Painting Kitchen Cabinets and DIY Cabinet Molding

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Part 7: DIY Kitchen Remodel and Structural Wall Removal

Hi there!

In the next couple posts I’m gonna take ya back so we can all remember what the kitchen looked like originally, specifically taking note of the cabinets and cabinet molding in this article. The reason being there’s some things we did prior to the remodel or along the way that I haven’t gotten to yet, but that are super exciting! 🙂 The first one of those being the kitchen cabinets.

Painting the Kitchen Cabinets 

Aside from the fact that there’s really nothing special about the in stock cabinets we started with; there also wasn’t anything wrong with them. So like all things that just need sprucing up I turned to paint for the job. Choosing paint for your cabinets can be a tough decision and this was no exception for me. I was trying to envision how I wanted the room to feel wayyy down the road when our remodel was finished and basically every single thing looked different. Lucky for me I have a pretty good imagination lol, but something else that influenced my decision was the fact that I was dying to use this grey/beige aka griege color that was common among many of my Pins 🙂

The color label I chose is pictured below and you can get it at Lowe’s. As with everything else I researched the best way to paint kitchen cabinets and read other articles similar to this one. I ended up doing it the old fashion way because it was the way I knew would work well and even though it was more time-consuming I knew it would stand the test of time and wear.

To paint the kitchen cabinets I removed all the hardware, took off all the cabinet doors, sanded them, and then (starting with the back of the doors) gave them 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of the paint. Then I sanded and painted the cabinet frames, sides, and existing molding.

 

I didn’t take many ‘during’ photos of this project but I think you get the idea 😉 After reinstalling hardware and hanging the doors back on I think they turned out great and I LOVE the color! It’s modern and fresh and also a light and classic neutral.

DIY Cabinet Molding 

So once we had raised the ceiling I wanted a more decorative molding that was very simple in style in keeping with the rest of the house. We had also bumped the cabinet up and out for the over the range microwave and I felt like the molding would definitely lend to a more custom look. The problem I found when looking at what stores had to offer was that they were too detailed or busy for what I was wanting. We even bought a couple different options, which we ended up returning, because they just weren’t right.

Then quite simply by chance Ed brought in a piece of a 1×4 scrap to see how we would/could attach whatever kind of trim we decided on. While he was holding it up at the top of the cabinet I walked in and was like, “That’s it!”. It was the right height and look I was going for. When you can’t find what you want, make it 🙂 We cut a simple angle in the 1x4s using a mitre saw as a decorative element, and then one on the bottom opposite corner so that they would rest on the cabinet tops leaning outward.

Figuring out the correct angles to cut the inner corners took a combination of research, guesswork, and trial and error. A few four letter words were said along the way but we got it done! Lol! At least the outer ones were easier! Then we attached all the trim with wood glue and a nail gun.

I don’t know about you but I’m slightly obsessed with how they turned out! I would recommend creating your own cabinet molding to anyone, it’s completely worth the extra effort! Not to mention it cost (even with making some mistakes) about $20 total. Once all the molding was up I gave it 2 coats of the cabinet paint and voila new kitchen cabinets!

So once again we see how much some elbow grease and paint will transform a room! One thing I can say about diying is that you when you stand back and look at changes like this it really gives you such a sense of ownership. You know we created this space and it’s a reflection of our personal style and hard work and it feels awesome, it feels like home 🙂  I hope you feel inspired to take ownership of your kitchen and make it into a room in you home that you love!