6.30.2011

Chalk painted cottage kitchen cabinets...

Well, we did it.  Jumped once more into the Annie Sloan chalk paint and finally made our kitchen look like our style instead of "builder" style.

Before:

And after:










The bottom cabinets and pantry door are painted in Country Grey, the top cabinets are painted Old White.  We did two coats of paint, then mild distressing and waxing with clear wax.  I am loving this look so much more than I did the cabinets before.  We picked our cabinets through the builder, but light coloured ones were not an option, so we just went with a wood we thought we could live with.
In looking at the kitchen now it seems to fit in better with the rest of our cottage.

This paint is super easy to work with.  If you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer.




39 comments:

Shannon @ DoveNest28 said...

Love the change! I have similar cabinets, and want to paint them, just need to find time! I have ordered Chalk paint to finish a dresser, as a way to "test" out how I like the paint, hope it's as good as everyone says! Your kitchen looks great!

Amber and Brad said...

Beautiful job! Looks great!

Brighton said...

Shannon- It really is easy to use, and once it cures it is very durable : o )

Amber- Thank you!

Dena said...

Looks so good! I have similar cabinets and would love to do this. I have just this week heard of chalk paint and it almost sounds too good to be true. Did you sand or prime your cabinets first (like they say you don't have to)? Also, how much paint did it take?

Brighton said...

Dena- No sanding or priming and these were builder grade cabinets with a bit of a sheen to them. I did two coats of paint and one application of wax. Easy peasy!

Ellie B said...

How did you prep the cabinets before painting? I would love to paint our cabinets! And, how much paint did you use total?
Thanks - they look fabulous!

Brighton said...

Ellie B- No prep, nada, nothing, just paint, paint, paint : o ) I used two quarts of the Country grey (lower cabinets) and one quart of the Old White. Then distressed and waxed with clear wax.

Tammy said...

Love it! Looks great!

Brighton said...

Thank you, Tammy : o )

Shelley said...

Wow! Your kitchen looks beautiful. Love it!

Question for you: How do you like the wax finish? (okay, questions) Does the wax still rub off (how long ago did you finish)? I have done a couple pieces of furniture and the wax doesn't seem completely dry. It has been a couple of weeks on one of the pieces. Thanks for your thoughts and sharing your experience with this.
Shelley
{shelleymperry at yahoo dot com}

Brighton said...

Love the wax, gives a nice patina to the paint. Nope, wax is there to stay, but you can do multiple coats. Let the wax harden/dry overnight, then buff. It's the buffing (with a soft rag) that brings out the sheen : o )

Becca said...

Love your chalk paint cabinets !! They look beautiful ... truly custom. I'm addicted to chak paint ... my lateast was to paint our dry bar Chateaux Grey ... fun! *Becca* (your newest follower)

www.adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com

Lindsay said...

I love your cabinets, and your whole kitchen!!! I know you said you did two coats, how much of each color and wax did you end up buying? Also, I love your paint choice for your walls, do you mind me asking what color that is?! AND... where did you get your hardware? I love this and am so glad I found your blog!

Brighton said...

Lindsay, so glad you stopped by! The wall colour is sw moderate white. I used two qaurts of country grey for the lower cabinets, one and a half quarts of the old white for the upper cabinets, and one container of clear wax for the entire project. The hardware was found on line, i can look it up and let you know. Out of town at the moment, but will post when i get back!

Tricia said...

Here is the link for our kitchen hardware:

http://www.kitchencabinethardware.com/enter.html?target=Cottage_HardwareOil_Rubbed_Bronze.html

A Sense of Design said...

Wow...just came over from Brooklyn Limestone, I love your painted cupboards they really lighten up the place.

Tricia said...

Thank you so much for stopping by! I think they lighten up the place too : o ) The dark wood cabinets never were our style, but our builder only offered wood. Paint fixed that!

Katies Rose Cottage Designs said...

I love how your cabinets came out! I have been wanting to do ours with Chalk Paint but haven't tackled it yet ~ I am really glad to read your thoughts on using it ~

Thank you for sharing with us!!

xoxo
Lori

Tricia said...

