Farmhouse Kitchen: Part One

I know I've shown pictures of my kitchen (and usually messy counters) a gazillion times - but I'm showing it once more for reference and as a "before" picture! And, I know you've been catching glimpses in my pictures all week of what I've been up to :)

This idea has been brewing for a few years, but sometimes I must wait for inspiration to strike before jumping in especially to something this big. Well, the same night I was laying in bed dreaming up the Canning Jar light re-do, I was also dreaming of painting my cabinets.

My good friend was coming soon and together we were up to the challenge of taking on the cabinets. Now, I've known for a long time that our kitchen is very dark - but that never really bothered me because I love dim lighting.

However, now that it is half re-painted, I am wondering why I did not do this years ago! The difference has been astounding. Anyway, yes - I am only half finished and even that half does not have a top coat of sealer over the paint - but I'm going to show these pix anyway because this is what I've been working on lately. I could not be more thrilled with the results!

First of all, was the question of what kind of paint, what combination of colors, how much distressing, etc... I ended up e-mailing Miss Mustard Seed a photo of my kitchen and getting her opinion after I've heard her wax eloquently about how much she loves ASCP paint.

I confess that even after reading her blog for months, I had no idea what the ASCP letters stood for so even had to do some research on that. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in case you are wondering too. It is European and while Grace did not love it, I like it, it's been easy to work with and clean up and it is giving me the look I was going for. It's other benefits are you don't have to sand or prime first (hallelujah!) and it has virtually no paint smell plus is quick drying.

My cabinets are painted first with Old Ochre and then with Old White - I had envisioned the darker color showing through with some distressing a bit more - but in the end, I'm very happy with how they look and very minimal distressing. When I distressed them more, it looked like I hadn't fully painted the cabinets:


In addition to the painting - I wanted to add hardware. We've never had any and when we first bought this house - I looked for knobs/pulls I liked but with the dark cabinets, it just wasn't clicking plus they were an extra expense. This time around, I found exactly what I wanted and at about 1/3 of the price by shopping contractor's packs on Amazon rather than one knob at a time at the local hardware store.

After all that wordiness - here is what you've been waiting for - some after pix!

There is obviously still the other half of the kitchen to do, top coats to brush on and some bead board to add below the counters on the back side of the cabinets and the lazy-susan is awaiting my Dad's skilled fix - but I am so pleased with the beginning and it will motivate me to continue! It has felt so farm-house-ish which of course I love! And, so far - having it lighter has inspired me to keep it cleaner since the clutter shows more.

Tomorrow: the open cabinets and a cute diy inside re-do!