Between finalizing our 260+ page book manuscript (due Jan 4th- ack!) and hosting/enjoying family time (and lots of delicious food), we’ve also been priming! Can I get a “holla!”? Or more likely, a “you’re crazy.”
Thank goodness our guests are so understanding! Oh man, and it feels great to be seeing some progress.
The beauty of primer is that it always looks a little rough (so you don’t have to stress about getting it to look perfect). By nature, it’s just a sticky sub-layer that helps grab paint and hold on for the long haul, so as long as you apply things thinly and evenly (drips = baaaaad), you’re all set to just follow the recommended drying time and then get right to painting!
You definitely want to use a stain-blocking primer when painting wood cabinets (especially when they’ve been stained and exposed to kitchen grease like ours). We chose Zinsser’s Smart Prime (a super high quality low-VOC primer sold at our local Benjamin Moore store that was recommended by two different pro cabinet painters). The nice thing about it is that it’s “open” a bit longer than some other primers, so it doesn’t dry right away while you’re still trying to work it into the cracks and smooth it out to make sure it’s not drippy or bumpy. And it’s nice and durable, so it should definitely help with those decades-of-great-results that we’d like.
Oh and we use a small foam roller and a 2″ angled brush for the smoothest application. Of course there are a million other primer steps to share (and even a video to show exactly how we apply it), so we’ll be back to detail every last step (arms. too. tired. to. type.) next week.
You know, after the painting’s done and our sweet and extremely understanding house guests bid us adieu. Until then, picture us painting / doing the happy dance / book editing / asking everyone if they’d like something to eat or drink (in the dining room or living room since the kitchen’s kinda out of commission).
Oh man, this is totally the exciting part though. And we’re inexplicably excited to add hardware once everything cures up. Yes, we’re strange birds. New hardware = beyond thrilling. Especially when the room used to look like this:
Wahooo progress!
Psst- Check out this kitchen post all about how we prepped our cabinets for paint and this one about how we picked hinges and a cabinet color.
Psssssst- We picked this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you!
Rhune says
Aw… did you prime the kettle too?! I’m excited to see what color it will be. Just joking, of course.
I’m in one of the last steps of painting my bathroom cabinets in Bittersweet Chocolate. While they look better than the Builders Oak, the side panel (fake wood-looking paper thingy) isn’t turning out as nice. Since it’s not real wood, or laminate made out of real wood, I didn’t sand it too much in fear of ruining the whole surface. Maybe that’s the difference.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- hilarious! My white ceramic obsession got the best of me and we sprung for a white kettle! As for you bathroom cabinets, Bittersweet Chocolate sounds amazing! Here’s hoping that end piece looks great when everything cures up and dries!
xo,
s
Connie says
It’s amazing what a little primer can do to the appearance. I can’t for the grand finale. You guys are like little decorating elves.
Melissa says
WOW Progress!! Suchh a great transformation!!
Kaitlin A says
High-density roller is SO key… lessons learned too late. Looks GREAT!
Kate{Starr Family} says
I feel only slightly crazy… checking back frequently to see a pic of the progress! I’m embarrassed at how excited I am for this project, great taste is fun to follow!
Liz loves Cam says
I’ll admit, I wasn’t completely on board with your kitchen plans (thwarted by the peninsula!), but after reading this post and seeing the in progress pic above the before version, I have to hand it to you. My initial reaction was, ‘This is going to be a beautiful kitchen.’ Like one of the amazing ones from a magazine. Awesome vision, guys!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! We can’t wait to see it come together!
xo,
s
Tirsa says
It looks soooo much better already! Can’t wait to see the finished product. I think we’ll all be doing the happy dance with you!
Happy New Year!
Elizabeth says
I can’t wait for the final kitchen reveal!
Briel K. says
Didn’t you guys get a new dishwasher? When will that be installed?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, that goes in after we lay the floor (at the very end) so we can run the new floor under it before installing it.
xo,
s
Shannon says
I have to admit that I think about your kitchen remodel a lot. Like, checking your blog was one of the first things I did this morning!! It’s so darn exciting!
Sistergirl says
Great job! It looks great.
Melanie (melarse) says
How bad is it that I dreamt that at the bottom of this post you stated you were going to share the cabinet hardware selection today? I guess you’re not the only ones excited about hardware! Can’t wait!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- you’re awesome. Can’t wait for those babies to come!
xo,
s
Christa says
I’m wondering what kind of system() you guys have in place to keep you on track with your book manuscript deadline? I am currently working on my graduate thesis and am really struggling with balancing it all – work, school, real life, fun… Any tips on how you are producing that amount of pages in that amount of time?
YoungHouseLove says
The whole thing has been really crazy! I wish we had some tips to pass along but we’ve just been scrambling because things sort of snuck up on us! For months we had an outline turned in and our publishers were working on figuring out an illustrator and booking a photographer and dealing with scheduling stuff and then there was talk of the book being pushed back to spring of 2013 so we said “is there anything we can do to keep it a fall 2012 book (because waiting so long made us worry things wouldn’t feel as fresh and it all wouldn’t be as exciting – we’ve been working on this book for over a year already so we’re ready to go, ya know?). So they said “ok, we can try to expedite it” and that was a few weeks ago and then we got an email saying “if you want to expedite it for fall we need a final manuscript by Jan 4th. Literally we got that on last Monday or something. Ahhhhhhh! So we have just been working for around 5-7 hours a day on it (usually from 7:30pm to 1-3am after Clara’s asleep) to build up the 100 page outline to a 260+ page manuscript. Trading it back and forth in Google Docs is a great tip! Other than that, we just don’t sleep and write all night. Haha. So not helpful, right?
xo,
s
allison bolton says
You are inspiring me to repaint all my white cabinets!! Your kitchen looks so bright and clean, l love it!
