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Saturday, September 14, 2013

How We Painted Our Kitchen Cabinets (Two Approaches for Two Kitchens)


Although I have done a LOT of painting in my life and have a LOT of painting ahead of me in this hosue I really have no idea what I am doing and am not that great of a painter. I just appreciate the power of paint to transform a room or piece of furniture and know how much money it saves by doing it myself. Because I am not that great of a painter I don't feel like I can possibly give any kind of painting tutorial seeing how I take short cuts and mess up half of my projects. We get a lot of questions though, about how we painted out cabinets so I figured I would at least share with you the approach we took to painting two different kitchens this summer so this is more of a "How We Painted our Kitchen" vs. an actual tutorial.

In case you missed our kitchen post with all the photos earlier this week you can see lots more photos and all the source details here.

(Update: here is what our kitchen looks like right now:)



And here is what it looked like when we moved in earlier this summer.

And here is what it looks in Jason's kitchen right now (it's not quite finished but almost....you can see more photos and get more details here).


And this is what it looked like when he moved in:

I took two different approaches to painting these cabinets. For Jason's I did what would probably be considered the "proper" way. I removed them and first primed them with a coat of Zinsser primer (I can't remember what type it was but I know it wasn't the 1-2-3 one that I used in our kitchen).



After that I put 3 coats of Benjamin Moore's Advance Paint in Simply White with a semi-gloss finish on (I am not sure how long it was between coats - when I am up in NH there really isn't a pattern to how I work...well, there really isn't when I am home either, haha, but there is even less of one when I am up there).  Then my dad and I put the cabinet doors back on.

After that Jason offered up his contribution of putting the new knobs on and when I made another trip to New Hampshire I added a fourth coat of paint to the cabinets and Jamie and I painted the trim with the same paint. And this is how we left it for a while (not finished but a nice improvement):

Once it was finished I have to say I was really pleased with the results from using the Advance paint. The cabinets have such a professional finish to them (minus my painting job of course, I just mean the actual durability) and I was surprised at how hard the paint dries - I can't imagine having any issues with chipping. Overall I was VERY impressed with how the advance paint looks once you are done. However, I am not going to lie - having to do five coats (one of primer and four of the paint) was NOT fun. Fortunately it was a pretty small kitchen. Because of that I used a different type of paint to do my kitchen here at home.

So, here is the approach I took when painting our kitchen. First my mom cleaned all the cabinets. Remember in my kitchen post earlier this week how I said they were gross. Well,  this is what the dust build up looked like:

Then my mother-in-law and I primed all the trim and doors with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer.

And then we primed the cabinets:

And yes, you are seeing that right! I did NOT remove the doors - I know that will horrify some people reading this. Haha! (And if you are wondering about the crazy mess this photo was taken on the 4th of July right after we finished our dinner - having a small cookout in the middle of painting your kitchen is not really a very good idea.)

Let me explain my reasoning for not removing the doors. It all boiled down to the hinges. This is the third kitchen I have painted. For the first two (the kitchen in our last house and Jason's kitchen) I would never have considered leaving the cabinet doors on. The other two kitchens though had cabinets with those hidden hinges. These cabinets had very dated and very noticable hinges on the outside of the cabinets. Initially my plan was to remove them and fill in the marks left from them and then put new hinges on that had that hidden style. Well, when I went to get the hinges I was surprised at the price and how much it was going to cost to replace all the hinges (I didn't mind the thought of replacing all the knobs and pulls but wasn't as excited about spending the money on the hinges). I still probably would have gone ahead and done it because I knew it would definitely be the best option but after starting to remove one hinge I realized how much work it was going to be to repair the cabinets in the hinge area to get them nice and smooth I decided I just didn't have it in me. When you are painting an entire house from top to bottom it gets easy to concede something like this. If I were just doing the kitchen then I think I would probably have gone ahead and done the extra work and replaced the hinges and sanded the doors down nicely and removed them to paint but with all the other projects I have on my list to do here (and all the ones at Jason's) it just seemed too overwhelming. So, seeing how I was going to leave the hinges I still wanted to make them less noticable so that meant painting them and at that point it just made the most sense (and certainly saved a TON of time) to just leave the doors on. It meant being more careful and going slower and using my paint brush more than my roller but all it all it was WAY quicker than the other way. =)

