Home Improvement - Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen Project 2024 - Get the Cabinets Painted

I originally considered having the cabinets refaced. I contacted two different companies but one wouldn't work in downtown Minneapolis and the other company never got back to me!

My kitchen cabinets aren't really top quality and will probably need to be replaced at some point but in the meanwhile, I decided to have them painted. I saw blue cabinets on HGTV's "Love It or List It" and I really like blue so decided that would be the color. I also like the idea of having lighter top cabinets. I was inspired by the pillowcases on my bed!

I completely underestimated the impact this project would have on my and Maggie's lives. I hired an excellent painter, but this project required that I remove everything from the cabinets, select and purchase paint, and not use my kitchen for an extended period of time. I lost access to the refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher, sink, etc.

The painter and his one-man crew did an excellent job masking off everything. It was a crazy combination of paper, plastic, and painter's tape. Since the kitchen is part of one big room, it was not a straightforward job.

We also had problems with the grey paint. I won't bore you with the details, but it took 3 tries to get enough of the right paint. And picking cabinet hardware! Oh, my. After scrolling through pages on Amazon and visiting multiple stores, I ended up choosing something very similar to what was on the cabinets in the first place! Ha!

I am very happy and pleased with the final project. Here is the link to my video (of course, there is a video)

PS - this project kind of celebrates my 3rd anniversary living downtown. I closed on the condo 3 years ago March 26th.

Kitchen Project - Home Repair - sell prep

My kitchen has needed a new paint job for a while. Nothing like selling my house to push me to do it.

There were a few places to repair like the ceiling where the paint had peeled off due to a freeze. And around the radiators where I removed the quarter round which pulls plaster off with it.

The paint was a gallon of very dark green exterior that I bought when I thought I was going with a tri-color job on the house. I toned down the green with left over white paint. I think it came out pretty good. Totally by accident the color matches the dark green tiles in the backsplash.

Plaster repair in progress

Ceiling and spackling patched

Custom mix

Custom paint color

Matching tile

Home Improvement - dish drawers

It is hard to believe that my kitchen remodel was in 2001. Eighteen years ago! It involved stripping to the studs where possible and all new cabinets and appliances.

Two primary reasons for the remodel were to position the refrigerator so it could actually be used and to install a dishwasher. Due to very limited and restricted space, the dishwasher solution was resolved with dish drawers from Fisher-Paykel. Turned out to be a brilliant solution because each drawer can be run independently which saves energy but also means, as a single  person, there isn't guilt for using a dishwasher frequently.

Dish drawers need about 22" to open. Regular dishwashers need at least 24" to open. I don't have 24" to spare.

After 18 years and nearly daily use, the electronics of the top unit were starting to act up. Rather than wait for failure, I bought myself an early Christmas present. A new double dish drawer unit.

Having installed the first one with my brother, I figured I could install this one. It first required uninstalling the first one. Way easier said than done. Since Warners' Stellian was going to take the old one for free with delivery of the new one, I had to get the old one out Friday night. It took a few hours to figure it out but did succeed finally by myself.

The new one was delivered right on time early Saturday afternoon and took several hours to install. But it is fully installed, operational and the kitchen completely back in original condition.

With this model, the top drawer is deeper than the bottom drawer. I'm hoping this works out. I can still get my regular dinner plates and fry pan in the bottom so its good.

Small kitchen update

The update is more of a throwback. Swapped out the upper cabinet knobs from brass to green glass. Wanted some sparkle in my small kitchen.

The new knobs are from  India. You can get anything on Amazon. It was, of course, more of an effort than just swapping knobs. There was one trio to the hardware store, drilling and metal cutting involved!

It doesn't seem possible but the kitchen remodel when the brass knobs were purchased was 2001! I still love my kitchen.

Glass knobs on pantry doors

Brass knobs on the pantry doors

Brass knobs cabinet over sink

Glass knobs cabinet over sink with back splash