Almost. I’ve got some touch up painting to do, but I’ll explain that later. On Saturday, Ben built eight cabinet doors including two glass frames. Details to come later, but you can bet I filled the doors right away. Sunday morning I sanded those babies down and filled a few areas again. While impatiently tapping my fingers waiting for filler to dry, I dreamed about installed cabinet doors. A few hours later, I gave the doors a final sanding and started painting with my two in one Behr paint. Love that I don’t have to prime.
I don’t know why, but Behr paint seems to dry faster than any other brand. Which is good news for me because I got two coats of paint on the fronts of the cabinets on Sunday. Then I flipped ’em over on Monday and gave the backs two more coats. Tuesday morning, I flipped back to the front for one more coat.
Once that coat dried, I hauled the doors up to the kitchen and propped them in place. You know, just to get a feel of what they would look like. Because I’m impatient like that.
That’s when I discovered a problem. The two glass door frames were about 1/8 inch wider than their lower counterparts.
Ben happened to come home to get his wallet during this and I pointed out the problem.
When Ben got home that afternoon, I politely asked begged, pleaded, and whined for him to install the cabinet doors. He ripped down the glass door frames to make everything even and flush. Then he started with the install of the fridge and bar doors. To install the hidden hinges, Ben measured and marked his the hole locations. He carefully drilled into the frames to hollow out a hole to recess the hinge in.
I admit, I was holding my breath while watching this. Ben is skilled (as you all know) but I imagined him drilling too far or popping a screw through the front. Luckily, everything went smoothly, other than one screw head breaking off. Then he popped the hinge in, used a square to keep it straight and put 3/4 inch screws in to hold it in place.
Handy Sammy was over for dinner, so he held the door up for Ben to hang. I’m too short, I can’t reach. Okay, I’m not that short, but it is nice to pawn a job off on an unsuspecting guest.
We didn’t want the wood cabinet frames to split, so Ben used a small drill bit to make a pilot hole, followed by a 1 1/4 inch screw in each hinge to hold the door in place. After the two bar and two fridge cabinets, Ben called it quits for the night and took a shower. While I was in the shower, Ben did a little more work. I walked out to see two door knobs in the fridge cabinets.
Speaking of the knobs, I had a little trouble deciding on the placement. Like Goldilocks, one was too low; centered in the bottom corner.
Another was too high; the outer edge of the knob above the bottom edge detail.
But one was juuuust right. And Ben agreed. Centered width wise on the edge detail, but also centered on the cross edge.
Fortunately for me, this made measuring a cinch. I just lined my ruler up with the raised detail and marked 1 1/4 inch from the edge (because our banding is 2 1/2 inches wide).
Yesterday afternoon, Ben finished installing the doors. Where’d the microwave go? Oh, it’s hidden behind a cabinet door. Sneaky us.
And now you can’t see our pile of mail or the toaster. But you can see our pretty dishes!
Add a few sparkly knobs and we’re done. Wait, we’re not. I’ve got to paint the crown moulding, those MDF brown trim pieces we’ve added, repaint the edges of the glass frames, and, oh yeah. Get glass! Notice the lack of glare? Ben thinks we should leave the doors glass-less so we always have clean and clear glass that’s under control (not to be confused with the face cleanser).
And I’ve already made this a long post, so why not make it a little longer, all in the name of eye candy? Oooooh, shiiiny.
I did realize why the knobs were so cheap, though. Some of the bolts are bent. Nothing Ben and a little man muscle can’t fix.
Edit: Here are the pictures I promised to add. I’ll have to touch up the paint on the glass frames.
And, here’s something I really love. Ben bought soft close hinges. No more slamming doors.
We’ve got tons more storage on the bar side, too. So far, the only thing inside is Ben’s food dehydrator.
We used three hinges on these heavy guys.
Once we get the glass in the frames we’ll have a full cabinet building post. I’m just excited we’ve covered the gaping holes and you can’t see our junk. Before, it was like we left our zipper down, but no one told us. Well, we figured it out.
One more thing checked off our to do list, one step closer to a finished kitchen, but it’s finally starting to look finished. Just a little more sanding, priming, and painting… Of course then we’ve got organizing and little building projects to do, but nothing that has to be done.
What do you think? What’s your favorite part? Who’s excited to see some paint on those walls?
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LOVE the look! And those knobs are sweet. I actually was in Anthropology (drooling, not shopping) yesterday and found a lime green one with those cool bubbles and got it for my bedroom night stand. Thought it would be a cute pop of color agains the white wood. But a whole kitchen worth?! Now THAT is something to drool over.
It looks amazing! 🙂
Holy heck!! It looks so good. Seriously. I was smiling like crazy looking at those beautiful “after” pictures. I am sure you have such a crazy sense of pride when you walk into your home and look around at all the things that you and Ben did to it. Love it!
