The Kitchen Refresh - Partial Reveal

So, for a while you've been seeing some periodic posts about me working on freshening up our kitchen. It's something I'm extremely happy about, largely because this is a project I have 100% tackled myself! B has stood by and offered a hand if needed, but for the most part, what I will reveal has been completed entirely by me! Of course, it's a temporary solution until we have the money to create our dream kitchen, but I know it will most definitely keep me happy for now.

So, just to remind you - this is what our kitchen looked like when we moved in (and right up until the end of January actually):

And this is what our giant pantry looked like...

Now, a lot of people have commented to me before how much they liked the kitchen as it was. I think when it came down to it, it was the original backsplash that I really hated. Then, after painting our living room grey - the yellow just wasn't cutting it anymore and it led to my complete overhaul!

So, with more work left to do before I can do a final reveal, let's get a sneak peek at what's to come with a reveal of my completed pantry....

I'm pretty happy with the results. The cabinet itself I primed, using just a basic latex based primer, and then used two coats of a semi-gloss white paint. Using a small brush for cutting in, and a small sponge roller for larger areas. Once the doors were off, I used a paint sprayer that we got on sale at Home Depot, to prime and paint the doors. We used a melamine paint (I sprayed outside, it's oil based an stinky - so don't use it inside!), as was recommended by my father (a cabinet maker) and a friend who is a painter. It is meant to stand up better to being touched and washed and cleaned all the time. Even though this is only a temporary solution for our kitchen, we plan on repurposing the cabinets around the house once we completely renovate the kitchen.

The hardware I took off and sprayed using an aluminum spray paint we had laying around from other projects around the house. I think they turned out pretty great! Now I just need to start thinking about getting the rest of the cabinets finished up - hope to start that final stage of my kitchen refresh soon. So what do you think?