• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Polka Dot Chair logo

  • SEWING
    • Free Sewing Patterns
    • Bag Patterns
    • Costumes
    • Apparel
    • Learn to Sew
    • Beginner Friendly
    • Embroidery Projects
    • Tips & Techniques
    • All Sewing
  • QUILTING
    • Quilt Blocks
    • Learn to Quilt
    • Free Patterns
    • Quilt Patterns
    • All Quilting
  • CRAFTS
    • Disney
    • Cricut
    • Printables
    • All Crafts
  • HOLIDAYS
    • Seasonal Projects
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • 4th of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • All Holidays
  • TUTORIALS
  • ABOUT
    • About Me
    • My Fabric Collections
    • Published Books
    • Press
    • FAQ’s
    • Contact
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • SHOP
menu icon
go to homepage
  • SHOP
  • TUTORIALS
  • SEWING
  • QUILTING
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • CRAFTS
  • HOLIDAY PROJECTS
  • ABOUT
    • Published Books
    • My Fabric Collections
  • CONTACT
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • SHOP
    • TUTORIALS
    • SEWING
    • QUILTING
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • CRAFTS
    • HOLIDAY PROJECTS
    • ABOUT
      • Published Books
      • My Fabric Collections
    • CONTACT
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Home

    Painted Kitchen Cabinet Ideas and Kitchen Makeover Reveal

    Updated: Feb 5, 2016 by Melissa Mortenson · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 27 Comments

    Today I’m going to share with you how our Kitchen turned out after we Painted our Kitchen Cabinets and did a few other minor updates.  Hopefully you’ll get lots of painted kitchen cabinet ideas along with a few other ideas for updating your kitchen without spending a lot of money!  If you like this project you may also like to see how we updated our Living Room with a simple coat of paint!

     

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    When we purchased our house 8 years ago I knew that I wanted to give the kitchen a facelift.  The cabinets were a cinnamon maple color and while it was pretty, it just did not suit the look I wanted for the kitchen.  We purchased our home because it was in a great location for our kids (close to church and schools) and had more than enough space for what we needed. (In fact, now that my kids are leaving the house it’s too much space and I think we will downsize soon.)

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    I did not like the kitchen.  It had an electric cooktop and a microwave above the stove that I kept hitting my head on. It also had no backsplash. After cooking one meal, and splattering spaghetti sauce all over the wall I knew that we would need to remedy that situation soon.  (yes, I know these are all “first world” problems, but this is a DIY blog, so I’m going to show you how we DIY’d our way into a kitchen that I now love).

    We began by moving the microwave from above the stove top and placing it in a bookcase on the other side of the kitchen.  We then swapped out the electric cooktop for a gas one (the old one was donated to Habitat) thankfully there was already a gas line under the sink so it was not hard to do.

    We also had to move the kitchen cabinet that was above the stove to accommodate a vent hood.  To do this we simply pulled off the crown molding, removed the cabinet, and reattached the cabinet to the wall. We used some 2×4’s to make the cabinet stick out a bit more from the wall so it would be flush with the new vent hood.

    We had to have a plumber install the gas stove, but were able to move the kitchen cabinet and install the vent hood ourselves with the help of some friends.

    We then picked out some green glass tile for the backsplash and had someone install it for us. We debated about doing this step ourselves for a while, but in the end were very glad that we hired someone to do it for us.  The people at the tile shop mentioned that the glass subway tile is hard to work with, and it was. Even the experienced installer had a bit of trouble with it.

    We never got around to replacing the crown molding over the cabinets because we were going to paint them “soon”…..  Well the kitchen sat like that for about 5 years.  Do you see the mismatched cabinet handles? Yeah, I was trying out new ones of those too…

     

    Green Glass Tile Backsplash & Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    Green Tile Backsplash & Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    We got a few bids to have the cabinets professionally painted and they were much more than what we had in our budget.  We decided to just wait and “decide later” what to do about the cabinets.

