Kitchen Cabinets

Another project finished! This one wouldn't have taken so long if I hadn't kept changing my mind! The only thing our old house had that our new house doesn't is a huge kitchen. Not only is our new kitchen small, it is very dark.

So of course I had to check out Pinterest for some ideas! I loved the look of chalk paint but knew absolutely nothing about it. So I found an Annie Sloan stockiest near the new house and took a quick class. Four hours later and I was ready to paint some kitchen cabinets! Now I'm really not a dumb woman, I know I should have painted a few small pieces before starting on such a huge project, I just hated those dark cabinets. So Tam cleaned the cabinets for me, we took the doors off and I was ready to paint! Quick tip, if you take your doors off (you don't have too) number your doors, hinges, and handles. Trust me it's worth the time.

I painted the backs of the doors first. I really wanted the backs to be different from the front of the doors. I mixed some colors that I thought I was going to use on the front of the doors (that didn't happen.) By the way, this was my first time mixing paint and AS paint makes it so easy! I mixed Pure White and English Yellow. I then mixed Pure White, Antibes Green and Chateau Grey.

I also used Duck Egg and Old White. I was going for the look of those wood boards that have almost splotches of pale color. It's not to everyone's taste but I like it! To finish off the backs I did a light wash of Pure White and then clear wax.

Now I had big plans for the front of the doors! However when I got to a certain place in painting them Tam and I both loved them so there they stayed. A few years down the road I might add to them. This was such a simple paint job but they look amazing. I painted the outside of the boxes and the edges of the doors in Pure White.

I then painted the drawer facings, the inside of the open cabinet and the inside front of the doors in Florence; I really love this color.

I painted over the Florence in the inside of the door fronts with Artisan Enhancements Crackle Tex.

This stuff is amazing!!! After that dried I added a thick coat of Pure White over the Crackle Tex. As the Pure White dries magic starts to happen!

I can not tell you how much we love this look! It's hard to tell in the pictures, but that Florence peeking through the cracks in the Pure White is beautiful! There were plans to do more to the front of the doors but we just wanted to enjoy them at this stage for a while. So they were hung back up, waxed with clear wax and had new handles added! They are perfect!!!

So if you are thinking about painting your cabinets and you really like the look of chalk paint I say go for it! The hardest part is deciding what colors to use...and when to stop.