Chalk Paint Projects

Microwave Cabinet that Wasn’t

July 25, 2017 by Jo 16 Comments

So Hubby and I finished the microwave cabinet. It’s done, finished and in place. You might remember that we originally thought to mix paint and stain. The drawers were going to be stained along with the drawers-the rest was going to be chalk painted to match the island.

Well we ended up not happy with the stain. On the wainscoting doors we couldn’t get the paint out of the cracks good enough and the drawers were stained but we didn’t like the look and decided paint the whole thing. I’m glad we did. Here’s the reveal:

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After we had it in place we both marveled. Hubby asked me if I still had the beginning picture. I did and showed it to him.

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It’s hard to believe it was the same piece. He was impressed all over again. He praised my painting and I praised his work. Then we decided right there and then we really are a good team…not just in marriage but woodwork too.

Here’s the funny part of it all. Even though we originally wanted this for a microwave cabinet I rejected that idea. I put the microwave on the counter in the laundry room for now at least. I hate the microwave. It takes up too much space and I (maybe) use it once a day or so. It’s not worth taking up prime “real estate” on my kitchen counters.

The kids had fun making fun of Hubby and I. They keep telling us that they can’t believe we can continually find more cabinets and find more places to put them. I think we are done in the laundry and the kitchen now. It’s kind of bittersweet. Both of us love the hunt and love working on projects like this..but alas, we’ll have not other places to put them in the kitchen.

So now, here’s how the kitchen looks. This is when we first moved in….

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and this is now. [Read more…] about Microwave Cabinet that Wasn’t

Chalk Painting: The Microwave Cabinet

July 17, 2017 by Jo 2 Comments

Hubby had his part of the new microwave cabinet done…now it was my turn.

When Hubby passed it off to me, it looked like this…

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I decided to go with cream Annie Sloan chalk paint. I used it for my kitchen island and want things to coordinate so that was my reasoning in picking cream. I like the distressed look with dark wax so that’s what I tried to achieve.

Here’s the cabinet painted and waxed. I opted to not paint the inside. I like when they look old inside. I’ll be cutting and putting linoleum on the shelves anyway. I do that instead of shelf paper and love it. Hubby is working on getting the hardware put on.

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Hubby and I aren’t on a time schedule with our projects…when they get done, they get done. He’s always busy at the beginning of the month with meetings plus they have been making hay and cutting oats on the farm which means long days and a tired Hubby.

Originally we thought we wanted the drawers to be stained. We tried but we didn’t like the look so I had to go back and paint the drawers after I had painted the cabinet. I thought I’d show you how I do it.

Day one…two coats of paint. It dries quicker than any other paint so it’s easy to do two coats. The next day I started the wax. Before I can do that I “rough” it up. I sand areas off the drawer. Typically I work the edges and where the drawer pulls will go.

Then I’m on to to clear Annie Sloan wax. You can see the right side is waxed and the left isn’t.

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After all of it has wax on it, I rub it in and smooth the layer of wax out.

After that a little bit of dark wax goes on….See? [Read more…] about Chalk Painting: The Microwave Cabinet

Laundry Room Cabinet: FINISHED!

July 15, 2017 by Jo 12 Comments

Do you remember not long ago Hubby and I went to an estate sale and got the truck load of goodies for $11? Well things are happening with one of the pieces…this one.

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I originally told Hubby that I thought we should get it and he looked at me weird. He couldn’t figure out why I’d want it. Well it was him who started it all. He had wanted to build a cabinet to replace this shelf in the laundry room. We both thought the open shelving we had was too messy. I told him I thought he could remake this shelf into an upper cabinet. Then he was on board.

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Within a week of owning it, he had it cut down and was building doors.

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and shortly after that, he had me chalk painting…and then helping to hang it in the laundry room. Here it is….. [Read more…] about Laundry Room Cabinet: FINISHED!

My Laundry Room Reveal

January 7, 2017 by Jo 16 Comments

Remember my laundry room debate?

I was tired of the mess. I wanted something cleaner and more functional. Here’s a little recap. This was Kalissa’s cabinet that she bought on a garage sale. She petered out in the middle of redoing it. Hubby asked her if she wanted to sell it. She said yes. Hubby went to work on getting it all fixed up. Originally the entire cabinet outside was the deep green.

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He sanded down the the top and restained it. Then he roughed up the bottom so it would accept paint.

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I put two coats of Annie Sloan’s Graphite paint on it.

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Here is my laundry room. I removed the sewing machine and all the junk on it. Our daughter Kayla took the machine to her house.

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The laundry room was such a mess. Junk EVERYWHERE!!

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Well as long as that was all out of the small room, Hubby decided to pull out the dryer and clean the lint out really well.

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Then Hubby and our son Karl started in on trying to get the cabinet to fit. It was a tight squeeze.

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Here it is in place. My work still isn’t finished…I needed to apply the wax finish.

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So one day when Carver was over I put him in the bouncy seat and told him all about the process of applying wax and chalk painting. Ruby stayed for the lesson too.

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They were both very attentive.

I applied the soft wax first…then the dark wax.

All of the pieces in the laundry room have had the same technique. I personally love the graphite color of paint. It’s perfect for me as it hides a lot.

So….HERE IS THE REVEAL! [Read more…] about My Laundry Room Reveal

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