    After tackling a few smaller cabinet painting jobs around the house, we decided to take on the job ourselves.  You know those blogs that you read where you see the kitchen magically transform over the course of a week? Well let’s just say that was NOT us. We ended up going without kitchen cabinet doors for about 6 months and the entire process took even longer than that.

    cabinets-process

     

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

     

    I assumed painting kitchen cabinets would be a pretty simple task, I mean you see people do it ALL. THE. TIME.  Well it was not.  I am planning a “how NOT to paint your kitchen cabinets” post but for now lets just say it ALL COMES DOWN TO THE PAINT! I’m not even kidding you. We got night and day differences in paint quality using different types and brands of paint.

    cabinet-doors

     

    I’ll break it all down in the next post (it would be way to long for all one post)— for now I’ll just say that the paint that we used in the end that was WONDERFUL was “Cabinet Coat Enamel Satin” you can buy it at Benjamin Moore stores, but it’s not Benjamin Moore labeled paint.  We started with paint from company X (which I won’t mention because they did nothing wrong, we just were using it for the wrong purpose) and it was a disaster. It left an orange peel, chalky texture on the cabinets (we did use a paint sprayer both times).

     

    cabinets

    After we had painted all of them we had to go back and sand off ALL of the paint and start over again. Like I said, a story for another day. Oh and did I mention that BUGS kept getting stuck on the paint while the cabinet doors were drying???

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    At the same time we painted the kitchen cabinets white, the island was painted a dark gray, Kendall Charcoal (better to hide foot marks). We painted both the drywall on the back of the island and the cabinets on the island all the same color so that it looked like one big piece of furniture instead of several pieces that were thrown together.

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    Last Fall we finally finished the project when we replaced the glass in the kitchen cabinet (another DIY gone wrong).  I took some time to snap some photos of the kitchen on a sunny day and am sharing them today (as you can see by the pumpkins in the window, these photos were not taken recently). Things just got too busy over Christmas to share them with you, plus I figured NO one was going to tackle a kitchen redo in December :).

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    The very last step in the redo was to re-paint the walls, they started out as green and we repainted them a soft gray (Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore).

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    The rest of the kitchen redo was swap outs… different bar stools, and a vintage sign on the wall (purchased at a really fun antique store in downtown Louisville).

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    I’m still debating the chalkboard on this wall. I think it’s too much text. I’m going to swap it out when I find a piece of artwork that I like (which might take another 8 years, I’m picky about art).

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

    In this corner you can see the bookcase that I refinished with Chalk Paint (details of that project can be found HERE).

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

     

    The kitchen looks into our Living Room which we also recently repainted. I’m bound and determined to get all of the yellow’y’ tan paint OUT of our house this winter. We still have the 2 story entry way to repaint and we’re not quite sure how to do it.  We joked that we’d get a ladder and just paint as high as we could then figure out the rest later *wink* (don’t laugh, we might just do that).

     

    Green Tile Backsplash & Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

     

    It’s been a year since the cabinets were repainted and I can say that I’m so glad that I did it, long process, dead bugs and all.  The cabinets are holding up great they just wipe off if they get smudged.

    Before and After Photos of a Kitchen that had it's Cabinets Painted White- lots of great ideas for decorating a farmhouse style kitchen!

     

    Of course after we finished this project, I got lots of brilliant ideas for how to change the kitchen completely by knocking out a few walls. We will have to see if we decided to stay in our house long enough to make that type of commitment.  Right now we change our mind daily about moving.