After the priming was done we added two coats of London Fog in Benjamin Moore's Aura line (instead of their Advance line we used for Jason's). I chose the semi-gloss finish. I have always been a big fan of the Aura paint. It has a built in primer and is a much thicker paint, in my opinion, than the Advance. I just about always choose the Aura line for pretty much any and every type of painting. I definitely preferred only having to do two coats to the four I had to do at Jason's. However, I would have to say it does not have that same extremely hard, durable finish that the Advance has. Don't get me wrong, it still is pretty hard but definitely not the same so I could see somewhere down line possibly having some minor chipping/peeling issues.

Once the painting was done I drilled new holes for the new hardware that I purchased at Lowe's.

I had to go to two different Lowe's to get enough of the pulls but I am glad I did because they are one of my favorite details.


 I left the doors open for about 24 hours to help prevent any sticking.
So which paint and approach do I think is better? The approach part is easy to answer. Unless you have a similar hinge situation to what we had in our kitchen I would say removing the cabinets is the way to go! I think it's easier to get a more professional and smoother looking finish that way.

If you are wondering which paint I would recommend that's a little harder. I am big fans of both and If I were to tackle another kitchen I would probably say the Aura because I like the consistency of it better and prefer the coverage it provides. That being said, I think the Advance is a slightly better option for cabinets and when it comes to the overall finished look the Advance slightly edges out the Aura. I think it's basically personal preference. For me I think I would choose the aura because I am I'd rather save my time a little and was still happy with how they turned out. If you are a perfectionist and have patience I would say you would probably prefer the Advance.

And that's pretty much all I can think to share about painting kitchen cabinets. 

You can click here for more of our phase 1 kitchen photos:


And here for more details on phase 2:
http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/our-kitchen-makeover-before-and-afters.html

http://dearlillieblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/our-kitchen-makeover-before-and-afters.html

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! I'll be back next week with photos of my parents kitchen and some fall items including our first chalkboard canvas.





P.S. I thought I would add in these two things based on the e-mails we have gotten that mostly are about these two things. No, we did not do any sanding and as far as what we used to paint the cabinets we used both brushes and those small foam rollers.



108 comments:

  1. its beautiful.. thanks for the detailed explanations about the aura and advance paint types.

    you've done so much work , so sit back and enjoy all the beauty you've created, at least for a day or two..

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  2. Your kitchen looks absolutely beautiful!!! You did a great job job with it, what a transformation! I love the wooden ceiling beams, they add so much character to it! What a beautiful space!!

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  3. Having painted the kitchen cabinets in our last house, I definitely feel your pain--it is such a huge job! But it makes such a difference, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Yours looks amazing, as always. Great job! Can't wait to see more of your home.

    My folks live in W'burg and I always hope I'll run into you when we're visiting...maybe one day!

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  4. Great post! I LOVE both kitchens! I painted my kitchen cabinets, alone, one weekend and I KNOW exactly what you mean! Painful! But the result oh so make up for it! You did a beautiful job! I'm jealous! :) You can see my kitchen at on my blog!

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  5. Jennifer, it looks wonderful and I used the Advance on our bathroom cabinets and love it. Still holding up well after many months. I love your little rolling island.

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  6. We've all seen before how paint transforms before but OMG y'all really outdid yourself. What a transformation. It's like a breath of fresh air, just beautiful.

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  7. We hired a crew to spray all of our cabinets, including bathroom vanities. They used BM- it's by far my favorite paint.

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  8. They both look beautiful!! I am so ready to do this type of project and have been researching and obsessed with it for 2 years now. After reading this post I'm going to do it! But can you tell me, did you use a roller or brush or both? Also, no sanding? That's the part that I really don't want to do and if the primer works good enough then that makes this project so much easier-well not easy but easier;) We have a ton of cabinets so it's going to take time but seeing your pics really makes me want to tackle this!!

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    1. Thank you! We used both a roller and brush. And no, we didn't sand. If you want to make sure you have no chipping them you might want to but I am not that picky and so don't mind if we have a few issues over the years that we can just touch up.

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  9. also, where did you put your microwave?

