When West + Main agent Caitlin Carow first moved in to her home in Lakewood, the kitchen was on the top of her list for things that had to change.
“Both are spaces I knew we’d be using A LOT. I wanted to enjoy our time spent in these rooms… but I had a very limited budget. What do you do when you have a limited budget? You put your big girl pants on and buy a paint sprayer!”
The overall kitchen revamp consisted of two major things. New countertops and cabinet color changes.
“The cabinets were high quality and in good condition so I did a fair bit of second guessing myself about wanting to paint them. I knew that lightening up the countertops would radically improve the kitchen mood.”
In the back of her mind, she wanted to keep things low budget since in the future they may completely rip out the kitchen, so a lot of strategic decisions were made around that fact.
“I was extremely motivated to choose the most economical countertop solution that would achieve the light and bright look I was seeking. Enter IKEA laminate countertops, which come in two handy lengths. We used two slabs of marble looking laminate countertops to cover our cabinets and we cut everything to fit, including the whole for the sink.”
Caitlin’s pro-tips after going through this renovation:
Summon your inner organization freak - Number inside your cabinet boxes and, on your cabinet fronts, in the space where the hinge sits (cover this with painters tape - remove the tape when you finish painting to reveal the cabinet door number). Keep all hardware (hinges, screws, etc) in a baggie.
Set up your drying station in advance - I used utility shelves and boxes/props and made sure I had a space to lay out each cabinet door after I painted them.
Always paint the cabinet INSIDES/BACKS, first. That way, if there are any blemishes from your paint triangles (whatever is holding the cabinet door up for you to paint) the blemishes are on the inside, not the outside/front.
Paint the edges, turning as you go, all the way around, first. The over spray will get a good portion of the front, too. Then, paint the inside trim, spinning as you go, all the way around the cabinet door. Finally, spray paint back and forth across the top, main face of the cabinet door.
Handle with care! Pick up your cabinet doors from underneath the surface you painted and place them down to dry with care.
The Three Major Time Consuming Aspects of painting (according to Caitlin):
Educating yourself and getting mentally prepare
Prep (Labeling cabinets, protecting surfaces around your project and creating a space to spray your cabinet fronts, cleaning and prepping surfaces to be painted.)
PAINTING
Materials and sourcing:
Primer: Zinzer BIN primer
Haardware: Amazon
Countertops: Ikea “Eckbacken”
Floors (kitchen and throughout): Carpet Exchange Calypso Oak LV
Check out Caitlin’s Kitchen Cabinet Project Spreadsheet!
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