Reface your kitchen cabinets yourself they said...it will be easy, they said...

A finishing carpenter lived in our house before we did, and for the most part, we are beneficiaries of artful and skilled updating to our 1880s house.

For the most part.

One major departure from this line of gratitude existed as the kitchen. Wow.

excuse the bright window into the afterlife...bad picture taking..can't go back and do it again.

So our kitchen fits the profile for an old house in that it is very small….like it could fit on a boat.

That’s ok. There are only 3 of us…..but as you probably know, small rooms need to be pretty.

SO, when I saw the tiny kitchen DRIPPING in brown beadboard, I think I actually started twitching.

beadboard EVERYWHERE

I don’t want to be insulting to the one who did it, but it was really awful. Notably, this previous owner created beautiful arches and moldings and doorways elsewhere in the house, 

but, C’mon. diagonal beadboard going every which way on 26 cabinet doors in a 7 foot wide space?

‘Bout breaks your heart.

SO, when we looked at the house, which my husband wanted SO badly that he was gripping his chest, I knew it was my moment to negotiate.

Me: I will go for this house, out here on the dark side of the moon, miles away from everything I’ve ever known…IF, you throw your full support under my dismantling and redesigning this kitchen…AND…if you let me screw it up, if that’s what it takes. 

Him: Yes. 

Me: OK

So, simple as that, I went for it. I’m pretty sure most people would have considered this a tear out, but I thought of it as a learning ground, figuring I couldn’t make it worse if tried.

First thing was to minimize the brown…shades, counter tops and cabinets.

Shades were easy of course, so I made some roman blinds (see tutorial...in the future).

Then came the cabinets.  At first I thought I would remove the middles and replace with glass…but these were made with great care and they are solid. All 26 of them…solid brown beadboard.

Lest I come off as dumb, I will tell you I definitely investigated just replacing the doors and painting the boxes, but the both were hand made, so each one was a slightly different measurement, meaning it would have cost a customizing fortune.

So I decided that I was going to cover the middle of each door with plywood, miter trim them out and paint the whole lot. Here’s how it went down.

Each cabinet was a different measurement, so I realized that I would have to make all my cuts at home, as I went….enter, the circular saw. After doing a little research, I chose the DeWalt. This saw seemed manageable for a newbie and it was reasonable priced at around 150.00. Also, as a newbie I wanted a trusted name. If I didn’t know what I was doing, at least the people who made the saw did.

https://amzn.to/4oWIpIe

I needed to do this project as cheaply as possible since we had just bought a house with every last available penny, so I chose pine plywood. I knew I would be painting, so I didn’t worry about the grain or tone of the wood.

Each cabinet got a piece of plywood cut to the exact size of the interior of the frame (covering the beadboard). The actual; frames of the cabinets were quite lovely and in good shape, O I kept them exposed. I did need to cover the edges of my cut wood, however, so I needed trim. 

For this I bought ornamental trim with a very basic detail, and miter cut to set inside of the original frame. 

This part was pretty tedious, I won’t lie.   But it did work…and this is when I knew I was going to be able to achieve the look I wanted.

To adhere the new cabinet faces, I used wood glue and a nail gun with brads. My technique improved over time, but not before I split a LOT of trim. 

It took me a month to finish the cutting and nailing on each cabinet, during which time, we lived like cave dwellers,

but whatever….it was worth it in the end.

To fill the nail holes and inevitable gaps that occur as a result of never having done this before, I  used wood filler. I have since discovered that mixing wood glue with sanding dust is just as good if not better (and cheaper), but live and learn.

Then it was time to sand. A trusty little palm sander was best for this job. …there is no way around this one…it just takes time.

To paint these cabinets, I used a paint gun. I was going for that even, brush stroke free finish and I knew it was the only way so I pulled the trigger (nyuk yuk) and bought this little number.

https://amzn.to/487ms3w

Truth be told, I could have used a bigger, more serious paint gun for this job…(which I finally treated myself with later for the 3rd floor redo), BUT, this is what I used for the cabinets and it worked fine. It just has a smaller capacity and therefor is best for smaller projects.

I propped each cabinet up on 4 of those little plastic sets and sprayed away. …very gratifying to make everything uniform. I started with the inside surfaces in case the little propping tents left any mark once flipped and finished up with the fronts. 

beautiful.

Now to paint the boxes in the kitchen. Wow.  I started by sending my husband and daughter to Great America…this was going to require an empty house. 

Then I began. I started with a brush and roller and ended up walling of the kitchen, covering everything but the dog with plastic and blasting them with the paint gun. 

Observation:

Spraying a paint gun into the inside of cabinetry is a trip. The blowback is really something. Wear serious protective gear. 

don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

This was a huge job, but I have to tell you, it was time well spent. I hated those brown cabinets and I love my new ones. After letting them dry for a full week, I updated the hardware, and put them all back up.

And…voila.

In another post I will detail the new counter (a cast off remnant of marble) and slate floor.  

The look I went for in my little weird kitchen was something between Tuscan bakery and Welsh potting shed. I love it…and I would do it again…Probably not any time soon, though.