painted cabinets revealed & a video tutorial

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who bore the hardship of going to TJ Maxx to look for pillows for me.  I think they will order more of those pillows after all of the phone calls about them!  You are all such wonderful ladies and I really wish I could hang out with all of you!  Two readers found a total of five pillows.  My goal was to find four, so I am totally set and the hunt is officially over.  Boy, you girls are fast!  However, don't let me stop you from taking a trip to Home Goods or TJ Maxx.  If you must, you must. 

Now to what I have been slaving over the last few days. 

In case anyone was in doubt at all about the power of paint...this post is for you. 

...and just to drive the point home...

...this is what the kitchen looked like before. 

I didn't get new appliances, counters or flooring.  I simply painted and painted and painted...the ceiling, the walls, the trim and the cabinets.  I still want to change the big ticket items when it's in the budget, but I was surprised how the things I dislike so much (like the laminate floor with tromp l'oeil leaves on it) just fade away. 

I did drop a pretty penny on hardware, but I have a ton of cabinets and drawers AND it was all courtesy of True Value, so I splurged.  I took the pictures above before I installed the hardware, so I'll share that tomorrow, but here's a preview...

In case you want to paint your cabinets or you just like to hear me babble, you can watch this video tutorial with some tips on getting a smooth finish with a brush and roller. 

(I misspoke at one point in this video.  I say it took me "three coats", but I meant "three quarts" of primer.  I only applied one coat.)

I was going to share more pictures, including some of my family room, but Blogger was being glitchy and I was about to pull my hair out.  I'll share more tomorrow.

One last thing...it's been brought to my attention that I have a few deaf readers out there (I already had the pleasure of meeting one of them at Lucketts.) I am going to try to figure out a way to get transcripts of my videos or something for you, but until then, please feel free to send me an e-mail with any questions.

As a chosen member of the True Value DIY Blog Squad, I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about the experience.  I have also been compensated for the materials used in this DIY project.  However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

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