Refreshing Your Kitchen Without Replacing

As Summer is slowly but elegantly fading I have finally been able to put together a post about our kitchen refresh.  I started talking and planning doing this in March this year so it definitely hasn’t been a quick fix.  I did quite a lot of research before we took the plunge, to be honest I was rather nervous about doing it just in case it didn’t work the way I wanted it to.  Painting walls is rather simple, if you don’t like it you just change the colour and go again.  Re painting your kitchen cupboards takes that little bit longer.  I was worried that the paint would chip easily or mark and all our efforts would go to waste.

I wanted to use quality products so that it would look good for many many years so it wasn’t as cheap as it could have been but far cheaper than replacing the entire kitchen.  I read lots of articles and watched a few you tube videos but my initial thoughts of what paint to use and the process of doing so where spot on.  These articles gave me the confidence to go for it, this one from Little Green Paint Company and this one in House & Gardens which gave all the details needed to get started.

I knew that it wasn’t a job that could be done in a weekend, so we planned it over many, deciding to do a cabinet section at a time, so all in all it took a couple of months but doing it slowly and methodically really did work.

We removed all drawers and doors within the section we were refreshing first.  Took off all handles and  hinges and cleaned the units with sugar soap to remove any grease or grim.   Then using Osmo wood filler, filled all cracks dints and handle holes as we were repositioning them.  Once the wood filler was dry we sanded the doors, drawers and units using 120 grit sand paper.  Using a soft dry brush and the hoover with the brush attachment cleaned away all the dust and wiped them clean with a clean cloth.  Next using masking tape to seal off all the edges that you don’t want to paint, remarkably this bit seemed to take forever.

Now its the fun bit, getting the paintbrushes out, using Purdy brushes was definitely the best option.  When it came to choosing the paint I looked at many fabulous brands but Intelligent All Surface Primer and Intelligent Satin Interior Wood Paint by Little Greene Paint  Company came out top.  It was a dream to use, first we primed which dried very quickly, lightly sanded everything again with 180 grit sand paper the used two coats of the Satin paint to finish the process.  Once everything was dry we removed the masking tape and put the hinges back on.

I didn’t want to go cheap on new handles, so I decided to invest in deVOL Classic knobs and handles in a matt black bronze finish.  Mixing up two different designs has transformed the drawers and cupboards.  I couldn’t be more happy with the overall result, it looks fresh and clean and now doesn’t look like a nineteen year old kitchen that has seen lots of life.

So if you are thinking of doing the same as me and refreshing your kitchen units hopefully this will help you take the plunge.  Drop me a message if you need any more advice, always here to help.