I literally shoved junk in them and haven't looked back.
Well, that is until about 3 months ago when I decided to paint the cabinets. I took off all the doors, had my husband install the crown and slapped one coat of paint on there before moving on to bigger and better projects.
So, now, instead of at least having doors to cover the utter mess, (they were off waiting to be painted ). The chaos that was the inside of my cabinets reined supreme, every time we walked into that space it was like a slap in the face. Like having a rock in my shoe for the last 3 months, it has been really bothering me, but I've just been too busy.
That is until Thursday night, last week. I was putting Etta down for bed and I have some time to just think. I realized I actually had the energy and desire (all at the same time WOW!) to actually work on a BIG project, and because of the snow Justin had a long weekend... So, I came down and Justin asked What do you want to do?... (I love you Honey)
We put on our paint clothes (note to self show you a picture of those... they are pretty
trashed HOT) We dusted off the paint brushes and started painting.... We are not quite done, but I am actually determined to finish, AND organize the space sometime this decade, and it is looking so good that it is making me want to work. Here is a little bit of what we accomplished. Oh and please don't judge me on the state of the cabinet interiors, floors, shelf organization... I promise, when the room is finished that they will be organized and beautified! But for now people, it is just a true MESS! to quote the rest of the blog world... here is to keepin' it real!
First one of the doors was crushed and cracked. Justin glued and clamped that baby right back together good as new and patched it within an inch of it's life. But now, you can't even tell. Now that is the power of paint! We lightly sanded it all, but focused our sanding on where they would be most handled.
The last thing we are doing is adding a little "doggie" door for the litter box. This will help to hide the ugliness and hopefully coral all the extra litter. The door is still not totally finished.
I figured out a little tip while painting my bookshelves from
this project, that I thought was share worthy. You know the little holes that you have for adjustable shelves, pictured below.
Well painting them is a total hassle, but you can't just leave them. Here is what we did. (p.s. the cup is our cheap answer to portable paint) Grab some Q-tips and your paint.
Dip your q tip in the paint, remove and swirl around in the hole, then remove excess. Do not load it up with paint or the supports may have a hard time fitting back in there. If you run into this problem you can clean it out by sticking a drill bit of the proper size in the hole and a pulling it out a few times. In that bottom right picture you can see the difference between the painted hole vrs the unpainted one. It just looks more uniform.
Here is our set up in the kitchen, which seems to be the painting location of choice. Maybe I am hoping I will drop a gallon of paint on the tile, so I will be required to replace them.
The shelves back in place and the first of the cabinet doors. As you can see the other cabinets are VERY full!
I need to point something out. Justin and I found the two large cabinets (pictured with doors on) at the Habitat Restore for $38.00. Then, on another visit we found the tall unit for $25.00. We decided to get them both for this space ( the doors don't match but we may fix that later.. The problem was that the 3 large cabinets were still not big enough to fill the whole space.
How did we fix that? Easy, we bought a piece of pine and cut shelves to add between the two large upper cabinets. We painted the back wall the same color and wrapped it all with crown. Now it looks like a cohesive unit. What do you think?
Here are the rest of the pictures... Someday I am hoping to get nice pretty front loaders.. but these work so for now I can't justify the purchase just for the look of it.
The very latest news? Officially, last night I was struck with a great idea for the pantry shelves, it may take some time yet to finish this project, but it will happen! Just wait.... More to come later!
78 comments:
Looks fabulous. Do you guys want to work on ours? It is chaos. On the front loader side, don't do it. We bought a front loader washer 4 years ago when we moved here and it barely lasted 3 years. It always had water in it so it would stink if i did not leave the door open, the computer part went out so I literally had to push a button every 10 minutes just to finish a cycle of washing, and it got clogged at least 3 times. We are now back to the top loading machines and life is pleasant once again.
great job with the cabinets!! and i'm glad you weren't afraid to paint them!! we have oak cabinets, and my husband just can't seem to part with their orange-y glow :) and i agree with staying away from front loaders.. we actually have some right now.. spent about 900 bucks a piece for them, and always talk about replacing them.. google it!! of course, they are probably working on a solution to the problem by now.. but i would wait it out until they have been proven worthwhile!
I love what you do! It's fun to see the transformations you make. Our laundry room is bare bones right now, but I'm slowly getting ideas for putting it together. We're doing it as part of our "finish the basement one step at a time" so maybe I'll have a real laundry room in a couple of years? Nice thing is that I get to pick the tile and cabinets! Wahoo! I've got top loaders too. They are going on year number 7... :)
This looks amazing! You all did a fabulous job!
I think it looks fantastic! I didn't notice the doors weren't the same until you pointed it out.
Oh it makes me want to get in there and do our laundry room! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result! Lisa~ www.livingmybestlifeii-lisa.blogspot.com
Beauty and function--can you ask for anything more. Great Job.
Looks GREAT! I am currently drawing out plans for our mud/laundry room redo ~ Can't wait to get started!
