- Jennifer Pike
Cabinet Painting: The Wild Rose Country Home Method
I know. Painting cabinets is as fun as....well, you can fill in the blanks. I would say, painting cabinets is as fun as... going to the dentist. We know it needs to be done, but we really don't feel like going through with it. In an Instagram post a while back, I said that painting cabinets was like childbirth---we all know it's going to hurt but somehow we keep having children... haha! Sometimes, the things we need to do in life are hard to swallow, but in the end, we know that it'll all be worth it.
Wouldn't you like to take your cabinets from...
THIS:

TO THIS!!!!!!

I know I would! And I did!!

Now, there is nothing wrong with a dark kitchen, it's just not MY style. Some people flat out told me that they thought I shouldn't paint them and they liked my dark kitchen, but I honestly love WHITE!
I took everyone along in my Instagram Stories, but I also promised a blog to detail all of the steps for anyone who may want to tackle this big project.
MY WILD ROSE COUNTRY HOME ISLAND
The first phase that started all of this was lining my island with "shiplap". Really, they are just 8 inch x 4 ft knotty pine boards from Home Depot. Very inexpensive and easy to install and can bring such a fun rustic look.

We used a table saw to cut the pieces and an air gun to fit them in place. I didn't fill the nail holes because I wanted the rustic look to stay.

I used two quarters taped together to get the spacing correct between each board.

After the boards were installed we sanded them down slightly to make sure none of the edges were too rough. Then we stained it a natural color with Minwax stain and coated with Poly Acrylic to seal it.

After we put up the pine boards, I definitely felt like painting the cabinets was a must!
PREPARING FOR THE CABINET PAINTING
Here are the supplies we purchased for the job. You can find all of these items at Home Depot.





We love paint can lids because they keep all of the instructions on your can clean. I hate it when paint cans are covered with paint. Hashtag pet peeves!

Painting pyramids are great to keep your cabinets elevated while the job is being done.

The best thing you can do for yourself is prepare well. It can feel tedious, but trust me, preparation is your friend.
Start by setting up tables where you are going to paint and place some plastic drop cloth on the floor. I purchased those plastic banquet/folding tables from Canadian Tire.

Then get a big piece of cardboard and start an area where you will have all of your supplies and paint. The cardboard will protect whatever surface you'll be using.
Using a screwdriver, remove all or your cabinet fronts and lay them out on your tables. Ok, this is super important: Take each hinge and label it as "top" or "bottom", that way, when you go to reinstall them you won't have to readjust all of your cabinets again. We learned that the hard way if you know what I mean ;). Place each set in a separate Ziplock bag and put it in the cabinet box (or drawer) that matches for later when you go to reinstall.
Another SUPER important tip is label each door as you go. We used the alphabet. The first cabinet was "A" and the second, "B" and so on....Leave a piece of labelled tape on the inside of your cabinet box and on the door that matches. The piece of tape that you have on the cabinet door will go right beside it on the painting table. This helps you match up your cabinet or drawer to the right section.