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    1. Our hope is to put it in one of the lower cabinets (my parent's have theirs like that and we love it!) I will be showing their kitchen later this week!

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  10. Wow, it sounds like so much work! But your kitchens both turned out perfect to me! I love your honesty in this post. I am much more like you in the way of not having time to always do it the right way.. I'm about to paint my kitchen cabinets, so this was helpful! Thanks for the post!

    Jen

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  11. Looks great. Two Quick questions.... Did you paint the backsides of the doors or the inside of the cabinets or just leave them wood color? Also, I am debating the satin vs. semi-gloss finish. Is the semi-gloss super shiny or just a nice shiny? Thanks, Jenni!!

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    1. Thank you. No, we didn't paint the insides or the back part of the doors. I can see someday painting the backsides of the doors but probably won't ever do the insides. It's definitely glossy but it's not obnoxiously so.

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    2. Thanks for taking the time to reply!!

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  12. Great tutorial and explanation of your experience with both kitchens. I painted the cabinets in my last house and I used an oil based paint and primer... I did replace the hinges but ordered them online and they were way cheaper.. But not all hinges are created equal and I had trial and error finding ones that the screw holes would line up. Not an easy task... Your kitchen looks so fresh and you did an amazing job. The power of paint!! marcy

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  13. Lovely.

    It made an amazing transformation of your kitchen especially! Dark to light. Wow!

    Brenda

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  14. You did a fantastic job on both kitchens! Did you paint the inner part od the door or inside at all? Just wondering if you need to as I am looking into doing my kitchen in about 3 weeks. Will definitely look into the advance paint. Ana

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    1. Thank you, Ana! No, we didn't paint the insides or the back part of the doors. I can see someday painting the backsides of the doors but probably won't ever do the insides.

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  15. We did our bathroom cabinets with the Behrer paint and primer and they still look brand new on a satin finish. I think painting is time consimg but gives a big result! Love all your decorating choices! Ana

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  16. What. a. DIFFERENCE. !!!!!!!!!! So amazing what paint can do to transform a space!!!
    Fantastic - so much lighter and brighter.: )
    Regarding the grimy "before" pics of the cabinets...ACK!!!!! We can totally relate because ours were horrendous when we moved into our house too!!!
    Have a sweet weekend.: )
    Leah

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  17. Perfection! Can't wait to see all the other changes in your house and all the rooms and colors. It's like waiting for the sequel. Ha!

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  18. Your kitchen is gorgeous..which is what really matters in the long run ;). I've tried both lines of BJ, and I really like the Advance. I would really like to paint my kitchen cabinets, but would love to try a sprayer and see how that turns out, I don't have a light hand when painting. Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

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  19. I love the result! I want to paint my cabinets, but haven't had the courage to just start. Did you use a roller, brush or pad? also, did you do any sanding or just start with the primer?
    Love all the colors and you home is lovely!
    Carolyn

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    1. Thanks you, Carolyn! We used both a brush and a roller. And no, we didn't do any sanding.

      Have a lovely week!

      Warmly,
      Jenni

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  20. Both of the kitchens you painted turned out beautifully!! You must be so thrilled with your new home. I can't believe how much work you've put into it, but the results are so worth it!

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  21. I love how your kitchen turned out!!! The hood is my favorite!!! Where did you move the microwave oven? I can't wait to see the rest of the house made over.

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    1. Thanks, Rebecca! Our hope is to put it in one of the lower cabinets (my parent's have theirs like that and we love it!) I will be showing their kitchen later this week!

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  22. It looks so gorgeous! I also am wondering, did you not sand the cabinets first? I have so many cabinets and this is the part that turns me off to the idea of painting them myself. If you wouldn't mind telling us if you used a roller and/or brush also, that would be wonderful. Nice work! :)

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    1. Thank you! No, I skipped the sanding part entirely! =) And I used both a brush and a small foam roller.

      Have a blessed rest of your weekend!

      Warmly,
      Jenni

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  23. I'm with you on the hinges. How did you paint the hinges? Just brushed paint on them?

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    1. Yes, we just used a brush. It really wasn't too bad.

      Have a blessed rest of your weekend!

