I’ve been in-love with this kitchen for so long:

I just can’t get it out of my mind.

And this weekend, my water heater went south.

Doesn’t everyone, when faced with a water heater replacement, say “Well, I guess we might as well just rip the kitchen on out and re-do it.”? I know I do.

A few less obvious reasons I love this kitchen (as-if sheer hot-ness isn’t enough):

• the oven and microwave are at the perfect height
• (like I said, these are less obvious reasons… the obvious ones are here)
• The four-light windows and matching pattern in the door
• The way the red controls on the range play off the red cabinet… love that.
• I’ve always wanted a prep sink (vegetable sink, baby sink, sinkette)
• Furniture-style feet on the oven cabinet

I go on and on about it more in my original post which shows more pictures.

I just was staring at the picture and thought I’d show-off my dream kitchen (in someone else’s house) again!

How to save money, create great visual impact, and get efficient kitchen storage at the same time!

Kitchen Cabinets and Shelves Mix Great

One of the hottest new trends in kitchen design is the use of open shelves in-place of traditional upper cabinets. As usual, the use of the word “new” isn’t entirely accurate. Open shelves in kitchens have been around forever. Pretty much because they rock.

Open Shelves Look Fantastic

When considering open shelves for your kitchen storage, we should dispense with trying to start off with practical reasons. The number one reason to use open shelves in kitchen design is because it looks absolutely amazing!

The availablity of great looking stuff to put on those shelves is a big help. Colorful bowls and pretty dishes combine with ultra sharp looking mixing bowls, giant spoons, and shiny small appliances to make the whole thing look like a resort kitchen.

Oh, and I almost forgot, the whole kitchen looks about twice the size and about ten times as bright and airy. I’m just sayin.

Open Shelves Are Efficient Storage

Let’s face the facts. Upper cabinet storage has never been ideal. First of all, it’s not easy to reach way up there. Shelves don’t fix that, but what they do fix is that you can see what in the world you’re trying to reach. The framework around cabinets makes the storage area darker and it invites the storage technique known as “jamming”.

Open shelves may not be able to be crammed full, but you still have base cabinets for that! They end-up being efficient storage that you can access much easier, and don’t get all cluttered up with jamming.

Open Shelves Are Cheap

I probably should say “dirt cheap” because in reality, compared to cabinetry, there is almost no comparison. I’ll throw a contractor number out there off the top of my head. A six foot long run of upper cabinets in a nice kitchen might run about $1,000.00 with the range being from half that to double that or more.

A 6′ run of open shelving, even nicely done with quality materials, shouldn’t run you more than $500 or so and I’m being conservative. If you do it yourself, you’re looking at $50.00 in materials!

The bottom line is we’re talking cheap, cheap, cheap, compared to regular cabinets.

Is Open Shelving for You?

The biggest concern I’ve heard has been dust and dirt on the dishes. Is that something that worries you? Do these great benefits outweight that concern?

I think when we get around to our kitchen, at least part of the design will include shelving for storage.

Recommended Kitchen Remodeling Posts

Replacement Kitchen Cabinet Doors – An Alternative to New Cabinets
Banquette, Booth, or Built-In? Cool Kitchen Table Seating
Kitchen Tile Trends at Calfinder Remodeling Blog

“I need a new kitchen!” These words are often spoken with some combination of feelings. These might include excitement, anticipation, and maybe a bit of old-fashioned fear! Fear of the work being too hard, fear that the cost will be too high, and fear of a bunch of contractors making life way too complicated!

I’ve got an idea for you today that might help put some of those concerns at ease. An idea that works for anyone looking to remodel a kitchen on a budget. Especially those who like the layout they already have. Here it is: Rather than replace the whole set of cabinets, try replacing just the doors.

Replacement Kitchen Cabinet Doors Are Nothing To Fear

Most of this article is focused on the DIY approach to this job, but these same ideas can work to save you money if you want to hire a capenter, cabinet maker, or contractor.

