Refresh Cabinets with Paint

I have to share our basement bathroom with our laundry room.  It is not so bad, we do have a laundry chute!  But it is a dark place and dark cabinets only make it DARKER!  There is only a tiny window, that provides a small amount of natural light.

Let me give you an idea of the difference a little paint can make:

Oh it makes such a difference to brighten the space!

I started by removing all the doors.  Make sure you put the hardware in a baggie and label them to match the cabinet door it goes with (when you re-install the hardware you want them on the right cabinet door… I learned not all handles are created equal)  I previously mentally numbered the cabinets and knew which order they went in so I could hang them back in the same place.  Trust me this is an important step!

Do you see my baggies on the dryer ready to be labeled?

One last before:

I love the look of wood, don’t get me wrong, I just wasn’t diggin’ the dark wood in a dark room!

So now…on to how you are going to do this on the cheap.

As a rule I never go into Home Depot without:
1. checking the oops paint section
2. checking the cull bin
You never know what treasure you may find!

So one day I picked up this full gallon of paint for $7 in the oops paint!

It was not quite white, just a hint of grey.  Perfect for brightening the cabinets!  Plus paint and primer in one is a great way to go!

I decided that I wanted to get my hardware made over too, so I used this Rust-oleum metallic spray paint, in metallic oil rubbed bronze, for under $4.

I love this color!

Then I spent the day painting my cabinets.  I used a cabinet roller that I already had and some cheap foam brushes, which I had as well.  I did two coats, waiting for drying in-between.  Then I waited, for several days,  I got impatient at this point and put on the hardware and re-hung the cabinets!

Here are a few after shots:

I plan on painting the walls too….eventually….

And here is my laundry chute!  It was really big and I put that wasted space to good use by adding a shelf.

I will be linking to these parties.