      Warmly,
      Jenni

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  24. Gwen
    I have the old fashioned hinged cabinets and when I was young I totally redid my 1940's tall pine cabinets without taking the hinges off. Back then I covered ( smothered?!) them in masking tape. I wondered why I couldn't do that again. In this house built in the early 2000's. so its nice to see it does work. You amaze me how much you've gotten done. Wow!!! Looks very nice too.

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  25. I have got to try Benjamin Moore paint that's all there is to it! I have been painting several pieces of furniture, got the best from Lowes: Valspar, and am sick of it. I love the color: Birch White but have tried everything and still get brush lines! Yours looks so smooth! I've been thinking about taking on a bathroom, I just love all the white! So clean!

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  26. FABULOUS!!! I just used Advance on my dining room wainscot and built in's in my kitchen. I love it!

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  27. I think my favorite photos in this post are of your messy kitchen! Obviously for most of the photos you post on here you prep and get your rooms picture perfect and it looks fantastic. But I love seeing the truth of what can really happen in your home, just like all of ours.

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  28. The kitchen looks fabulous! If possible, could you show a close up of the painted hinges? I have the same dilemma in my kitchen - colonial strap hinges, which I loathe - and I would love to see what they look like painted (just in case I ever get brave enough to paint my cherry cabinets :) ) Thank you! Pam

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    1. Sure, Pam! Send me an e-mail and I will e-mail you a close-up shot of the hinges.

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  29. Love your kitchen! I recently painted my honey oak cabinets. I used BEHR® Interior/Exterior Alkyd Semi-Gloss Enamel in Manchester Gray. The color isn't gray at all. More like almond or bisque. I was working with bisque colored appliances that I couldn't replace. The paint is a "fake oil". It's a latex that dries like an oil base. Dried very hard finish.I have 3 bathrooms with same oak cabinets that need painting. I will use this paint through-out.
    I removed the doors with the hinges on. They are like your hinges. Taped them while painting.After painting the doors I painted the hinges with a small art paint brush using a rubbed oil bronze paint. They match the knobs and pulls perfectly. I picked the same style hardware that you used. My husband put bead board paneling on the ends of the cabinets and the back side of the peninsula.I love the look.The kitchen is so much lighter now.
    Thank you for writing a great blog. I read it everyday and admire all that you do. I would have never undertaken the job of painting my cabinets if not for you. Keep writing your wonderful blog and inspiring me. I'll keep reading.
    I want to mention I'm a sixty year old grandmother of two. The grands are 4 and 1 and I take care of them everyday.So I identify with you and your children. It's challenging doing any project with 4 extra hands helping. You really are an inspiration and a blessing!

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  30. Gorgeous transformation! I love seeing the changes you are making to your new home.
    xx,
    Sherry

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  31. Great job. Looks beautiful. The London Fog in Benjamin Moore's Aura line paint is that water based or oil based? What do you prefer?

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  32. I don't know how you find the time to do what you do! That said, thank you for doing all you do so that THE WORLD can do too! Quick question: did you poly at the end? I've painted my kitchen before and used poly. Any thoughts?

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    1. No, I didn't poly. I just primed and painted. I am sure I will deal with some chipping issues in my kitchen (I don't think there will be any problems with that in Jason's - the Advance dries so hard!) but I am willing to deal with that. I don't mind doing little touch ups here and there.

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  33. Everything is beautiful. I have a huge kitchen with white cabinets which I have repainted once and I am not happy with them. After reading your experience, I will paint them again with Benjamin Moore. Question: since they are already white do I still need a primer to avoid sanding? Again, I love the transformation.

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    1. Thank you! I am definitely not an expert of painter but I wouldn't see why you would need a primer if they are already painted. You might need to sand a bit in places if the paint that is already there has any weird patches.

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    2. You should rough up the cabinets with a 220 grit sand paper before painting or it will not "stick" to it if you don't prime first. You can just go over it quickly, not actually removing paint, just giving the paint something to grip to. After a paint has hardened over time, you need to either prime or sand.

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  34. I think they turned out great... and i don't blame you one little bit for not removing the hinges. That was definitely the smartest move. I didn't remove the doors when i painted my kitchen, and i don't really think it made a huge difference at all. You have totally transformed your house so fast it is AMAZING!

