. That's all I ask."

7 comments:

Bea said...

Yeah for you and Jillian!!!!!!!!!! you did a fabulous job. And I bet you have to wear sunglasses because of all the light that is now in your kitchen. You have a reason to feel proud. It sounds like it was a lot of work but looks like it was well worth the effort. CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!

Lesley said...

Wow!! The cabinets look really great!! Isn't it a good feeling? I've got to get onto other projects now. Thanks for inspiring.

Lilian said...

I think they look awesome! How great of Jillian to help on her break from school too!!!

Front Porch Friend. said...

I hate to disappoint you, but I think there is a house a few doors down from you that had cabinets that looked like that to begin with, also 15 years ago. I'll just bet that yours look so much better now than those do!

American Homemaker said...

they look awesome! I LOVE painting things :)

The Red Hen said...

The cabinets look AWESOME! You did a good job - maybe I can stop by and see them in person. You always have the cutest ideas!

Love,
--Jana

Kim said...

Karalee-

I love your blog and I LOVE your cabinets! Look at you go!! They are AMAZING!!!! Way to be innovative! Your kitchen looks so bright and cheery! I'm going to keep that idea tucked in my brain! How fun for you!!! Thanks so much for letting me know about your blog. I will check in often!