Before:
Saturday (day 1): doors and drawers removed, cabinet boxes scrubbed clean
Sunday (day 2): boxes sanded and primered with two coats
Monday (day 3): holes and gouges filled and sanded (boxes, cabinet doors and drawers), one final coat of primer on all the cabinet doors, ‘finish’ sanding with 220-grit.
Tuesday (day 4): The backsplash was painted with a bonding coat (we’re installing a new backsplash when this is all done). Cabinet boxes and drawer fronts were painted with the first coat of their new color (Miller Paint Evolution “Polar White”).
Wednesday (day 5): Sanded the cabinet boxes and drawer fronts with 220 grit sandpaper. Applied second coat of Evolution paint.
Thursday (day 6): purchased backsplash material.
Friday (day 7): scrubbed all the hinges clean (I’d soaked them in dishsoap water and it turned the finish into a goo, so I had to boil them all in baking soda water to really loosen the finish, then scrub each one with a scotch-brite pad to completely remove the finish. They are now shiny brass hinges, not oil rubbed bronze looking any more.) That evening I spray painted the hinges with Oil Rubbed Bronze paint, one light coat. I also fine sanded the cabinet boxes and cabinet door backs with 400-grit sandpaper, caulked the edges where they meet the walls (and filled in a couple gaps). I also removed the two small tiles by the window jamb, spackled the wall, textured the wall, textured the ceiling area above the sink (soffet), and painted the window trim/jamb. (We worked until midnight that night!)
Saturday (day 8): painted the cabinet boxes and cabinet door backs with their final coat. Note to self….400-grit sand paper leaves the surface TOO smooth, it was hard to keep the roller rolling! I do not recommend 400-grit again. Stick with the 220-grit. Painted the window jamb/trim and the newly textured wall where the tile was removed.
Sunday (day 8): plan to paint the backsides of the 6 cabinet doors that haven’t been done yet (space restrictions). They’ll need 2 coats. All the cabinet door backsides will need to cure for 5 days before I can turn them over to paint the fronts.
Next up in the kitchen: start trimming the cabinet doors/drawers with the shaker pieces. Paint the kitchen walls (color TBD, thinking cream or tan). Skim the soffets (or cover with veneer to match the cabinets). Install backsplash. Recover countertops.