No matter your approach, replacement kitchen cabinet doors will save you a bundle of money as compared to new cabinets.

Cabinets Doors Are Most Of What You See

Take a look at your kitchen cabinets. What percentage of visible surface is doors? If you have a European style cabinet, it may be 100%, but even for a traditional design, the percentage is very high. The simple fact is that the visual component of cabinets is heavily focused on the doors.

This means that new cabinet doors will result in a visual impact very similar to a whole new cabinet! That said, a good bit more work is required to really complete the job. But it is all something you can totally do yourself.

This article is meant to be a relatively comprehensive overview of the various components of this job. We’ll start with the doors, move on to the process of updating the fixed components of your cabinets, and then finish with a brief overview of the hardware you’ll need.

Cabinet Doors – Make Them, Buy Them, or Have Them Made

Make Your Own Cabinet Doors

If you’re of the adventerous sort and have a fair dose of woodworking skill, you might be wondering if you can make your own cabinet doors. Of course the answer is yes! But the level of skill and tools required varies widely with the type of door you want to use.

Simple Plywood Cabinet Doors

The most basic cabinet door you can make is so simple, you can do it in about ten minutes! It’s only a matter of cutting a sheet of quality plywood to size. For the most basic form, that’s actually pretty much it.

• Cut the plywood to size.
• Sand the edges and faces.
• Paint it or finish it.
• Done!

Depending on your experience with plywood, you may be thinking: what about the big gaps in the edge of the plywood? You know what I mean, you cut a sheet of plywood and when you look at the edge, there are openings in the inner plys, sometimes quite large. These are called voids.

There are two options for that: the first is to use wood filler to fill these gaps prior to painting or finishing. The second, that you might not be aware of, is to buy plywood that doesn’t have that to begin with!

Plywood is available in various quality levels and one of the measures of quality has to do with the “voids”. You can buy plywood that is 100% void-free.

A Step-Up From Simple Plywood Cabinet Doors

No matter how high-quality your plywood is, it can be very difficult to make the edges appear totally smooth. Most simple plywood doors don’t totally cover the plys on the edge. You see the lines.

If that doesn’t sound like something you would like, there are a couple of easy alternatives.

1. You can use a glue-on edge band
2. or you can install a solid wood edge.

Glue-On Edge Band for Plywood Doors

Edge Banding is about as simple as it gets. Most of it has heat activated glue and, are you ready for this, you iron it on. With a regular iron. I’ll never forget the time we were building a huge set of top-dollar cabinets and our professional iron broke. I had to run to Wal-Mart and buy a regular clothes iron to finish the job. That was the most non-tool looking tool I ever purchased!

You just roll the banding on the edge, heat and press with the iron, let the glue set for awhile, then trim the excess off the edge with a sharp razor blade. A light sanding on the edge and the whole door looks like a slab of solid wood.

Solid Wood Strips On The Cabinet Door Edge

If you want to keep your DIY replacement kitchen cabinet doors simple, but you don’t like the look of a flat slab, you can add some depth and visual interest by adding a wood strip to the edge that protrudes a little beyond the face of the plywood.

By cutting your plywood panel 1.5 inches less than the size you want in the end, you can simply add some stock 1-by material (3/4″ thick) to the edge and meet your finished size easily.

This looks nice if you allow the edge strip to protrude a little. About 1/4″ looks nice. So if you’re using 3/4″ thick plywood (recommended for cabinet doors), you would use 1″ x 3/4″ wood strips for the edge.

Flat Panel Cabinet Doors

Another step-up on the time/effort/skill scale is a nice flat-panel door. Rather than a solid plywood structure, these doors are made in a more traditional style using five parts.

• Stiles – on either side of the door
• Rails – at the top and bottom
• Panel – the insert that fills the center of the door

There are a number of tutorials online that show how to make these doors at varying levels of detail and using graduating degrees of complex joinery and woodworking techniques.

