DIY Small Kitchen Makeover

H&H’s style director Kimberley Brown presents a behind-the-scenes look at her DIY small kitchen makeover (with assistance from designer Reiko Caron) in this House & Home video:

This was a cabinet painting project, While it sounds simple enough, there was a learning curve involved, so if you decide to undertake a similar project yourself, you can learn from their mistakes.

The cabinets were emptied, then each door was removed and labeled with its location. The doors were coated with gloss and then spray-painted, but the sprayer wasn’t meant to be used horizontally (it dripped), so they had to switch to a roller. The solid wood soaked up the paint and primer product, and they ended up using five coats of paint; in retrospect, it would have been better to apply a separate primer first. They had also forgotten to label the hinges, so all the hardware had to be re-calibrated.

In spite of the difficulties encountered, the refreshed cabinets give the kitchen an updated look. White uppers enhance the natural lighting, and the green lowers have more of a furniture feel and work well with the floor and the rug. Removing some of the upper doors give the space an airy feeling.