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Monday, July 23, 2012

Not So Bookish, If You Please

So today, friends, I decided I didn't want to post anything bookish.  No book reviews or lists or Name That Books (sorry) or books I want to read or anything like that.  Today, I decided to show you a little bit of our home improvement.  Since we bought our home in March, we've been slowly (very slowly) working on some projects.  First was getting in the wood/laminate flooring and then I decided to refinish the kitchen cabinets.  Wow, that one took a long time (what with the sanding and the varnishing and the finish on top, oh how naive I was about the time involved).  But I'm pretty proud of them, so I thought I'd give you a look at the finished project.  Enjoy!  I'm sure I'll have something more bookish for you tomorrow :)

This one was back when I had the bottom finished, but hadn't started on the top.  Our kitchen looked like this for longer than I wanted...

And those two give you a more complete view of what changes took place (you can see our newer floor too...sort of).  Either way, I'm much happier with the color and it goes much better with the counters and the floor.  And I'm happiest that the project is done...at least until I want to put some hardware on them :)

Do you like doing home improvement projects yourself or hiring someone to do it for you?

11 comments :

  1. did you stain or paint? I have very similar oak cabinets and I'm dying to do something with them. Your finished product looks great!

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    1. I stained (or used varnish, whatever you want to call it). Definitely painting would have been way easier, but I wanted to maintain the grain/wood appearance. Thanks and good luck with your cabinets - let me know if you have more questions.

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  2. I bought a house in March as well and painting the cabinets is high on my priority list. Mine are a little lighter than your before picture and I changed all of the knobs thinking it would help the overall appearance but I'd just prefer darker cabinets. I agree with Des, more details please!

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    1. Painting would be a lot less time consuming than staining them was for me. I had to first sand down the cabinets to get rid of the top layer, then apply the varnish/stain. Then over the top of that I applied a clear lacquer to give it a bit of shine and protection. Most of the work was with sanding them, but I think you wouldn't have to sand as much (or at all) if you painted your cabinets :) Let me know if you have more questions!

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  3. We bought a house in February of this year, most of it was totally refinished, but we put up a tile back splash in the kitchen. Next on our list is the finished basement with the orange walls and blue carpet!

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    1. Ooh, orange walls and blue carpet - that sounds like fun :) I really want to do a backsplash, but my husband isn't too thrilled at the idea.

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  4. Oh, very nice! My friend refinished her cabinets and said it was really time consuming. I don't think I could handle it so way to go!

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    1. Definitely it was very time consuming. I'm sure there are faster methods, but I obviously didn't try them :)

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  5. You did a fabulous job! They look so so good! I'm dying for the day when we finally have a home of our own that we can do these fun things to and really make it ours. One day! Until then, I'll live vicariously through my friends. ;o)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Hope you get to have your own home sometime soon :)

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