One simple manner that I’ve used in the past is taking a solid 1×4 and cutting what’s known as a rabbet on the back edge, 1/4″ deep by 3/4″ wide, which creates a space for a flat panel. You can use plywood, mdf, or even a chalkboard for this flat panel insert.

Raised Panel Cabinet Doors

As flat panel doors are a step-up from simple plywood doors, so raised panel doors are a step-up from flat panels. As such, the whole concept really requires its own article and tutorials! Suffice it to say that the concept is very similar to flat panel in terms of door construction, and the complexity is mostly involved in the construction of the panel itself.

All of these doors are something that you can build yourself and when you install them, you’ll have a great new kitchen.

Buy Replacement Cabinet Doors

If you want to do the finish work yourself and install them yourself, you can still save a fortune with much less work by buying replacement cabinet doors from a company that specializes in this niche.

I’ve bought at least four or five kitchens full of doors from one particular company who provides great doors, but there are dozens (at least) that do nothing but build cabinet doors.

The company I’ve used in the past is Walzcraft, but there are many more listed online.

These companies all have huge selections and all you have to do is give them the measurements, select a style, and decide if you want them to do the finishing.

Pay your money (it can add up!) and a few weeks later a huge pile of boxes show up full of beautiiful cabinet doors.

Have Them Made

The last option is similar to the previous, but what I’m referring to here is going to a local cabinet maker or woodworker and having them make your replacement doors for you, with the understanding that you’ll finish them and install them. (or have them finish the doors for you!)

This option is nice because you can have more control over the design details. You can probably make your own design combining edge details, wood species, panel shape, and other factors to really make the door you want (though all those options are available from the big companies too).

If you want to really incorporate something unique, such as a wood carving or some stained glass you already own, this is the way to go.

Interestingly, it’s very possible that having the doors custom made locally might actually cost less than ordering them from a larger company. The trick to that is shopping around and knowing what the market price is for what you want.

What About The Rest Of The Cabinets When Replacing Doors

When you replace your cabinet doors, you cover the vast majority of the visible component of the cabinets, but not everything. What do you need to do to the rest to make it all look like new?

The answer depends on the style of your cabinets. They might be European Style or Face Frame (or a few varieties of these).

European Style Cabinets – generally consist of a plywood box with no face on it. If you remove the doors, you don’t see anything but the inside of the cabinets. These require the least work when replacing cabinet doors.

Face-Frame Style Cabinets – this style is more traditional and probably more common overall. With the doors in-place, you see some flat solid wood between your doors, usually a couple of inches or so. This wood is called the “face frame”. These type cabinets require a bit more effort when using replacement doors.

The Common Thread

Really, the gist of what is necessary between the two styles is the same. Anything that’s left when the doors are removed, or anything that is visible with them installed that isn’t part of the doors, has to be refinished to match your new doors, or to accent them the way you want.

The good news is that usually this is pretty do-able work. Especially if you’re painting your cabinets rather than staining them.

Installing The Doors

I’ve done these myself a number of times and I can tell you, it’s really not that terribly difficult. The market is full of custom tools and jigs, and you might be told you need a drill-press or other special machine. Sure, those things help, but not having them doesn’t mean you can’t do the job!

For regular exposed hinges all you really need is a drill with a tiny drill bit (for predrilling), a screwdriver (a hand screwdriver works fine), a tape measure, and a pencil.

For concealed hinges, you’ll need to add what’s known as a “forstner bit” to the mix for drilling a large flat bottom hole in the back of the door. This is a step you want to be extra careful with! No drilling huge holes all the way through!

To avoid that, you can mark the bit at the proper depth for your hinges. A scrap of lumber is good for a little trial and error testing before you start on your fancy new doors!

The End Result: A kitchen that looks brand new and a wallet with a few dollars left!

