Kitchen Progress

Hey everyone, I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. Things here have ground to a complete halt as I continue working on the kitchen makeover. I'm able to get the bare minimum done on housework, and I think we're still wearing clean clothes, but other than that, the house is pretty much a shambles as I paint and paint and paint! I've not been able to even think about Christmas yet since this huge project looms foremost in my mind.

I've been immersed in the kitchen makeover for so many weeks now ... five and a half weeks to be exact! I hope to get lots done this weekend, and then (hopefully!) things will be finished enough so that I can move all our dishes back into the kitchen. I have to be able to free up my daughter's bedroom by next weekend when she's coming home for a visit.

I'm fortunate that I work from my home, and I've been able to work on this project for about three hours every weekday, and through most of the weekends. I've visited my dad regularly up until today, and then I decided I just have to get this kitchen finished and stayed home to work on it. I can't tell you how sick I am of sanding, painting and cleaning out paint brushes, rollers and paint trays! Here's my progress so far.

All the frames were sanded, primed and painted with two coats of taupe. We bought one can of taupe, and it was far too close to white for my liking, so we opted to buy a second can and we're really happy with the result. Of course, the colour is probably not very accurate in the photos, but we used CIL's "McClendon's Pass". 

Painting these frames took a very long time to finish. I had to paint them all with a brush, and developed quite a cramp in my hand from holding a fat paint brush. I also painted the bottoms and backs of the lower cupboards to brighten things up inside. I put adhesive shelf paper on the upper cabinets for the table dishes. 

Then I moved onto the cupboard doors, and I've been busy with those all this week. Painting the doors has been so much quicker. We used a tiny rubber roller for them, and it worked amazingly well.  I was a bit skeptical of the roller at first as I thought it would leave too much texture on the doors. However, the finish came out far better with the roller than the brush. Once you get the paint rolled on and leave it to dry, the paint slowly relaxes into the wood grain of the door, and there are no roller marks at all ... very smooth! 

The biggest problem with getting the doors completed is finding space to set them while drying. There are 24 doors, and I could only find space to have 12 drying at one time. We hung them from hooks in the basement rafters. We had them resting on counters and tables in the kitchen. We even have the pantry door leaning up in the bathroom. It's been a little crazy around here, let me tell you!

Thankfully, today I was able to start on the second set of 12 doors. They're all drying here, there and everywhere now, and I've had enough of it today. My husband and I went down to the hardware store and picked out the doorknobs, drawer pulls and hinges. The finish on the hardware is "black, oil rubbed bronze". It's a very subtle brushed finish with just a hint of bronze tint, and it looks great against the taupe. I can't wait to get these doors all back together again!

There you have it! I've been trying to get around to everyone's blogs to say hello, but have not been able to reach everyone. I'm just dying to get things organized for Christmas now, but I'm just going to have finish the kitchen first. There are still things I want to make for Christmas, but I'm not sure if that will happen. I really had no idea that the kitchen cupboards would take this long to complete, but at least the push to get them finished by next week is great motivation. I am so looking forward to sitting down to knit as soon as this kitchen is back together!

Thanks for dropping by!

Wendy