Katie- Thank you! I am loving them too, way more "us" than the builder cabinets. Super easy to use, that chalk paint ; o )

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

Beautiful! Love the new look.

At The Picket Fence said...

Oh my goodness, your kitchen looks gorgeous! I found your blog through Kristin's party and was immediately drawn to this makeover. You did a fantastic job on it! :-)
Vanessa

stefanie said...

just perfect!!!! love them!!!

Tricia said...

Korrie- Thank you : o )

Vanessa- Thank you so much!

Stefanie- Thanks!!

HI THERE! said...

It looks fabulous and I love the distressing! My chalk paint is due to arrive tomorrow and I will be attempting to paint our bathroom cabinets. Not quite prepared to tackle a kitchen yet! You did an amazing job!
Jenn :)

Stuff and Nonsense said...

they look absolutely gorgeous...i've yet to jump on the chalk paint bandwagon but seeing lovely projects like these i'm going to have to!

alison

Stuff and Nonsense said...

i want to use chalk paint for my kitchen cabinets as well, but have white painted trim in my house and am afraid this 'old white' will not look right against a true white trim...it looks in your photos that you also have some regular white trim...what do you think?

by the way...it looks beautiful!

alison

Tricia said...

Jenn- I bet it will look fab : o )

Alison- It's addictive!! Maybe use the cream or old ochre instead of the old white. There will be a little more contrast that way.

Town and Country Gals said...

Just found your blog thru party at uncommon slice of suburbia and have been wondering if this paint would work on cabinets and here you are! It looks beautiful, just the look I've been wanting. We have a shop here in Brentwood right outside Nashville that just started carrying Annie Sloan paint. Can't wait to get some and give it a try! Thanks for the great information!
I'm your newest follower and would love for you to visit me.
Rebecca

Tricia said...

Rebecca- Thank you so much! I will stop by for sure : o )

Erica@SecondhandCharm said...

Stuff and Nonsense-They are coming out with a true white in the chalk paint in the fall!! They will be launching a few more colors then as well. :)

BTW-Love the cabinets they look awesome, will be doing our bathroom cabinets soon! We have a re-purpose furniture biz and all we use now is chalk paint...that stuff is fabulous!!

the momma said...

Fabulous!!!
I know you said you used about 3 1/2 qts total - but about how many ft of cabinets is that? and did you paint insides,too, or just the outside?
I've about got myself talked into using chalk paint for my cabs, but at over $35 a qt, I don't want to over-order ;-) thanks so much!

Tricia said...

Momma- Not sure how many feet it is, but it is a good sized kitchen. I didn't paint the insides of the cabinets (way too much work!) so we just left them as they were.

The J Crew said...

Your kitchen looks amazing!!! I have almost exactly the same color cabinets and they don't match our cottage decor either!!! I'm about to try my hand at this Chalk paint thing... I'll start with a bathroom and then try to tackle the kitchen. How long did it take you to complete this kitchen project?

Tricia said...

J Crew- It took me about two days to do the bottom cabinets, and three for the top cabinets. Chalk paint is so easy to use!

Marta said...

Hi.. your cabinets look fabulous. I have been wanting to use the chalk paint in the kitchen for ages. How do you find the everyday cleaning going? I'm so used to spraying something like 409 to clean... wondering how cleansers affect that wax? Thanks!

Tricia said...

Marta- I use Myers' cleaning products, and so far no problems. I am still loving the painted cabinets ; o )

Becca said...

These ,look so completely fantastic! I love them, omg they are awesome! How much paint did you end up using? Was is expensive? Thanks!
Becca

Tricia said...

Becca- It took about 4.5 quarts. Each quart is about $34.00, so not super pricey, but not cheap either!

PegShoe said...

Thanks Tricia, I love the cabinets, just what I wanted to do but thought it would be too much work stripping and then putting on several coats of white wash. Where did you get the paint? At a place in Houston or did you order online?