If you’re considering a kitchen remodel, think about replacement kitchen cabinet doors as an option!

Questions? I know that this is an undertaking with more questions than I’ve answered here. I’ll be adding more information as I can (might even do a bit at my house and show you) and eventually I’ll have the whole process detailed on the blog. But in the meantime, if you want to do this in your house and you have questions, please feel free to leave your question in the comments and I’ll get to it as quickly as I can.

One good way to be sure you don’t miss updates to this category is to subscribe to Remodeling Guy in a feed reader. It’s free and, at least in theory, you won’t miss a single new detail!

I just can’t get enough of these colorful kitchens! I wrote apost just over a year ago with one that is still my favorite. That post was titled: Colors in Cabinetry — A New Trend? If it wasn’t already a major trend then, it certainly is now! And I’m one person who is happy, happy, happy about it!

bhg.com

The photo above has one thing in common with the one from last year that I think is really a key to pulling this look off:

Color on bottom — White on top!

Using white on the upper cabinet really serves to brighten the look. If the top half of the room had the darker colors, it wouldn’t work the same way. If they were actually reversed, and the white was on bottom, I think it would be a disaster!

Color On All The Cabinets

architecturaldigest.com

This look, where color is used on all of the cabinets is also beautiful in the right color and can work in a wider range of overall decor. The kind of detail and quality in these particular cabinets doesn’t hurt either.

Any thoughts? I’d love to hear your opinion on color in cabinetry or your favorite details in these pictures. It helps me know how your mind works! Thanks!

Call me a rebel, but I’m much happier when things are used in ways other than what was originally intended. Something about seeing real creativity in action makes me feel more creative. More energized really.

You may not realize it, but Remodeling Can Change Your Life, and little acts of rebellion are a great way to start. Like the unorthodox arrangement of these square storage cabinets above. I found this picture at RemodelingCenter.com and I really thought it was groovy!

I really love the use of color in this bath. The little bit of blue in the cubbies really jumps out and grabs your attention.

That’s not the only wicked cool cabinet storage idea I saw today. How about this:

For all I know, this was built just like this from scratch, but I see a creative use of an old hutch in this picture. Find an old hutch somewhere that might have a messed-up bottom section, and use just the top instead of upper kitchen cabinets.

I always think it’s neat to use a table for an island. There is a great one (along with many other awesome islands) in my post on kitchen islands.

And for any who might be wondering… I’m not sure where I’m going with the “Great Ideas for 2010″ thing. I did a #1 post on building a bed swing, so I felt compelled to do a #2, but I don’t suppose I’ll be wanting to have idea #214 come June, so I’ll have to rethink this a bit.

Oh, while we’re talking about using stuff in creative ways, if you happen to need to store ribbon, you should see some of the creative ribbon storage at Everything Etsy.com

Have you ever used cabinetry in a creative way? I’d love to hear about it!

This one is a perfect 10 if you ask me. I found the picture at one of my favorite haunts Houzz.com, and the kitchen is by Valerie Pedersen who works in the SF Bay Area.

Wow! I love, love, love it! I was searching for window seats and I came across this shot. I really love the built-in seating (storage inside would be cool). And while we’re talking seating… I love that bench seat too! The whole thing just works for me.

A Closer Look

I see much more than just the seating here though. One great thing about this kitchen is that it’s timeless. not much here is going to be outdated in five years. The white cabinets and black granite look awesome with that white subway tile wall splash.

(trivial info: traditionally, the “backsplash” was only a few inches above the counter. When the whole wall between the upper and lower cabinet was done it was referred to as a “wall splash”… not so much nowadays)

I also love the farm sink in this kitchen. To me, the whole kitchen almost has to be designed around a farm sink for it to look right. This one looks great! Great faucet too.

Great Trimwork Too

One of the other things that make this room look great is the use of “normal” but beautiful trimwork.

