Hi friends!
I wanted to take the time to do a whole post on our new kitchen and let you know how much we love it. We decided after looking at our house the first time, that we definitely wanted to paint the kitchen cabinets. The cabinets were not our favorite, in a cherry finish and they made the kitchen very dark, especially with the black countertops that are there now. So, to lighten and brighten things up and to make them more interesting, we painted them 2 different colors. I knew we wanted to do white above and we tried out a couple of blue gray shades for the bottom and landed on Knoxville Gray, which we both absolutely love. It’s a Benjamin Moore color.
Top Cabinets: Benjamin Moore White Dove
Bottom Cabinets and Bar: Benjamin Moore Knoxville Gray
Both were painted with Ben Moore Advance paint, a really tough finish recommended for kitchen and bath cabinets.
I mentioned that we had our painter spray the cabinets and bar area and they really turned out great. We are very happy we paid to have that done before we moved in. One less mess that we had to deal with and it’s hard to get cabinets painted well unless you use a sprayer. That gives them such a nice finish. I have a sprayer, but there wasn’t time for me to try to do it, but if you take your time at home you can get a decent finish using a sprayer.
Here’s a reminder again of the Before kitchen. Nice, but very plain. Mark added the bar molding and beadboard, you can check out Adding Beadboard to the Bar post for that.
The bar is really the star of the kitchen now and Mark did such a great job with it. It totally makes this view so much better.
We still would like to do Phase II of the kitchen, probably next year, with new countertops, backsplash and sink. That will really make it our taste, so one step at a time. These aren’t great pics, but I wanted to show you what all we did to get to this point. There’s still a lot to do though.
The beautiful bar with corbels.
You can see how the kitchen flows into the family room. We are really enjoying the house a lot and settling in well. I’m getting used to a smaller kitchen and it’s actually less steps to take while cooking. I’ll get it all organized in time and any overflow things can go down to the basement. It will just take time to figure all that out, but for now, I have everything I need in the cabinets.
We hired an electrician to add under cabinet lights and those turned out great. He used LED strip lights and I love them. They really light up the countertops and those are a must for me, I really enjoyed them in my last house.
Here’s a shot without the lights on.
Bar area looking towards cabinets.
I don’t have a ton of countertop space, so I am leaving out my everyday things that I use. The painted cabinets are holding up very well. The only thing we had a problem with was early on before they cured for a few weeks, the drawers stuck in a couple of spots before I could get those rubber things put on and there were a couple of chip marks that I had to touch up. But nothing else since then, we think they will hold up well and Ben Moore Advance paint is very durable from what we’ve heard.
Sink area and a good shot at the cabinets and hardware. Liberty Hardware was great and sent us the hardware for the cabinets and we love them in Antique Brass.
It’s been nice to make these simple changes and get a new look in this kitchen that suits us both better.
You can see that one of my upholstered chairs landed in the breakfast area and I’m still figuring that out but I think it will stay for now. I already had it and don’t want to buy anything else until we live with things awhile. It takes time to figure out what house needs, doesn’t it? Some things we have figured out right away and others we will mull over for awhile and see where we land.
So that’s a peek into the kitchen cabinets with all the details. I know some of you might want to paint your cabinets too and have a pro do it is definitely the easiest.
Our painter here in the Atlanta area is Alberto with Nicholas Romero Painting and he was referred to me by a friend of mine, who I trust on these things. He and his crew did a fantastic job for us inside and outside, as well as the kitchen cabinets.
He charged $1100 to spray the cabinets and we bought the paint from Benjamin Moore which was an additional $200. You can reach Alberto at 770.900.6740 if you are in the Atlanta area and need a painter. I highly recommend him.
I’ll include some in progress pics for you too, since that gives a good idea of how it was all done.
All doors removed and everything was taped with brown paper to prevent overspray.
Fronts of cabinets were painted by hand and the sides and tops sprayed. Doors were removed and primed and painted with 2 coats of paint outside. Then he laid them inside to dry well, flipped over to spray the other side the next day. He was very through in his painting technique.
Since we didn’t plan to gut the kitchen, this was money well spent to update on a budget and get a look that we both love. So proud of how it turned out and we will get to Phase II next year.
Love the way your kitchen cabinets turned out. Really like the bar areas, they are just beautiful with the blue color and the embellishments your husband added. I know you are enjoying your new home together!
