New Kitchen, New Life

We recently decided to "remodel" our kitchen.  I say remodel in quotations because we didn't do anything extensive but it did give it a whole new look.  We have been trying to sell our home for a couple months and one of the few feedback we recieved was about the kitchen and oak cabinets looking dated.  I never minded them but after another month of no offers I decided it was time to make a change.  I wanted to paint them white or cream (I didn't think staining would do much to change the oak grain, etc).  A friend mentioned that she liked a style she saw on Pinterest and it would be simple enough to do.  It looked nice.  It looked modern.  So within a week of serious thought over it the plans went into action.

* hoping to add a few tutorial notes on how to do this for anyone interested but shame on me I didn't take pictures *

 Before

 After

 Close up (beadboard inserted and then painted)

 Close up #2

Close up #3 (I love the cup handles on these)

It took a little longer than I anticipated and although fate stepped in and we had about a week or so with no showings (first one since we listed) it wasn't quite enough to finish up.  Many steps and lots of time for paint to dry.  But we did have a few showings with it in the middle of completion and apparently it didn't scare them all off as one person came back for a second look.  I credit the new kitchen and Jeff is happy to agree with my hard work.  It certainly brings new life and light to our kitchen and hopefully it will help us sell and bring us a new life/direction too. 

--Update-- After this kitchen project was complete we received an offer from each of our next two showings and were able to decline the first and lesser of the two and go with the better offer and sell.  

Steps / Tutorial on the kitchen

Materials:

- bead board (purchased this at home depot in 4' x 8' panels; it is thin ~ 1/4  inch or less)

- clamps

- liquid nails 

- standard paintable caulk 

- caulk gun

- Krud Kutter or other surface cleaner

- primer and paint (we used Kilz Primer basic and Valspar Kitchen and Bath Enamel ; ask a paint   

  professional if you are concerned with products working together or for this type of project -- we weren't    very concerned with this as it was a "remodel" to help sell our home)

- table saw (highly recommended) or other power saw

- spray paint (optional) - we were going to replace all of our hardware but when hinges ended up being $5 a piece I opted to spray paint based off of a tutorial I had seen

- finishing nails and hammer (DO NOT use on cabinets...we used this to fix the bead board under our snack bar in place after applying the liquid nails).

Step 1 :  Measure all of your surfaces that you plan to add bead board to.  We added it under the snack bar and to the inner panel of each cabinet door.  

Step 2:  Using a table saw (my personal preference...thanks to my brother for helping with this part), cut your pieces of bead board.  It is better to go a little smaller (right on top or inside of your line) than to end up with a piece that doesn't fit in where it should. 

Step 3:  Prepare your cabinets.  Take all of the cabinet doors down and hardware (hinges, handles) off.  Clean with Krud Kutter (this is what most tutorials recommend and it is awesome) and then sand any place that will be painted.  You don't need to sand under the bead board sections.  Wipe down everything with a clean rag after you have sanded. 

Step 4:  Using liquid nails glue down your bead board into each cabinet door.  Then clamp the bead board down while it sets and dries.  We also used books to apply equal pressure.  If you don't have enough clamps for all cabinets then do this in steps.  I don't recommend just using weight to keep the bead board down as it will likely bow up in places (we tried this).  

Step 5:  Once the liquid nails is dry and completely set, then use a caulk gun to run a bead of calk along any gap that may be left with the bead board panel.  Then dip your finger in water and smooth the bead out across the surface.  If you get caulk into the grooves of the bead board I recommend q-tips to clean this out.

Step 6:  While waiting for liquid nails to dry and caulk to dry (I gave each 24 hours) this is a great time to prime and paint the cabinets that are on the wall.  Make sure to tape everything off beforehand.

Step 7:  Smooth out and sand any caulk that is raised above the pattern or layout of your cabinet doors.  Once you are satisfied with the appearance of the doors then it is time to prime and paint those also.  

Step 8:  Either buy new hardware (I like this idea as your hardware is probably outdated and you want a "new" kitchen wow factor) or put your hardware back up and replace the cabinet doors and drawers (once they have had a good amount of time to dry of course).

Step 9:  Enjoy, brag and sell that house (in our case...I think the kitchen was a big selling point once we finished it; two offers from the two showings that happened after it was finished said a lot to me). 

* once again sorry that there aren't pictures but hopefully you can put the pieces together.  If there are questions don't be afraid to leave a comment.  Thanks *