     

    More Projects You May Enjoy

    • How to Make a Magnolia Wreath
    • How to Make Book Page Wreath that’s Perfect for Fall
    • How to Hang Outdoor Drapes & DIY Outdoor Curtain Rods
    • Kentucky Derby Craft Ideas for Cricut Machines

    • Share
    • Email

    About Author

    Melissa Mortenson

    Melissa Mortenson is a blogger, designer, and content creator. She is the Polka Dot Chair blog founder and has been sharing fresh and creative ideas with readers since 2008. She is the author of “Project Teen, Handmade Gifts your Teen will Actually Love.” Her work and designs have been featured on HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, BuzzFeed, Better Homes & Gardens, and many other established publications. Her first fabric line, “Derby Style,” debuted in January 2015 through Riley Blake Designs.  Additional fabric collections have followed it in subsequent years. A mom of 3, she considers herself lucky to be living in Kentucky.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. erin says

      February 05, 2016 at 8:12 pm

      it looks fantastic here and in person! 😉

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:48 pm

        Thanks Erin 🙂

        Reply
    2. Sheila Perl says

      February 06, 2016 at 8:07 am

      Your kitchen redo and living room look absolutely gorgeous!!
      Great colours, I love it! 😀

      Reply
    3. Ann says

      February 06, 2016 at 10:08 am

      I would love to know the paint brand name and color! You may have been the inspiration to redo my kitchen!!! Also, did you have to prime the cupboards too? I so need more information!

      Reply
      • Tracey says

        February 09, 2016 at 12:45 pm

        I also would like to know paint color, especially the island color!

        Reply
        • Melissa Mortenson says

          February 11, 2016 at 6:43 pm

          The island is Kendall Charcoal from Benjamin Moore-

          Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:48 pm

        Yes, we primed them. I’ll be sure to include all of the details in the next post! I’ll get it typed up and post it this week.

        Reply
    4. Sylvia says

      February 06, 2016 at 10:36 am

      I really enjiyed seeing your make over, beautifully done. Sorry, you had so much trouble finding the correct paint and having to re-do your painting!
      I would like to know where you purchased the brushed nickel horizontal drawer pulls, I am building a home and they look fantastic!

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:48 pm

        Sure!
        The drawer pulls are from Restoration Hardware, we tried A LOT of different ones and kept returning them… I’m so happy with the ones that we ended up using.

        Reply
    5. Laura says

      February 06, 2016 at 12:51 pm

      SO inspirational from many levels. Appreciate you sharing the pros and cons and mistakes. Beautifully done. I bet you love getting up every morning and wandering in to get coffee or tea.

      Reply
    6. J L says

      February 07, 2016 at 7:08 am

      What color white are the cabinets? Beautiful!

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:45 pm

        It’s a premixed color from the company that made the paint. I’ll double check and be sure to include the color name in the next post with all of the details on painting the cabinets.

        Reply
        • Amy says

          July 15, 2019 at 12:15 am

          Where are your bar stools from? Thanks!

          Reply
          • Melissa Mortenson says

            July 17, 2019 at 1:50 pm

            Ballard Designs, although I don’t love them. They are a bit too wobbly for us.

            Reply
    7. Kristyn says

      February 08, 2016 at 10:20 pm

      Looks AWESOME!! Your hard work totally paid off!!!

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:44 pm

        Thank you so much Kristyn!

        Reply
    8. Dawn Nelson says

      February 10, 2016 at 12:14 am

      Great job! It’s so much more fun to cook when you can do it in a room you love.

      You mentioned a two story entrance that needs to be painted. Just a thought, but I would check with your local equipment rental or a home construction store to see if they rent scaffolding. You would be ever so much happier with a finished paint job. 😉

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 11, 2016 at 6:43 pm

        Yes, I think that’s the plan right now. We can get scaffolding locally, we are just trying to decide if we trust ourselves to use it… We might just have to break down and hire a painter.

        Reply
    9. Ivory says

      June 13, 2016 at 10:05 pm

      I am just joining your site, and I am happy I’ve joined, because I get to see your beautiful work. I love, love, love your kitchen makeover.