    Cindy

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  35. such a difference. great new clean look! Lizzie

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  36. I'm just so amazed by all your energy Jennifer. I've painted a kitchen and it's tiring. I cannot imagine having little ones and doing all that painting. It looks fabulous by the way! I hope you don't have to cook too hahaha

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  37. I enjoyed looking at your pics and reading your experiences painting your cabinetry in your homes. I am a Benjamin Moore Painter and I use Aura and Advance on all my work, but I also do like to topcoat with a clear coat for added durability. I like to use the Aura eggshell, or Satin on my cabinetry. The Advance flows out to such a gorgeous finish. I like to use STIX as a primer for the cabinets, and I sand out between coats. Both sides are done, the outer side is the last side to do. As for hardware, I always take it off. There are certain rollers I like to use, I love the velvet rollers. Your colours sounded so nice!!! A colour I love to use is AF-20 Mascarpone. Looking forward to hearing more of what you do. www.pixiedustpainting.ca

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  38. Beautiful job! I'm a long time "Benjamin Moore Girl" and have been using STIX primer (tinted to match the Advance) and Benjamin Moore Advance which was color matched to Restoration Hardware "Slate", on cabinets, wainscot, and woodwork in our new home. I LOVE it!

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  39. I really love how your kitchen turned out! Such a difference! The white cabinets look amazing with the dark floor. Can you come do my cabinets in Halifax? ;) Keep up the good work!

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  40. Beautiful! Did you have a problem with your painted hinges cracking or chipping? I am about to tackle painting my cabinets and hinges. You are truly talented!

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    1. Thank you! No, not yet. But isn't only been 31/2-4 months so we shall see over time...

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  41. Beautiful job! Did you have any issues with your hinges cracking or peeling ? I'm about to tackle my cabinets and would appreciate the feedback. You're truly talented !

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    1. Thank you! No, not yet. But isn't only been 31/2-4 months so we shall see over time...

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  42. Amazing job! The cabinets look really good! Congratulations!

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  43. Thanks so much for sharing this! I have been needing to get new kitchen cabinets in South Shore, MA... These are some great ideas!

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  44. Wow what a transformation with your kitchen. Its amazing what you can do with a lick of paint. Its fantastic you kept the cabinets that you have as they really are beautiful. I also think it was a good idea to use the space above the bar and put lights in.
    Your blog entry is great, not just for the fact you have shown us two ways you transformed the kitchens but because you gave us such a detailed description upon how you did it. Well done on all your work. Thank you for posting this.

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  45. That sounds really nice, I think that it might be about time for me to re-paint my kitchen cabinets in my home here in Toronto. I think that it would be a pretty good project for the winter.

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  46. Love your lowes hardware. What finish is it? Do you remember the name of it? I can't seem to find it online due to the overwhelming amount of hardware on their site. Thank you!!!

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    1. Thank you. I really love it too. I am sorry - I don't remember. I thought I had taken a picture of the packaging but can't find it.

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  47. I am thinking of painting my kitchen cabinets but would like to skip painting the inside of the cabinet doors. What are your thoughts on this?

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    1. Hi! To be honest I have never painted the inside. Its really all about your preference. If you think not having the insides painted will bother you down the road then you may want to consider it, but we have never had any issues with them being unpainted.

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  48. Love your whole house!a couple kitchen questions....; how did you do the hood? Did you build it or order it? Is there a vent inside of it? Are your counters white? Ours are a corian but more of a tau perish color with some brown specs.... I'd love to try the gray owl but thinking it might not look very good. I fear white too b/c then the counters will look yellowed or dirty. Any thoughts???

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    1. Thanks, Amanda! We actually hired someone to build the hood for us. There is a good tutorial on a blog somewhere though (I can't remember which one, but I'm sure it would come up in a search). Our countertops are old Corian. They probably used to be white but now a little bit more of a creamish. We hope to replace them with either Marble or Quartz once we can. Also we used London Fog on the cabinets and have loved it so far!

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  49. Hi there! I just had a quick question...you mentioned that you cleaned the cabinets before priming them. Did you just use soap and water, or did you use something like TSP cleaner? I'm very close to convincing my hubby to paint our kitchen cabinets, but wanted to find out what you used to clean yours with first. :) Thanks so much! Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful!!