Watch out for those technical terms, though. I read “ripped the door down” like a lay person and had to stop for a second to figure out why he’d be so rough on such beautiful doors. And then it clicked. And I felt dumb. 😉
These look great! Your hub-a-lub is quite the handy man for sure! With your genius and his skills, you two are more explosive than Simon Cowell and a v-neck t-shirt. The knobsters are my favorite, good choice!
What a difference the doors make! I was a little weary at first but LOVE those tall cabinets now that the doors are on! Nice custom work!
Our kitchen reno is coming along – slowly. Its currently completely gutted and we are installing the under floor heating mat tomorrow – and then floor tiles this weekend. Once the floors are done, we will proceed with installing all the cabinets and new appliances. So excited!!! (Here are some pics from over a week ago – I don’t have any current pics because I am doing everything in my power to stay out of that depressing hole 🙂 http://anexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/2012/01/demo-ends.html)
Girl! It’s looking good!!
Love it all! You may have already addressed this, but what type of Behr two-in-one paint are you using? An oil-base? And what finish?
Love the knobs as well! Looks like they are underwater bubbles or something. 🙂
How is the paint holding up? I had/am having such trouble with our newly painted kitchen cabinets! We sanded a ton, primed and painted two coats! Still stains are seeping through and I can’t get rid of fingerprints. Not sure what I did wrong! 😦
Those doors look amazing! Congrats!!
It all looks great! Are you going to get clear glass for the cabinets or the type that has the bubbles in it to match your knobs?
Really pretty! I love that color inside the cabinets – it works really well with your backsplash. And the knobs are perfect!
Hey Becky! Aren’t Anthro’s knobs awesome?!? I drool over them, too. These are a great alternative, though.
Thanks, Britny!!
Hi Stephanie! Aww, thanks so much for your sweet comments! We’re definitely proud of the kitchen. 🙂 Sorry for the confusion. I would have been pissed if he did something mean. Haha.
Hey Kimberly! Ha, more explosive than Simon Cowell and a v neck shirt. I cracked up at that. Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
Hi Lizzy! Isn’t it crazy how much brighter the kitchen looks? LOVE. Good luck with your kitchen. Please keep me posted. 🙂
Hey Emily, Thanks, lady!
Hi Brenda, Thanks! We used Behr’s paint and primer in one. It’s latex in a satin finish. Hope that helps!
Hey Lindsey! Thanks, lady! Um, the base cabinet paint is doing pretty well. The majority of the scuffs and scratches were from the first few days before the paint had completely hardened. Ben said it takes about two weeks with that stuff. The white is doing well, too, but that gets lets wear and tear (little hands can’t reach) and we haven’t had them in as long. We’ll definitely keep you updated in our Worse for Wear segment. 🙂
Thanks, John! We’re pretty happy. 🙂
Hey Kelly! Thanks! I planned on plain clear because it’s classic, but I do like the idea of the bubble to match the knobs. I don’t know what the glass company has. We’ll let you know what we choose.
Hi Dawn, Thanks, thanks, thanks! The painted cabinets will definitely help tie in with the painted walls. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
wow, it all looks SO amazing!!! i am in love with everything you have done in your kitchen and wondering when you can come work on mine. 🙂
Wow, your kitchen is looking amazing! You’ve got one talented husband.
I love those knobs! So glad your kitchen zipped up its fly! 😉
I love the knobs they are perfect with the look in your kitchen. Is so funny how much of a difference doors make. Awesome job!
The kitchen looks amazing! The doors and and knobs are amazing. Everything came together so well! I also cannot say enough good things about the glass doors. They are perfect.
Awesome awesome job and I especially love those glass handles 🙂
I am super impressed! I would never guess that your cabinets were DIYed if I didn’t know it already. They look sooo good! The glass doors are going to look amazing and I love that you got the soft close hinges. Keep it coming!
I love this transformation! I’ve been watching to see if the cabinets can pull it off and with the doors on they don’t look DIYed at all. I’m so impressed!
OMG! I’m dying over your hardware! I LOVE the cabinets and the doors look awesome, but those knobs really set everything off! LOVE IT ALL! Good taste lady! 🙂
Looks fantastic!! We are gearing up for a kitchen reno in the (hopefully) not too distant future, and we LOVE the idea of opening it up to our dining & living areas, like you did. One big happy room, with an island in the middle.
Speaking of food dehydrators, I’ve recently gotten into that and bought one off Craigslist (a Nesco American Harvester). It was a great price and I wanted to see if I’d really get into the dehydrating thing. I love it, and one day I might spring for a luxe Excalibur. We’ll see. What a great idea to put it in a cabinet. Is that just when it’s not in use? (I’d imagine it’d be too hot to keep it in there when in use?).
Love what you did with your cabinets. 🙂 awesome work!
What type of banding do you use and do you use it on all of the drawer fronts and cabinet doors?
Hi Natalie,
The main doors/drawer fronts are slabs of MDF with 1/4 inch thick by 2 inch wide strips of to create the shaker detail.
Thanks!
Amanda