Our kitchen cupboards transformed.

This is not a fancy kitchen re-do with all the bells and whistles.

But it is a pretty neat transformation of our kitchen cupboards.

And it's about the time and care that my talented husband put into making them into just exactly what I wanted.

Looking back.

A long before shot of our kitchen.

We moved into our cottage 6 years ago.

The previous owners had replaced the flooring, counter-tops and appliances the previous year.

We had added new knobs and pulls to the doors.  We replaced light fixtures, added a new back splash, kitchen faucet and painted. 

However the cathedral style doors didn't really fit with our cottage style kitchen.

And in spite of all the windows,it could still be dark in here.

A view of our kitchen today.

I still smile when I go in there because it's so bright and cheery now.  

Another before.

My husband Dan removed every cupboard door and drawer this summer.

He used his planer to smooth out the cupboard door raised cathedral design.

For some of the larger doors he used his sander.

Then he built a new frame around each cupboard door and then he added the wainscoting.

We purchased two sheets of the wainscoting for a total of about $48.00.

He was able to precisely cut out a piece and then attach it inside the new door frame he had built.  Right over the old cupboard doors, same cupboard doors, brand new look.

Then he primed, painted and added several coats of polyurethane to each door and drawer.

He spray painted the existing hinges black and we added new hardware that we purchased online at a much better deal than we could find elsewhere.

I made a new curtain for above the sink.

I wanted white ball and fringe curtains like those sold at Country Curtains.

However, I could make it for a lot less and it was very simple.

I found the ball and fringe on sale and the material is extra wide cotton curtain material.

Cost at Country Curtains: about $60 .

My cost about $12 and a half hour or so of my time.

  Another close-up view.

The color of the paint is vanilla custard and is from Sherman Williams.

We bought the best quality they had.  Skimping on paint is just not worth it.

 A different angle.  

It's not the easiest kitchen to take pictures in.

He also painted the paneling in here.  

Another before view.

And after.

Dan worked endless hours on these cupboards, they truly are a labor of love.

And for the total cost:

For the paint, wainscoting, new hardware etc. only about $150.

The biggest savings was to search hard for a deal on the hardware.

In the store our drawer pulls alone were about $7 each.

We found them online for $2.75 each.

It really does pay to shop around.

Thanks for coming by and letting me share my kitchen cupboard transformation with you.

Cindy

Joining:

Tips and Tutorials @ Stone Gable

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

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Met. Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

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Tweak it Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

The Scoop @ Confessions of a Plate Addict

Everything but the kitchen sink!

My DH has been working tirelessly over the past several weeks redoing our kitchen cabinets.

Today I thought I would share with you a sneak peek.

On the left you can see the before.

They are a cathedral style and we have been talking about painting them for the past two summers.

But Dan had a better idea.  He felt that the cathedral style would not really fit with our cottage style kitchen.  So he went about changing the style.  I am thrilled with how they are turning out.   These are not new cupboard doors, they are just re-made.
Some of the details:  He planed and sanded the cathedral style doors down.  He then built a new frame and added wainscoting.  Then onto priming, painting, poly and replacing hardware.
He is getting close now and soon I can have a big kitchen reveal.

DH had eleven of his woodworking students take their projects to our county fair this year.  This roll top desk was one of the top finishers.  The kids get quite competitive and my DH has an extra prize for the top 3 places.

This lovely cabinet was the best of show. Dan says the kid who built this spent numerous hours before school, after school and in class.  I think he did an amazing job!

And speaking of the fair, our little grand-daughter spent a lot of time with us there.
She sure loves it and not just the rides.  In fact, I would say the small animals are her fave.

She did a lot of chicken holding at the fair!  A friend has chickens and I mean a lot of chickens.  Every breed you can imagine.  She patiently let Addison pet and hold nearly everyone she had brought.  This rooster was nearly as big as little Addison.
I have to say I was impressed with her bravery.  She got pecked a few times but mostly just brushed it off.

There were a few very calm hens who would literally sit on her lap for as long as she was willing.  Oh their feathers are so soft.  This gal was just the sweetest bird!  And the other little gal is awfully sweet too.

My little Arizona grand-baby celebrated birthday number 2!!
I got to see her open our presents on Skype.
And as you can see, she enjoyed her cake as well.
I will be heading out to see her in early October and of course I can't wait.

So there you go friends, a little bit of everything except the kitchen sink.
Cindy

Sunday Favorites/ Kitchen re-do on a bitty budget.

Welcome to Sunday Favorites with my dear friend and our lovely hostess Chari! Please visit her lovely blog by clicking on the logo above. Thank-you Chari for hostessing this neat blog party and for being such a gracious hostess! My post is a Met Monday re-do with a twist! Since posting this much has changed but the biggest change is the lovely Armoire built by my handy hubby! I added the pic of the armoire below, also a previous Met Monday post.

When we moved into our present home 18 months ago we knew we couldn't spend much on our kitchen but could do a mini-makeover. Below shows a before pic. The armoire is sitting in the far end back wall .

Another view, the appliances,flooring and counter tops were only year old and the cupboards were still in pretty good shape. Some of the pics are a little dark, sorry about that.

First order was the curtains and paint. We painted the walls a combo of cotswold green and a soft patina from the Laura Ashley/cotswold stone collection. The curtains I ordered from J.C. Penneys.

I painted the old bench off white and made a cushion and some pillows.

We changed out the light over the dining area and added a more old fashioned looking one. Another big project was getting rid of the ugly faucet and replacing it with a rubbed bronze one. I'm lucky that hubby can do electrical and plumbing work too. In the 11 years we've been married, we've never had to call one.

We changed the other light in the kitchen area, it had been a big ugly fluorescent one. We found some white knobs and pulls for the cupboards which were fairly inexpensive but seemed to add a lot.

A closer view of the paint color.

One of my favorite things was the back splash my hubby did behind the stove, and on this side of the kitchen. Its a copper color and I really like the vintage look it adds. They are panels that you buy at Home Depot etc. but then they need to be cut and placed together in a match up pattern, kind of like hanging wallpaper.

Another view of the back splash and knobs and pulls.

Just recently we painted the other back splash with a tea leaf color and hubby added a few of the strips he had left from the other side.

I wanted this part to stand out a little more but keep the expense low. Because we do all the work ourselves we only spent about $500.00 for everything which includes paint, curtains, new light fixtures, new faucet, new knobs and pulls, and the copper back splash.

Thank-you for stopping by and don't forget to check out more Sunday Favorites with our hostess Chari. Cindy