I remodeling my house for years, I finished tiling my kitchen during Thanksgiving. I have been laying tile in my house for a couple of years, so it was the end of a huge project, which included removing lots of engineered wood (glued down, ugg!) and stinky old carpet. Then redid my husbands study floors in a dark allure ultra flooring that looks like wood planks. Everyone loves my new floors, but they do think I am crazy for doing myself.
I love reading your blog, I have gotten lots of ideas and your blog makes me wants to keep going on my home improvements Thanks!
Alison @ Pig and Paint says
Oooo it makes me excited to see your excitement about getting close to finishing this project. I’m kind of a dork when it comes to projects and I just LOVE seeing a big idea come to fruition. Can’t wait to see your kitchen once you’re done.
Thanks for the tip about a stain-blocking primer! I think you may have just sold my husband on painting some of our cabinets with that suggestion (yipee!!).
Alison
Sarah says
You guys are a dynamic duo! Gotta love priming, arduous work for a slightly depressing visual outcome, but one step closer to painted lovliness. I’m having issues dealing with paint build up on rounded edges atm, argh…any tips? I’m using a brush and very light coats but just can’t get it to blend.
YoungHouseLove says
I would try using a small foam roller for those edges to soak up and catch any build up! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Trude says
Huzzah for visible progress! No wonder you guys were anxious to do it even with the deadline looming. :) Looks awesome already!
Mary says
New reader here! I took a similar cabinet door into Benjamin Moore today and asked what to prime and paint it with to make it white and he said NOTHING would hide the wood grain and it would always show through, unless I did a ton of work to remove the existing finish. You don’t have that problem? Your’s looks higher contrast than mine, too! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
There’s really no guarantee when it comes to wood grain since it’s just more pronounced sometimes depending on the cabinets. We painted some oak cabinets in the office and had zero wood grain show through using a good primer + self leveling Ben Moore Advance paint. But our kitchen cabinets seem like there might be a hint of grain, so it really varies! We don’t mind when painted wood looks like painted wood so a bit of grain is ok with us though! We’ll share every detail with regards to the finish of ours when they’re dry and hung! Wahoo. Can’t wait!
xo,
s
Dana @ House*Tweaking says
Your priming/painting kitchen cabinetry escapade takes me back…
It was so worth it though! Keep up the good work!
Diana @ Boy + Girl says
What a difference a little primer makes! I can’t wait to see the finished product! It will be stunning, I’m sure!
-Diana
Jessica says
Its looking good! I want to paint our kitchen cabinets (which are the knotty pine like your old house and the whole kitchen is wood paneling) but I feel so overwhelmed even when I just look in there! What’s your advice on staying sane and focused to get it done!?
YoungHouseLove says
Just do it one small step at a time. First take down all the doors and putty holes. Then sand and degloss the next day, etc. Breaking it down makes it feel less crazy!
xo,
s
Olivia says
Hey John & Sherry!
I am thinking (trying to muster up courage) to paint my kitchen cabinets… I am wondering if you are going to paint the insides of the cabinets white or leave them wood?
Thanks!!!
Olivia
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll have tons of info on that in tomorrow morning’s post! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
sean blume says
nice blog. i like it.
Kathleen says
How many cans of the primer did you go through? Wondering because I plan to use the same stuff and need to know how much to order.
Thanks!
~Kathleen
YoungHouseLove says
We’re still on the same can of primer and we’re done with the cabinets and are just doing small things like the hood and the shelves! It lasts a while!
xo,
s
Lindsay says
Thanks for all your posts. I have been pouring over them as I’m about to paint my kitchen cabinets. I just got back from the hardware store where it was recommended I use Zinnser BIN Primer for my cabinets. It’s a shellac primer. Have you had any experience with this/heard of anything? I want a primer that will get rid of/decrease the grainy look of the oak I have. I love the smooth, hard finishes.
YoungHouseLove says
We haven’t personally used that but if it’s recommended for cabinets I’m sure it’ll be great! Good luck!
xo,
s
Julianne says
Hi there!
I know this is an old post but are you guys happy with how the SmartPrime has held up in terms of durability? We’re considering using it to paint over some wood trim in a hallway and I would love not to have the hassle of an oil-based primer, cleanup and stink-wise. Thanks for your time! Love your blog!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it worked well for us.
xo
s
Ashley says
Hi guys!
Thank you so much for the detailed info, have been following you for a while, but finally got up the courage to paint the cabinets. We were wondering (super random), what did you use to prop up the doors while you paint?
thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We just had small pieces of scrap wood that we cut into 2″x2″ pieces that we laid under them! Hope it helps!
xo
s
Jessi says
Wow! I’m having a hard time finding the smart prime primer! I live in the Orlando area so it’s not like I’m in the middle of no where. I think I’m going to order it off amazon. What does it cost retail? I don’t want to overpay, but I can’t find it anywhere!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, I think they might be phasing it out. I wouldn’t pay over $19 for it I think. Maybe $15 is the average but sometimes $20?
xo
s