• Standard 5.25″ Crown
• Simple window casing
• Upgraded, but simple, baseboards
• Small Crown on upper cabinets

Some Great DIY Ideas Here

When I look at this picture, I see a list of individual projects that most beginners can handle.

• Painting – the biggest thing in this picture almost gets missed. That is a great contrast between wall color and cabinet and trim color. You can do that right now in your house!
• Light Fixture – the next step-up the DIY difficulty ladder is installing a cool light fixture. Installing a fixture is something you can learn to do with a Google Video search. It makes a huge difference (just don’t skip the “turn off the breaker” step)
• Cabinet Hardware – Maybe easier than the light fixture is to change out your pulls, knobs, and hinges. Heck, once all that is off, maybe you want to spray paint your cabinets!
• Run that trim! You can so do this! Start with the easiest thing, probably the window casing; maybe the baseboard. When you want to try crown molding, do that little crown on the cabinets first so you can figure out how to hold it upright in your saw for easy angle cuts.
• Build A Window Seat! – Once you get your skills to the point where you can run that crown, you can tackle the window seat. Then you’ll be in high-style!

Have fun!

Here we go! Finally, the end result of the cabinet door, Plan A version. It looks pretty good!

You may recall that we originally had to vote to decide which Drillbit Art pattern we would use. The winner was the bird!

So I eagerly got started, sanding and priming, in Painting Your Kitchen Cabinets – Part One .

And I showed you how to do a bird design via secret Remodeling Guy methods, hereafter known as Drillbit Art .

What happened next was a surprise to everyone including myself! I got frustrated with some brush marks and decided to try something new. We spray painted the cabinet door with good old spray paint.

That was plan B. If you haven’t seen that post, you ought to take a look because the results were pretty darn good. And the door we did is holding up great!

Back To Plan A

Well, I had already started the door and committed to give it to the lucky winner of the giveaway! I was determined to get it looking nice one way, or another. So after the paint dried I took a good look.

It wasn’t so bad. Both the initial problem (brush marks), and the fact that it came out nicely had a whole lot to do with the fact that I was using a matte flat paint. The winner specified that she didn’t want a sheen to the finish so I went with flat.

Flat never paints that smoothly on woodwork (with a brush) and I knew that, but those brush marks made me crazy! The good news is that flat doesn’t show the brush marks as much. Even so, the door had to be lightly sanded again and another coat applied, for a total of three coats. That was a TON of work for one little door.

The finish looks pretty nice, but you can still see some brush marks.

Even the area around the bird, and the large flat surface of the raised panel wound-up looking pretty smooth. I had to hit some of the bird holes with the drill a second time because paint had gotten in them, but that was easy.

The Verdict?

I don’t know. Based solely on the evidence I SEE, from my experience with this project, given the choice…seems like spray paint to me. But read the comments on that last post before you try it.

I call you guys The Crew for a reason. I consider this a team effort and many of the comments had good points, both for and against the spray paint. The hand painted method worked out fine too.

The Important Thing

It’s really not super critical HOW you paint your cabinets. The important thing is that you DO paint your cabinets if you don’t like them now! Both of the “average Joe” friendly methods I’ve shown are bound to have a mistake or two. But just remember the words of a wise friend….

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Just go for it! You’ll be glad you did. One really important bit of advice is this… whatever method you choose, practice on something small first! Get good at in in a bathroom or on a small piece of furniture, then go for the gusto.

If you haven’t seen it already, take a look at the post about the Spring Round-Up. I’m going to give you all a chance to show off your work, painting or otherwise, on May 1st.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think of the finish on the Plan A door? Has anyone tried to spray paint? One reader did try and had problems, anyone else?

(I thought of one more thing and added it in the comments… lucky me, I was the first comment!)

Finally the “Paint Your Cabinets” post you’ve been waiting for! Let’s Jump right in!

A Clear Finished Wood Door

We’re working with a door I had laying around in my shop. It was a beautiful solid maple door already.

