Linda's Kitchen: Ahh, the joys of restocked cabinets!

And so, my kitchen cabinets are finally painted (woot!) and I'm no longer picking through grocery bags for food and measuring cups. The joys of clean, organized and freshly painted kitchen cabinets cannot be overstated, let me tell you!

A little recap. My kitchen makeover has been basically a Sunday afternoon project. So, I've we've (can't forget my fantastic volunteer staff!) been working since August.  Here are the nasty knotty pine cabinets that I started off with. Lovely, no?

Lot's of cleaning and priming ensued.

I painted the insides of the cabinets with Farrow & Ball Cooking Apple Green (with thanks to Brooke Giannetti at Velvet & Linen for the inspiration!) This is Brooke's living room below, I just loved the backs of the shelves. She used F&B's Verte de Terre, which I looked at, but eventually I settled on Cooking Apple Green as it was a little less gray.

So, here is a test section of the Cooking Apple Green - which I am totally in love with!!  I also tested the idea of upholstering the shelves in burlap. The main reason (aside from trying something new!) was that the shelves are nasty particle board, which I thought wouldn't take the paint well. The results of the wrapped burlap shelves was mixed - some areas were nice an tight, but other's not so much and the end result wasn't as tailored as I wanted.

I was also thinking I needed to line the cabinet insides with paintable paper - again because of the liberal use of cheap particle board. However, in the end with good priming, they looked best simply painted.

As for the exteriors of the shelves, while I veered wildly back and forth between a black paint or a lighter green, I ended up compromising with myself and went with two Benjamin Moore colors: Essex Green with Black Forest Green as the second coat. Both coats were sanded with a fine steel wool with "holidays" left in the paint to achieve an aged look. I also wanted to keep the shine to a minimum. This paint is an exterior trim paint, so it should stand up well to kitchen wear and tear.

Here are the cabinet doors all finished and lined up waiting to be re-attached to the cabinets! Although I have a very small kitchen, there are still seventeen doors! And only two drawers. Don't ask.

Of course, the final element with the cabinet doors is the hardware. There are so many beautiful choices out there! I decided that with all the work involved in painting the cabinets, they I deserved something special!  After all, my manicure was sacrificed for the cause!!

In August, I was at an event at the Roomscapes Luxury Design Center in Rockland, MA (see post here) and fell in love with a set of crystal knobs on display.

I thought that glass knobs were a great idea to add sparkle and lightness to the dark cabinets (not that they look bad on these beautiful cream cabinets either!).  So, I started searching for the perfect knob for my slightly distressed, but not too shabby or 'kountry' kitchen cabinets. Something that bridged the divide between upscale and, well, budget.

There are some seriously beautiful cabinet knobs out there!

Swarovksi "Baldwin" knob - at $38 per knob (on sale). Total for 20 knobs: $760. Considerably more than what I've spent on the kitchen to date. So, nope.

These totally over the top Cache knobs and escutcheon's sport Swarovski crystals and are fabulously jewelry-like. And, honestly, at $30 per set, not bad. But, not the look or price tag I seek.

These Quartz Crystal knobs are pretty, but still, at $20 each, we're looking at $400 for the kitchen. 

These very pretty German Crystal knobs are beautiful and I love the facets - sparkly! Currently priced at $15 each, we're in the $300 range for the knobs. 

These Restoration.com glass knobs are lovely - elegant and simple. At $11.80 each theyre a $230+ budget item.

Vintage inspired "Astoria" knob at $6 each. $180 for entire kitchen.

Of course, glass knobs come in a variety of fabulous colors! These from Looking in the Attic are also about $6-7 per knob. Pretty, but I don't like the visible post.

So many choices, so little budget.  So, of course, when looking for a bargain, I headed over to Ebay and found these pretty little vintage inspired knobs:

Love them, love everything about them. And since I couldn't decide, I picked two different styles and are using them both! Here is a link to the oval knob , unfortunately, I can't find the link to the flower, but it was the same seller. At less than $2 each, the final cost was a trés budget friendly $50 for the whole kitchen, including shipping.

And all put together!

There is still a lot more work to come. The soffit over the cabinets needs to be painted, as do the walls (not shown in pic), and the backsplash needs to be dealt with. And, all new appliances are coming in a couple of weeks, courtesy of Ferguson Appliance.  I think the stainless appliances will be a nice balance against the dark cabinets and I'm looking forward to my checkerboard floor NOT being reflected in the shiny black dishwasher and stove fronts!



 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::