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! Just soap and water did the trick for us!

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  50. Wow! your blog really amazing and interesting.....

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  51. I painted mine ... used the small roller for cabinets used two coats of primer first and all u can see is roller marks ... its not smooth like cabinets are suppose to be .... any suggestions?

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  52. I forgot to hit the notify me on my last message

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    1. Hmm that is odd! We do three coats after the primer, and use both a paint brush and a small roller. We use foam roller heads on our small rollers. I don't know if would make a difference in the smoothness or not though.

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  53. How well has the paint held up. I assume it's been several months since they were painted. Curious to know as I'm planning on painting my cabinets and would love to see if I can skip the de-glossing and sanding with this primer and paint combo. Thanks

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    1. Hi! The paint has held up well both here and at my brother's house thus far.

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  54. They look beautiful! My husband and I are in the process of painting cabinets white right now and decided on Advance paint, however we have had serious issues with bubbles, thus our final finish does not look as nice as we'd like. Did you have issues with this? The hardware store suggested putting a coat of Aura over the Advance in hopes of a smoother finish. Since you have experience with both paints what would you suggest? Thanks in advance!

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    1. I'm so sorry to hear that! We have have had any issues with that! Did you prime first?

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    2. Yes, we did 2 coats of the Advance primer (sanded in between) and thought it was a great primer. Once we started with the actual paint the bubbles have been insane. We've tried 3 different kinds of rollers, and tried straight brushing with no luck. I'm worried switching to Aura will not give me the hard finish I was hoping for.

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    3. Dear Anonymous, I realize it's been 2 yrs.since you painted your kitchen. I also am having trouble with paint bubbles, only using Aura. What was your solution? Desperate in the Dakota's.

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  55. So I have a question, I painted my bathroom cabinets white and I don't like them, I like your gray better. So if you were going to paint over painted cabinets, how would you do that? It seems like such a big job I don't know if I want to tackle it! :-(

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  56. Well I read up in your comments, and I found my answer! Thanks!

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  57. You did a great job! I have been thinking about painting my kitchen cabinets for some time now. I am just too scared I will mess them up. What are some tips you found that helped you? I need all the help I can get.

    Alena | http://www.caliberkitchens.com.au

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  58. Hi Jennifer! We are considering painting our kitchen cabinets and I was wondering, are yours/Jason's cabinets still in good shape? What scares me most about the project is the sanding, but if you didn't sand and still achieved a good end product, it might be on my to-do list. Let me know, thank you Jennifer - your home and Jason's too is stunning!

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    1. Yes! We haven't had any chipping issues at all at Jason's (we used the Advance paint on his which is extremely durable). And the only chipping we've had on ours are on the spot the girls use to climb up on the counters where we bake. They were just tiny spots though, and I touched them up a couple of months ago in literally less than a minute and so far there hasn't been any chipping since!

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  59. Hi Jenni! Was the primer you used a Latex base? I see they also offer a shellac and an oil primer. thanks!

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    1. Hi! I'm not positive, but I would guess! It definitely wasn't oil.

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  60. Hi, Jennifer. I can tell from your blog that you must be a very busy person but I'm hoping you'll take a second to update us on your update :) How are your two paint jobs holding up 6 more months down the road? In hindsight, which paint/primer combo would you use if you were to paint another kitchen? Thanks in advance!

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    1. They are holding up well! And my opinion on both is still the same--the advance paint has a slightly harder/more professional feel but it also is much more time consuming so its just a personal preference.

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  61. Can you see any of the wood grain after painting or no? Beautiful transformation!