But we have other plans for it!

Since this door had a clear coat of lacquer on top of stained wood, it really needs to be “roughed-up” before we can begin the process of painting it.

It’s almost never okay to paint a slick surface without some sort of sanding or other abrasive to roughen the surface.

I’ve found that if you’re going to be doing much woodworking, it makes sense to invest in a power sander! Trust me!

The main workhorse of my sanding fleet is this Random Orbital sander from DeWalt. This thing just won’t quit! I’ll include a link at the end in case you want to buy one!

It wasn’t my goal to get every bit of the original finish off. I just want to scuff the surface to make it more ready to accept primer.

I did get all the way through in some places and that’s a good thing. But you can imagine that this large sander didn’t do the best job with the little cracks and crevices in the door profile. I had to get those by hand, using sandpaper and/or steel wool. When I was done sanding, it looked like this:

When you sand, it’s very important to make sure that you take special care around the edges. The finished paint will rarely have problems in the center of the door. The edges, on the other hand, are very prone to getting whacked with all sorts of damaging objects such as pots and pans. By sanding the edge well, you can be more sure that the primer will get good adhesion where it counts most.

Apply The Primer

When you’ve finished sanding, clean and vacuum the door down to get rid of all dust. I use a rag dampened with a little bit of mineral spirits.

Water works, but the mineral spirits seems to do a better job of collecting the dust. Just don’t use too much. You only need a slightly damp rag and you want the paint thinner to evaporate completely, which it will do if thinly applied.

A bit of side info here: Mineral Spirits and Paint Thinner are the same thing, but not all “Paint Thinner” is 100% Mineral Spirits…I guess for the cheap stuff they use “thinner thinner”…? Always get 100% Mineral Spirits.

Go To A Real Paint Store

The most important part of painting, especially painting something other than just a regular wall, is getting the right paint for the job. That requires a real paint man. As you can see in the picture, I found one of those.

Even though I’ve been a contractor for … awhile…, I still took my door to a real paint store and showed it to a real paint man and asked him…”what should I use?” This is the way you should do this. Take your cabinet door, be it Formica, or wood, or whatever you have and show it to them. get some feedback. You’ll be able to tell if the person doesn’t know diddly squat.

If that happens, just go with what the great folks at Port Charlotte Paints told me to use.

Benjamin Moore paint has always worked well for me and according to the man, this primer here will allow you to paint just about anything, even Formica countertops! The key is to let it cure properly before applying a top-coat.

I would normally use a little bit of a sheen on for the paint, rather than the flat we have here, but the winner of this work of art in the making said that shiny paints caused her to feel ill, so I went with the flat.

In general, the more sheen a paint has, the more durable it will be. Knowing that this was for a cabinet, the paint man sold me a special “Matte Flat” that should be very durable.

Prime Time

I primed the back first so that I could leave the front untouched to dry well.

It didn’t take long at all for the primer to dry enough for me to flip the door over and work on the front.

Both sides require a little bit of patience when dealing with the corners. Paint tends to build-up a little in the corners and that’s especially true with the front.

Small amounts of paint build-up are easily solved by brushing away from the corner with an “empty” brush.

I had to work pretty quickly because it was very hot (mid 80′s) and I was in the bright sun. It would have been better to do this indoors, but you haven’t seen the inside of my shop.

You don’t want to see the inside of my shop. I’m Remodeling Guy, not Mr. Clean.

The Cure

I’m not talking about the band. If I were talking about the band, I would have to show you this video here. And then I would have to ask you to pray along with me every day that my sons’ love of music never causes them to look like that guy. Not even for one day…no matter how much they pay them.

I’m talking about the primer. You have to let it CURE. This is different than DRY. Dry happens pretty fast. Cure doesn’t. The curing process adds hardness to the finish and in the case of cabinets, the harder the better. This will really make a difference in the durability. The time requirement for this primer, used this way, is three days.