      Reply
    10. Ivory says

      August 04, 2016 at 10:48 pm

      Wow, your kitchen is gorgeous. I love it! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    11. Julie hirschi says

      August 07, 2016 at 7:22 pm

      Your kitchen looks great! Would you mind telling me where you got your bamboo blinds? Hanks!

      Reply
    12. Julie hirschi says

      August 07, 2016 at 7:23 pm

      Thanks not hanks!!! Haha

      Reply
    13. Angela says

      October 26, 2016 at 12:27 pm

      I love what you’ve done! Your original kitchen is very similar to our cabinets (layout and colors). Our wall colors are rockport grey and revere pewter.
      I’m curious…
      1) What sort of cabinet you put your microwave in if you would be up for sharing. Ours is a countertop one, and it would be so nice to have it gone from there.
      2) Also wondering how old your youngest child is… My youngest is 3 so I’ve been hold off painting my cabinets white until he’s older and less destructive. But maybe your paint is more durable than I expect painted cabinets would be.
      3) What is the name of the cabinet color?
      Thank you in advance!

      Reply
    14. Dani says

      October 03, 2018 at 11:57 pm

      Beautiful, I found my self here because I’m re-doing the whole kitchen too. The main difference is I rent the home I’m remodeling. I’ve lived in the home for over 5 years and the landlord lets me do whatever. He has never had it so good. I’ve been working on the doors for over 2 months because I’m doing my self expect for the new lighting that my husband the professional electrician will be putting under the counters and overhead. I’ve removed the hindges soaked them scrub the old paint including the screws to save money. I can’t do much about the floors because that would break his bank the floors are Mexican Tile and they need love, Maybe I can get him to re-grout the floors will see. Again, the make over in your kitchen is gorgeous, totally my style. Also I wanted to say your senior dog is adorable too. I will e-mail you before and after when I’m done.

      Reply
    15. Kayla Walton says

      July 13, 2019 at 9:46 am

      OMG I *NEED* that Walton Market sign!!!! <3 trying to convince my husband to let me paint our cabinets! Still in the research phase but getting super excited to get started. May just "surprise" him and start anyway!!

      Reply
    16. robin says

      February 27, 2020 at 1:20 pm

      What color white did you use on your kitchen cabinets? There are so many variations.

      Reply
      • Melissa Mortenson says

        February 27, 2020 at 4:06 pm

        The color was set by the paint that we used. It only came in certain colors. If you look at the ‘how to paint your kitchen cabinets’ post on this blog it is listed there. Just use the search box.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hello! It’s nice to meet you.

    I’m Melissa. I like to design things, like fabric, printables, and projects.

    I’m also a Mom and a Maker. I am like most of you, just trying to do my best every day. Some days I succeed, many days I fail.  I find joy in creating, if you do too, then I hope that you find something here bring a little “happy” to your life.  Find out more about me here.

    COPYRIGHT POLICY

    All my images and text are copyrighted. You may NOT use any images from this site in any kind of Video (this includes YouTube). If you would like to feature my work, you may use ONE (1) NON-COLLAGED image and must “follow” link back to my original blog post. You may NOT edit, crop, or change my images in any way without written permission. You MAY NOT print out or copy and distribute any text, images or patterns from this site. All patterns, content, instructions, and templates are for personal use ONLY! Thank you! Violators will be reported.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimers
    • About Melissa
    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Press
    • Published Books
    • Fabric Collections

    Welcome to the Polka Dot Chair! Here you’ll find easy, step-by-step, sewing, quilting, and crafting projects. We design projects for Makers of all skill levels. Beginners are welcome!

    DISCLAIMER:

    While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content on this website, the information is made available without warranty of any kind. The Polka Dot Chair accepts no responsibility or liability, whether direct or indirect, as to the currency or accuracy of the information, nor any consequence of its uses. This website is not intended to substitute the advice of a professional.

    Copyright © 2022 Polka Dot Chair

    [ Placeholder content for popup link ] WordPress Download Manager - Best Download Management Plugin