It looks great! I am jealous of your organization in your laundry room.
teri
I am beginning to think that my dislike of housework might actually vanish if I had beautiful laundry rooms, larders and storage to do it in... Well, who am I kidding... But anyway, your laundry/larder looks fantastic. Adding the crown really gives it the bespoke look. White paint - say no more, love it! Well done!
I think you need to paint the front of the two upper cabinet doors with Chalkboard paint (You can even make your own, in a custom color, just google for a tutorial) and that way, they will look like they are SUPPOSED to be different doors because they will be chalkboards and the other doors will be cabinet doors.
Your laundry room is looking fabulous!
fantastic redo. I love the crisp white - just lovely!
~ Emily N. from "too Blessed to Stress"
Looks great!
Energy and desire at the same time? Nice!
Our laundry room is one of the ones we haven't touched yet. Your set-up is a lot like ours. Thanks for the inspiration!!
A. I'm 100 percent jealous of your launtry area. I want a pantry bad. And, I love your idea of keeping all food in this area. Brilliant! Thank you for sharing that. I had a duh moment.
B. I adore the shelving, what a difference painting and the crown moulding had. I'm loving how you made them look "custom" by using the shelves.
C. I'm also a ReStore lover. I'm amazed at what you can find there, and what you can do with it if you really get creative.
D. Cannot wait to see what you do with the pantry area.
I wish I could do this to my Private Married Quarters. Maybe when we buy our first house. Great job!
That looks fabulous! I love the crown moulding! It makes laundry look sophisticated! When you paint your cabinets, what kind of paint do you use? Latex or oil-based? And if you use latex, how many coats? Do you have a problem with it scratching off or anything? I'm dreaming of a big kitchen re-do, and painting the cabinets is number 1 on the list. Thanks for your help!
Carolyn, We used a latex paint, it took about 3 thin coats. When painting cabinets, never do thick coats, it makes it looks sloppy. Also, clean your brush every other door, to keep the bristles free from dry paint globs (which is a technical term by the way!!), which will leave a texture that you don't want.
After the latex, we did added two coats of water-based polyurethane in a satin finish with little sponge paint brushes. I was dreading this step, but it was SO easy, I am not sure why we haven't done it before!
Hope that helps!
Looks teriffic!
Thanks for the painting advice! I have a yard sale headboard to paint, so I'm going to try your techniques and evaluate my results. I can't wait! I am dying to tackle our kitchen, but my husband is terrified that the paint will look bad. I say, it can't look much worse than dark walnut 80's wood.
Thanks for all your great projects. You are helping me make changes in my house and think about the space differently. I'm sure you're inspiring everyone all over blogland! Thanks!!
Love the remodel. This is basically what we did with our laundry space, but yours looks much prettier!! The crown adds a ton of detail. BTW, I have had a front loader for several years, and I would never go back. My laundry washes and dries in the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME, even when I use the low heat setting on my dryer. My washer has been clogged once, but it was a really simple fix. You take the bottom cover off and clean out the catch-all filter. Smelly, but very easy.
I need to do this in my craft room. I've been gathering and saving ideas.
Great job to you and hubby!
Great job. Love the white and how bright it is. Thanks for sharing with Made it Monday! Jules
This is beautiful. I love the shelves in between the two cabinets. And don't you just love crown molding...it makes EVERYTHING come together. Great Job!!!
Blessings,
Kimberlynn
I love it! It looks so good. I sure wish that I had those shelves for storage, they look wonderful
Love the result,enjoyed seeing how you did it!
The Habitat Restore is my favorite place to shop. The shelves in between the cabinets over the washer & dryer make it look like a purchased unit. Love the crown molding! I want to do something similar to my boring kitchen cabinets.
The Habitat Restore is my favorite place to shop. The shelves in between the cabinets over the washer & dryer make it look like a purchased unit. Love the crown molding! I want to do something similar to my boring kitchen cabinet
It is looking great. Is that the litter box in the bottom of the cupboard? You totally had my attention with the little doggie door. Great idea. Hope you post pictures when finished, as this is something I think most cat lovers have to deal with. (And nobody want to talk about. :)) Keepin' it real.
Wow, what a difference. Those are beautiful!
it's amazing what you can do with 'something white' and some 'hiding' as a concept.
interestingly, we did a similar thing in our laudnry, which we had to hide in the bathroom.
instead of doors and white paint, we used off-white drapes and hung them over everything to hide the laundry tools while keeping them very accessible.
wonderful job...looks really good and I'm wanting to put my kitty litter in a cabinet too.
What an amazing job. That design looks like it would fit perfectly in my garmuddry room (garage pass through/mud room/ laundry room).
It all looks fabulous! How exciting.
The re-do turned out really nice!
Thank you so much for linking up with the Talented Tuesday link party at My Frugal Family, which is hosted every Tuesday. Please feel free to stop back in every week and post your newest projects!
What a beautiful room to do laundry in! I'm having an awesome CASH GIVEAWAY...cme check it out...I think you will like it:)
Blessings,
Linda
Wow!