So I can’t finish this until next week. I’ll have to find something to do in the meantime…

I hope I find at least a few hours to spend out here… but I digress again.

The Cabinet Boxes

I’ve shown you a door, which you should do just as I showed it, off of the cabinet, with hardware removed. But there are also the cabinet boxes that have to be done in-place.

The process for these is essentially the same, just a little more difficult. You’ll probably need to put some plastic up to seal off the area so you can do the sanding. Don’t cut out that sanding step! You really want the durability that can only be had by sanding.

After that, the process is the same. If you think you might be changing the size or location of your hardware, you want to fill in those holes. For this application, I would use Bondo.

Yes, the car Bondo…you can even buy it at the auto-parts store if you want to. But they have it at the big building material stores as well. Since you’ll be painting over it, the color match that wood putty strives for isn’t important and Bondo is easier to get smooth and not as prone to crack, shrink, or fall out later.

Then you can just drill new holes for your new hardware.

Drawer Fronts

You should take your drawers off before you paint!  Better yet would be just the “drawer fronts”.  Many cabinets have a couple of screws inside the drawer box which, if removed, release the entire drawer front. If you can do this, it’s the way to go because it will make the drawers much easier to work with.

If not, you can still remove the drawer from the cabinet and take the whole box outside and work on it along with the doors. You might even decide you want to paint your drawer boxes too. I would just be careful not to paint the hardware.

Misc. Other Mumbo Jumbo…

• I used a medium-fine grit sandpaper… 150 or 220 grit. If you use a grit that is too coarse, you’ll do more harm than good.
• I had the primer tinted to the same color as the paint. This will allow the paint to cover better and hopefully in one coat.
• In the areas that I couldn’t get to at all with sandpaper, I scuffed it up with a little bit of steel wool to give the primer a better surface.
• If you want one of those awesome sanders I use, you can get one at this link: DEWALT D26451K 3 Amp 5-Inch Random Orbit Sander with Cloth Dust Bag It will cost you $70.00 and I promise you’ll be saying that was money well spent. This is the sander to buy…I’ve tried most of them and this one is great! It uses a velcro-like system to hold the sandpaper on which makes changing sanding disks a breeze.

Want to see the front? You’re going to like it! There is more to this project than just painting. Check back tomorrow so you can see how I did this:

Pretty cool, huh! The bird came out great. For you newcomers, this whole thing was instigated by a cool picture Kim found that inspired me to do an impromptu giveaway. The first post about that is here. If you like the bird, you might also like the coffee cup and the flamingo.

By late Friday I’ll have a post up showing how I made the bird pattern…it is so cool! Early next week, I’ll finish this cabinet door and publish Painting Kitchen Cabinets Part Two – More Sanding and Finish Painting.

If you want to be sure not to miss it, sign-up for my daily email feed right here. Or sign up to get RemodelingGuy.net in an RSS reader right here. And everyone is welcome to sign-up for the free monthly newsletter. You can do that at the top of the far right sidebar, or in this post right here.

So, I’m sure there are some questions on Part One…let me hear them and then check back…I’ll answer right in the comments! Thanks!

NOTES:

Before doing this work on your kitchen!  Make sure you read Part 2 about Plan B. 

————-

One comment was such an important question that I didn’t address in the post…the question was “did I use oil-based or latex-based paint, and is it okay to use latex (water-based) paint?”

The answer is that I used an acrylic latex primer and paint.  Both are top-of-the-line Benjamin Moore products and if used properly will provide an excellent finish.  It is all water clean-up material. Here are links to the product pages at Ben Moore.

Fresh Start All Purpose Primer

Regal Matte Finish – The Paint

Thanks to Amy for asking this… I think others will want to know that as well.  There are a few other questions and answers in the comments as well.  And you’re welcome to add to the discussion!

