Saturday, October 01, 2011

what's keeping me busy

While Marc is busily engaged in painting our main living area (i.e., the biggest area of our house), I am working on painting our kitchen cabinets.

It quickly became apparent that this is an even bigger project than I anticipated, and I already thought it was pretty big (thus the 5 years or so I've been putting it off).

It took me two days to thoroughly wash the cabinets, remove the hardware, and putty in the holes that we will no longer need once we get new hardware.

I'm only taking off a few doors at a time.

I only have room to do 4 or 5 doors at a time. (I started on the kitchen table, but have since moved to a table in the garage.)

I discovered that I have to do two coats of primer, because apparently I have a hard time applying it thickly enough. So: two coats of primer, then turn the doors over and two coats of primer on that side. Then two coats of paint, turn the doors over and apply two coats of paint to the other side. The guy who helped me at Sherwin Williams claimed I would not need to apply varnish if I used the right kind of enamel paint, but I have my doubts. So, I will probably apply varnish as well.

That's pretty much what I've done for the last 10 days (in addition to my usual life things such as: visiting teaching, presidency meetings, lesson preparation, piano lessons, meal prep, laundry, driving kids, etc.).

I have 29 cabinet doors and 12 drawer fronts. And I have to paint the framing of the cabinets.

What I thought would maybe be an intensive 2-week project is looking like it will take a lot longer.

Have mercy.

12 comments:

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Oh I will have mercy for you Michelle. Though I love my cabinets painted, I have still not forgotten how long the project took (like yours, it was much longer than anticipated). Mercy, mercy, mercy.

Jill said...

Wow, this looks super daunting to me but I'm so excited for you that you are actually doing it!!! I know you've wanted it for so long and this is going to radically transform your kitchen, which is where you spent 90% of you time so it really should be a room you adore!

patsy said...

Oh I feel for you... YOU CAN DO IT!!
I think I already told you, Wende has been trying to talk me into doing this, but I am worried it will kill me.

What color are you painting?
I wouldn't trust the paint guy either-- they have steered me the wrong way so many times-aaah!

Amy said...

Oh, but imagine when it's done! You'll love it! And then you'll have to have us over to your house so we can all ooh and ahh over your (and Marc's) hard work! I'm sure it's going to look amazing!

Denise said...

Emily went through a tape phase, too! I think she was about Eva's age; your mom wanted to know what to get her for a birthday gift and I suggested her very own tape dispenser with refills. Your mom laughed but sent a package of Scotch tape anyway.

Cupboards--oh, cupboards! I feel your pain. All I can say is that you'll be glad you did it when you're finished. Good luck getting there.

Unknown said...

Ditto to Denise's comments. I, for one, can't wait to see! Carry on.

Liz said...

Wow! You are taking on quite a project! I hope it comes along faster than expected! I'm excited to see your finished photos!

wende said...

i have done this - MAJOR project, but oh my gosh you will LOVE it when it's done. it's so gratifying looking at your kitchen cupboards after you've worked so hard on them. i'm scared to tell you that what i thought would be about two or three weeks ended up taking about six weeks. ya.

but again....WORTH IT.

and patsy's right, she has such gorgeous details in her cupboards, i can't wait to get my hands on them some day when she finally relents! :)

good luck!

Melinda said...

Jason and I did this in our old house! It is so much work but so worth it. Can't wait to see the finished product.

brooke said...

It will be so worth it. I lived without a kitchen for two months and thought I was going to pull my hair out. We paid good money to have someone paint our cabinets and my friend painted hers all by herself...I wish I had saved the money..hers look just as good as mine. Can't wait to see the finished product!

rmt said...

I had no idea what a huge project painting cabinets was until Jessie posted about it years ago...wow. It will be so worth it when it is done though. Your kitchen will look so fresh and bright!
Good luck!

Amie said...

This is a huge project. I can't believe you took it on... I am such a chicken. I love the color you chose!

I've been thinking about you today and hope your re-entry wasn't too jarring. It's rough to come back to reality.

Tape can't fix anything?! Dang it.

I had to go and find a link to your blog because I couldn't remember your url and it wasn't in my history... that's embarrassing. Sorry it has been so long... I'm back! (that may or may not be good news)

Thanks for the fun weekend. I'm so glad you came!

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