They definitely look like they match. The shelves are genius. Are you thrilled?
That looks fantastic! Looks like a professional did it, love the crisp white clean feeling!
Looks great! Very inspiring... I need to get to my laundry room... one of these days!
It looks so beautiful! Great job! I love the white. Your blog is fabulous by the way, I am coming back for sure. :)
That looks amazing! I want my laundry room to look like that, great job!
WOW those shelves turned out beautifully! Great job... what a great place for stoage!
I LOVE it, it looks beautiful and organized! Sadly my "laundry room" is in our step down garage...not much I can do to pretty it up!
Blessings, Grace
This looks great! My hubby and I made a pantry and we love it!!! i don't like my food stored in cabinets either... The laundry room looks great!
Thanks for joining Get Your Craft on Thurs. Please join the party next week!
Lori
That is really great, I can't believe how well those cabinets turned out. Thanks for linking up!
Fantastic, all the way around! Love the tip on painting the little holes.
Wow, your laundry room is really shaping up. I love it.
Wow! So impressed. Great job.
Jealous! LOVE it!
Fabulous Thrifty Thursday!
Thank you for linking up!
HUGS!
Leigh
Tales from Bloggeritaville
www.lbratina.blogspot.com
I just fell in love.
Love it! White makes everything better. :)
Great transformation! You did a real good job. The moulding added a lot to the great look. You added so much more storage....Christine
What a transforamtion. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Lia
I know what you mean about men and wood. I want to paint my oak kitchen cabinets. Yours came out very nice. I have a front loading w&d. they are Bosch and okay.
Talk to you soon ;)
Bunny Jean
Wow....just plain and simple........WOW!!
I captured a bit of the Irish Lore today in my SHOW N TELL. Do stop by for a wee bit o' the Irish Luck if you can!
Its just gorgeous!
Love the idea of the cat door in the bottom pantry. Is that enough head room for the kitty tho?
Kathy
Looks great! You and hubby did a fantastic job. I love the idea of the cat door. If I could get away with having only one litter box, I would definitely copy that idea.
~ Tracy
What do I think??? I absolutely LOVE them dressed in white! Amazing transformation!! Great job! Thanks for linking! I love having you on Creative Cats!
Hi, I'm your newest Friday Follower!
Come visit me at mom-et-al.com
-Maria
What an amazing makeover!
I hope you will stop by my blog and enter my giveaway.
Inspirational...I am getting ready to embark and a lot of DIY home remodels.
Happy Friday Follow!
Holly
504main.blogspot.com
Just found your blog from Friday Follow! Following now. I love remodels and before/after pics! I can't wait to see more!!!
Hattie
http://godlovehim-hattie.blogspot.com/
Great blog!! I so need to re-do my laundry room! Yours looks great!
Visiting from "Friday Follow"..I'm your newest follower! Love for you to come visit me!
Have a great weekend!
~Shelley @ Shelley's Swag
Hi there, stopping by from Friday Follow! Have a fantastic weekend!
Hope to see you soon!
www.thehusaileybunch.com
Looks awesome, can you come do mine now :)
Have a great weekend.
I am so jealous! All I have is a few shelves. These cabinets are gorgeous! Love it! Love it! Love it! Great job!
This is GORGEOUS! Right now our laundry room also holds all of my husbands tools and a makeshift pantry for extra staples that I can't fit in my pantry. This summer, my husband plans to build a garage (we don't have one right now!), at which point, I plan to reclaim the laundry room. I'll be coming back for ideas. :)
Thanks for linking up!
Wow, what a difference a coat of paint makes! Looks fabulous!
It looks great!! I love white cabinets.
What a great blog you have! I'm stopping by from Follow Friday and following, I hope you have a chance to stop by my blog and see if you like it:)
great makeover! job well done and the room look so practical and awesome
Great job!! Found you from Lit and Laundry. I love seeing what you have done.
Ho.Ly. Cow. What a transformation!!! I'm so intimidated by crown molding, but it makes such a difference. And the white. I can't wait to paint my oak kitchen cabinets white. But it seems like such a huge project that I haven't gotten around to it yet. Great job tackling your laundry room!
Also, here's a closet I recently re-did, if you want some inspiration for organizing the shelves inside the cabinets...
http://lifewithalady.blogspot.com/2010/01/end-of-what-youll-see-til-i-ever-if-i.html
FANTASTIC as always!
-Tiff
that looks so AMAZING! thanks for linking up to check me out saturdays!
The cabinetry looks fantastic and it's such a great use of the space. I love built-ins. Anyway, great job!
Wonderful job! You are truly the remodelholic! Love your projects my friend!
Thanks for linking it up to my party!!!
XOXO
Jen
First of all I want to say that you are inspiring me to do some remodeling with this house! We just moved in and while they did a great job remodeling the kitchen they forgot the rest of the house! MY laundry room is in desperate need and so are our bathrooms. Thanks for all the great ideas!
Also, thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm following you back!
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