I love an island kitchen! They work for a number of great reasons and the creative opportunities abound. Here are a few examples of great kitchen islands:

Great Stone!

I really like the way the stone counter looks in this kitchen. The light color works well with the creamy color cabinets against the dark wood floor. I also noticed the open shelves on the end, and I like the undermount prep sink!

Great Woodwork!

I’m a wood guy. I love beautiful woodwork and one of these days I’ll get around to photographing some of my own work. Given that bent, I love this island. To me, it looks like art. Functionally, I like the space available underneath so you can sit around it and eat! Something like this wouldn’t cost much to have made. It’s relatively simple!

Great Feeling!

One of my favorite functions of an island is that they provide a place to congregate in the kitchen. People love to hang out in kitchens and islands provide a place to do just that! This one offers seating, storage, and a huge counter space. Looks like a huge kitchen and I gotta say…LOVE that blue cabinet! And the yellow walls…dark floors too!

Great Table!

An island doesn’t have to be a specifically designed cabinet. Some of the best kitchen islands anywhere are really just tables, placed in the kitchen. I love the idea of a kitchen with a table right in the middle of it! When you see that, you know you’re in a home that values family, freindships, and time spent together.

Well…Just WOW!

There aren’t words for this one. How cool is that? Cha Ching! $$$

If you have an empty space in your kitchen, maybe you ought to go island style! Thanks to Julia for hosting Hooked on Fridays at her awesome blog, Hooked On Houses!

We’re Hooked on REAL Islands at Forever Wherever! Great pictures…go see.

So, which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments. And everyone is welcome to comment! If you have any questions, just ask me there. I’ve been answering questions inside the comments and that seems to be working well, so I’ll try and keep after it!

Hey Crew! Time to pick a cabinet door winner!

It was really fun hearing everyone’s ideas and it was not easy at all to pick three finalists!

Some of the ideas were great, but beyond either my abilities, or at least my time constraints! I would have enjoyed trying to create the flowing hair of an Afghan Hound, but I just don’t think I can squeeze in the four weeks that would take me!

I appreciate all the ideas and I hope you all vote for your favorite.

Door #1

Coffee Cup w/ Steam!

This was first suggested by Michelle at AuntieThesis!

Door #2

A Tall Pink Flamingo!

At first I thought this would be too hard, but I decided to see what I could do. I lost count, but there are over 100 holes to drill! This was suggested by Victoria at Auction Girl Vintage.

Door #3 is…

For the Birds!

The orginal bird got lots of support already, so it seemed like a sure thing finalist to me! It will be on the same cabinet door as the ones shown above, not on this door here…but doing these little things in Photoshop is a chore! So I was happy to use the picture I already had!

The bird was first suggested by Tammy! (I don’t see a link to a blog)

The actual door is solid maple and is about 13″ wide x 18″ high. I’ll find some cool hardware to put on it or leave it blank. I’ll discuss that and the color with the winner before we do it!

I’m going to combine the hole drilling with a post on painting your cabinets! I’m going to try and refrain from doing something super artsy and out of the ordinary so I can show you a simple “paint your cabinets” process!

We’ll do a solid color and I won’t use a sprayer…we’ll apply the paint by hand and I’ll show you how to get a great finish!

Cast Your Ballot!

Let your voice be heard! You wouldn’t want the lesser design to win just because you did not vote, would you? So vote and rest easy knowing that the American way is alive and well. The future of our great nation (or at least kitchens) depends on it!

We’ll leave this open for votes for a few days and I’ll announce the winner late next week!

Another Giveaway!

I hate to bore you with too many giveaways, but this door one was kind of “spur of the moment”. But I already had an AWESOME giveaway planned and I’m excited to get it out there! So come back on Monday to see what that’s all about and to get your chance to win big! (really, pretty big)

Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3 ???

Vote now just by simply leaving a comment saying which one is your favorite. No secret ballots here! Votes are open to everyone…just tell me which one you like!