Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Dining Room Reveal


Did you all have a fantastic 4th of July weekend? We loved the 3 day weekend, and all the freedom celebrating, red white and blue coloring, BBQ eating, firework launching, goodness. We also hammered down and knocked out a few projects on our home improvement list. To start we did the dining room. Our 1970's home, was all stuck in the 70's, the dining room and kitchen however, that was brought into the 90's and then left there. (with a very 70's built in hutch) 
 It will never cease to amaze me what fresh paint and hard work will do for you. So 100 dollars spent on paint and painting supplies and the new light fixture, and new curtains and rod (they are the only thing we didn't finish) 
 A new updated, fresh and bright dining room. It may be one of my new favorite places in the house. So want to know my tips and tricks to cabinet transformation?

 Before: I started with this lovely 70's plywood cabinet. The wood was dark and dirty looking. Glass doors on top, dirty brass knobs, sage green walls. 
 After: I used my trusty liquid sander and rubbed down the entire cabinet to get the gloss off. Then prime the cabinet and follow it up with painting. I used a cabinet kitchen and bath enamel paint in Ultra Bright White. 
Here are two tips that I did this go around (our second time refinishing cabinets) 
For the doors to get a really smooth finish I used spray paint. Now a sprayer would be a much better approach however, I was only doing a few doors and we don't have a sprayer so we will rent (or borrow) one when we do the kitchen but I did use spray paint for the doors followed but one coat of the enamel paint. 
For the rest of the cabinet I used a high density foam roller. It's the only way to go in my opinion. It does very light coats so it takes a few extra coats and a little more time, but the finish is smooth and nice. (you could do it for the doors too, but spray paint was faster) 
Since I painted the top of the cabinet as well which is basically a counter top (only it was wood) You have to be careful to let the paint cure. It takes 7 days before you can wash it or get it wet and a full 24 hours of dry time before you can set stuff on it.
We also decided to skip the glass doors up above and just go with open shelves. I liked the doors fine, but the glass caused a glare to always be there so you couldn't see anything on display. So we filled the holes sanded it smooth and put the doors away (incase we ever change our mind) 
 I spray painted the knobs a teal color, and they were good as new. 
 I love how bright the dining room is now, especially since you see it from the front room.
 Now there is a flow from one room to the next. I love making the house our home and making each room a happy and bright place.
Oh and the wall color was Gray Opal from Valspar (same as the living room)
The dining room light is from Ikea
See you back here tomorrow!

No comments:

Post a Comment