Kitchen Buffering...Complete!

It has been 3 1/2 months since we started painting our kitchen cabinets, and while I can't say that we are completely done, we have enough done that I feel like going ahead and sharing "after" pictures.  When I last left you, we were painting the last of the lower cabinets:

Still on the list was framing, painting, and mounting the cabinet doors.  It seemed like a daunting task, but it turns out Eric is a whiz on the chop saw!

                                         

For the framing, we just bought a sheet of plywood and Eric cut it into 2 inch strips on a table saw.  The plywood was less than $10 for the amount we got, so it was a super cheap project! 

And now for the before and after...

Before

After

                                                   

You may notice we still don't have doors on our upper-most cabinets.  Originally we wanted to make those glass, but now we've decided just to frame them like the others.  Not only did the framing make the cabinets look ah-mazing, but it was so stinkin' easy and fast, we just couldn't say no to taking the easy way out and putting a fork in this project.

We got a great deal on the cabinet pulls from Overstock.com.

Even though the cabinet pulls are stainless steel, we spray painted the hardware with brushed nickel since it was closest we could get to the actual color and look.  They don't match exactly, but who's looking that close anyway?

I love these cabinets.  This DIY project of our's turned out so much better than I ever imagined, and that's not typical for us!  Not only do I love the way they look, but I love how much money we saved by salvaging them!  I'm not sure how much it would have cost to install brand new cabinets in our kitchen, but I think a low estimate could start at $3,000 not including installation (which I would definitely have done, or else I never would have never slept again thanks to visions of my upper cabinets crashing to the ground).  So add installation to that, and I'm thinking it would have cost at least $5,000 for cabinets that aren't even solid wood (our's are).  The only materials we required for this project were 2 cans of primer and 2 cans of paint at a whopping $30 per can, something like $75 on the cabinet pulls, a can of spray paint, and a sheet of plywood, all of which comes in around $200.  By far one of the cheaper projects we've done, while making the biggest difference in the look of our home.

We're still far from done in here (wood floors, counter tops, back splash, demolishing a wall), and with the cabinets looking so fantastic, I'm really excited to do the rest.  Sometimes just to get an idea of what the final product will look like, I take our cutting board and pull it over the side of the counter and imagine what butcher block counter tops will look like...

Sigh.

But to more pressing matters, we've ordered a vent-less gas fireplace and we be installing it in the next couple weeks!  We're super excited...not only is it going to completely change the way our living room looks, but it will be nice to have some extra heat this winter.  Until then...

-Sal