Kitchen Progress: Turquoise Cabinets? Check!

After spending the winter in our garage, the cabinet fronts Hubs painted with our sprayer needed a little touch up, but now they've been re-installed and all of a sudden the kitchen is looking so good.  Sadly, it looks a lot more denim-blue in my photos - I've been having a tough time lately, photographing teal and turquoise true to life, which is really problematic given my penchant for anything turquoise.  In that elusive third dimension, the colour (CIL Niagara Mist) is nearly identical to the turquoise Pyrex butterprint pattern, so if you've seen a piece of that, then you can better envision the colour.

Painting the cabinet boxes was straightforward: light sanding, coat of primer, and then three coats of semi-gloss Premier paint, courtesy of my paint partnership with Canadian Tire.  Just like when I painted the bathroom cabinetry, I used my small artist's brush for the narrow cabinet face frames, a two-inch angled brush for the toekick, and a roller for any larger areas, like the section that faces the dining room and the areas beside the stove.  The cabinetry wasn't in the best condition so when I zoom in with the camera some blemishes appear, but the semi-gloss finish, which reflects lights, does a good job of hiding imperfections when I'm not staring at it from three inches away.  People say sheen emphasizes flaws but I'm adamant it's the other way around: matte paint can really highlight flaws.    

Even though the turquoise cabinets have been giving me shivers, the real showstoppers are the solid maple counters.  Hubby is sharing the full tutorial on Friday (you already saw how I stained them).  Even if you don't plan on making your own wood counters, just seeing the transformation from pile of rough lumber to this gleaming gorgeousness is incredible - and we've got lots of photos!

You got a glimpse of the new sink and faucet last week.  If you have been following me on Instagram, you saw the new hardware as well.  I wanted something brushed silver (my favorite!) and simple, but not too stark and modern because the cabinet fronts have really busy profiles.  I wanted something to bridge the modern sink with the decidedly unmodern cabinetry.  I had a pretty meager budget (hardware adds up quickly!), so I headed to Lee Valley.  Their catalog is fun, but nothing beats spinning those turnstiles and seeing the different styles in person.  Hubs and I both liked the feel of these knobs, which were only $3.00 a piece. 

These knobs require two screws for installation and the old knobs only needed one, so we simply added a second screw hole.

Hubby measured, marked with a pencil, and drilled away (with a wood scrap underneath).  For the cabinet drawers, I had filled the hole with wood filler prior to priming and painting, so Hubs just drilled two new holes and centred the knobs.  Easy!

Such a pretty change, compared to the old brass knobs (which were the same in the bathroom, but because that room is a more temporary fix, I just painted them matte black):

We made one other inexpensive change: the floor grate.  What was previously there was white and rusted, so we bought a $13 replacement, in silver.  I'm only mentioning it because it's Made in Canada!  I love finding things made in Canada or the USA.   

The kitchen is really taking shape, but we still need to paint and install the paneling, add trim to the paneling, replace the window trim, paint and install open shelving, add some bar stools, unpack my Pyrex collection and our dishes, plus build a pantry beside the fridge.  But I'm feeling so motivated because it's already the happiest room in the lakehouse . . .

A Good Knob Story

I never grow weary of the two-minute makeover.  I don't always want to spray paint or stencil something.  Some things are sentimental.  Some things were expensive gifts.  Some things look pretty good, as-is.  But some things have pulls that look like stripper tassels.  And some of these things have been waiting 10 years for a mini-makeover until, one day, when a knob actually falls off, and I decide to make a quick change.

My grandma bought me this little armoire, which houses my jewellery, scarves, spare pairs of glasses, etc.  I absolutely love it because the doors swing open and inside it has a million different compartments and mini drawers for storage.  We recently hit Lee Valley to find replacements for the stripper-tassel pulls, so I could love it more.  After a miss (luckily, LV has a great return policy), I found a style that works (here's the link). They actually only had four of the size I wanted, so I opted for a size bigger for the bottom two drawers.  A happy accident, because I think it works.

Our "tools": pocket knife and itty bitty screw driver.

We had to make a teeny slit in the felt lining to access the screws (hence the pocket knife, but an exact-o knife would do the trick), but otherwise it was an easy switch.

Here's the before.  Gosh, it looks sad.

An old photo, before I tweaked the paintings

A little side-by-side comparison:

And the after. 

I like how the knobs better suit the existing hinges . . .

. . . plus, the new squarish knobs look good with the headboard and also the square finials on the curtain rods, without being too matchy-matchy.

I love a good knob story (gosh, I hope that doesn't mean something dirty).  I am actually a compulsive knob changer: we changed every interior doorknob from brass to silver (except one in the basement, but it's on the chopping block), plus the exterior door, kitchen cupboards, half bath vanity and my filing cabinet all got a knob makeover.  I would have loved to have DIY'd some kind of makeover but, like so much in this house, most knobs didn't work.  Sigh.  Yep, I spend a lot of time with the Lee Valley hardware catalog.

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