It looks great, and I am SO happy to see Alberto wearing a respirator while working. So smart to protect his health.
Beautiful kitchen! I love the white upper cabinets and the color on the lower ones. Mark and you did a great job on picking colors and that bar is really pretty!
The new paint certainly transformed your beautiful kitchen! Love the colors!
The cabinets look awesome. What type of finish did you use? I am trying to decide between satin or semi-gloss. Help please.
HI, Tamara, we did a Satin finish on the cabinets. It still has a nice sheen but not too shiny.
Love, love, love your gorgeous new kitchen! You and Mark have done such a nice job of everything! Mark has done a fabulous job of your bar. Love the color — so pretty! You have both worked so hard to personalize your home and everything looks so lovely! Enjoy! Blessings! Thanks for sharing your gorgeous kitchen — and home — with us!
It’s beautiful, Rhoda! Scrolling down pictures from before to after really shows how much change it has undergone. Love all the details of the bar, it really does look like furniture rather than a large section of wall. Kudos to your hubby for a well done job! And the white cabinets on top lightened the room so much, looks great!
I was thinking that when you do your updates, a slide in range with the controls on the front would look nice. More streamlined with your new counters and then the control panel won’t cover your new backsplash. Love the paneling. Can’t believe what a huge difference it made!
Hi, Nichole, I do like slide in ranges better, so we will see if we get a new one. We do want a new counter depth fridge for sure. This stove works just fine though, so it’s hard to get rid of something that works fine.
Your kitchen looks beautiful! I paint my kitchen my self, but I am afraid to tackle the backsplash I have no backsplash, does Roberto installs backsplash? I painted them myself after receiving a quote for $5,500
Hi, Katheline, you should be able to find a much better price than that. Ask around your area for tile installers.
Kitchen envy out here in California!
Your kitchen looks lovely with those colors! I hope you and Mark enjoy your new house!
Rhoda, would you please share the approximate cost of the under counter LED lighting? I need this done, but so far my estimates have been quite expensive, I think…
Your painted cabinets are beautiful!
HI, Joan, sure I’ll share what the electrician charged me. Just for the under cabinet lighting and installation (he provided it all) was $475. Not cheap, but not too bad either. It was really a must for me to get it done and my hubby had too many other pressing projects going on.
Your kitchen looks beautiful, and the bar area looks very professional. Since that has beautiful beadboard and you don’t love your backsplash, why not cover it with sheets of beadboard..you can remove later if you want to change it, and you can have a change now to enjoy for very little cost. I’ll be doing mine this fall (now that it is cool again)and can’t wait.
HI, Karen, that is a good idea, but hopefully after Christmas, the kitchen Phase II update may be able to happen, so I’ll hold out for that: countertops, sink, backsplash and faucet. Thanks for the suggestion!
Hi Karen
Kitchen looks fabulous. Did the electrican hard wire the led under cupboard lights or are they plugged into an outlet?
Hi, Nancee, he hard wired them onto an electrical outlet on the backsplash and added the switch there.
HI Rhoda- first time to your blog. I love the paint color! May I ask what wall color you used? It really complements it.
Hi, Danae, thanks for stopping by. Our main paint color throughout the lower level and master bedroom is Magnolia Home Gatherings, a soft gray beige, We love it!
Where did you get the counter top? Everything looks great!!! Love it!!!
HI, Cindy, that was Part 1 of our kitchen remodel and part 2 was changing the countertops and backsplash, sink & faucet. Here’s the kitchen final reveal. The black countertop was here when we moved in & we changed it out.
https://southernhospitalityblog.com/blue-and-white-kitchen-renovation-reveal/
How is the painted cupboards holding up and are you tired of the color? Tryng to decide for mine. Is it a green/blue/gray? it is hard to tell on the monitor.
HI, Sona, we haven’t tired of the color at all. They are holding up well except the trash can drawer gets a lot of abuse so I have to touch up here and there, but overall the Ben Moore Advance paint is holding up great. The color is a blue gray color.
Hi, thank you so much for this video, this was very helpful to me
I’m in process a redoing my kitchen cabinets. Just by watching your video this morning has truly been helpful to me. Thank you so much oh by the way thank you for your painter’s name and phone number. Looking forward to see your phase 2 video. Thanks, Savannah Ga
What is the Benjamin Moore paint color of the island and cabinets-we love it!
Hi, Melissa, colors are Dove White on top and Knoxville Gray on bottom.