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  62. Hi there! I found this post through your Part 2 that I saw on Pinterest:) First, let me say I love how your kitchen turned out. I am wondering now that you have three paint jobs under your belt, what made you go with a semi-gloss over chalk paint? I did a 15ft wall of new to me maple cabinets in the fall in Annie Sloan Old White with clear wax, but I do not feel that six months is enough time to decide how they are holding up because they don't get a ton of use, plus I have handles/pulls. I would appreciate any advice or info. Thanks! Lisa R. @ afarmhousefullofhope@gmail.com

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  63. Hi there! This may post 3x because I seem to be having trouble leaving the comment..
    I found this post through your part 2 which I saw on Pinterest. First, let me say I love how your kitchen turned out! In a couple weeks I will be embarking on a full kitchen of new to me maple raised panel cabinets that are in original antique white finish-no paint. I am curious what made you decide to go with a semi-gloss instead of chalk paint? This past fall I did a 15ft wall of maple, new to me, cabinets in Annie Sloan Old White with clear wax. The only prep I had to do was wash and rinse all of them with tsp. I do not feel that six months is enough time to decide how they are holding up because they really haven't gotten a ton of use, plus I have knobs. I look forward to any advice you can offer because you are two paint jobs ahead of me at this point.

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    1. Hi, Lisa! We didn't really have a decision to make, as we were never considering chalk paint for these. We've used chalk paint before on a couple of furniture pieces, but we use BM on about 95% of what we paint and have always been thrilled with it so we didn't look into using anything else.

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  64. You did a fantastic job, that kitchen looks absolutely beautiful, like a showroom or something!

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  65. Hi! I know this thread is a little older, but.... I am halfway done painting my kitchen cabinets using General Finishes Milk Paint. It was then recommended that I poly over the top (which I know you didn't do, but that's okay). I chose a semi-gloss poly, and am sitting here looking at it and wondering if I should have gone flat or satin instead? I'm only about 1/4 way done with the poly part, so I can switch if I want to.... I know it's a personal decision, so I guess I'm throwing it out there because I don't want to make it on my own! SO -- concensus on finish on painted cabinets? Flat, Satin, or Semi-Gloss??? (For the record, I had the old honey oak cabinets, so the grain does show but I'm okay with that. I painted them Seagull Gray and LOVE the color!)

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  66. Your cabinets turned out beautifully! I love the white background on everything! I painted my cabinets a month or so ago, and have yet to work on the decor so that my kitchen can match up; just like yours. I was thinking about going shopping this weekend to see if I can find some new kitchen decor that I like, and then just get rid of all the old stuff. I guess we'll see if that works out! If not, I guess I can just dazzle my guests with how white my cabinets are.

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  67. Hi. You probably aren't looking at replies from such an old post but your kitchens are beautiful! I'm having my cabinets painted with the advance paint but can't decide on semi gloss or satin. The painter says that the satin in advance is closer to other paints semi gloss than their satin. I was excited when I found your page after not really being able to find much on the semi gloss. However, after looking at your pics, I noticed that the label for the advance was red (satin) not green (semi gloss). So are the sheens for the Jason's satin advance and your semi gloss aura cabinets similar? Do you find that either is harder to clean? Thanks.

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    1. Hi, Kai! I'd say mine were slightly easier to clean than Jenni's because advance has a slightly harder finish.

      -Jason

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  68. Great job.Your Kitchen looks very Beautiful!
    Thanks for complete explanation.

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  69. The kitchen looks divine, I particularly like all the white decor and how it compliments the wood panelling.

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  70. Hi! Thanks for the great write up! I am curious why you felt like you needed to do four coats of the Advance. Why couldn't you stop at one or two? Coverage?

    Thanks!

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    1. Hi! The paint is very thin, so Jenni felt like it really needed all four coats to actually feel finished. I can say as well, in my previous home we only did 3 coats and I had always wished we had done one more top coat. Hope this helps!

      -Jason

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    2. Thanks for the info! I just finished applying the second coat. It definitely does require a few coats! I may do one more just to be sure it is even in all light.

      I've had great success applying it with a Wagner Flexio sprayer without thinning at all! The paint levels out perfectly with no orange peel.

      Thanks!

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  71. Hello! We have old laminate cabinets with black hammered strap hinges that are VERY visible. They look dated, but replacing them would require a lot of work. Would you consider painting over a strap hinge so that it matches the color of the cabinet and does not stand out as much? In other words my hinge is much larger and even more obvious than yours was. Thanks in advance!

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    Replies
    1. Hi! I checked with Jenni, and she said she still would. Painting them won't be a perfect solution, but it should help!

      -Jason

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  72. This looks beautiful!! I think I want to try it in my kitchen. thanks

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