DIY $100 kitchen makeover

I've wanted to have our cabinets painted white for so long now, and with some push from my sister, I finally tackled the project. I heard form a lot of people that it was going to be a huge and difficult project. It took me three days to do this section and it wasn't all that bad.

Here is what I did to update our kitchen on a budget. 

This is what I started with. These outdated cabinets. 

My first step was to clean them. I used TSP and gave them a good cleaning; boxes drawers and doors.  You'll need gloves and a rag. Just follow the directions on the box. 

After cleaning them really well, I took the doors off the boxes and sanded them down. i was able to scratch them up and get the shine off. Then came the fun part - priming! This is where I actually saw some progress. I used Kilz primer, and painted one coat on with a good paint brush. I let it dry and added a second coat of primer. 

Once the cabinets were all primed, I started painting! I used some left over Dove White paint by Benjamin Moore, that we had used on our fireplace remodel. 

This is the brush I used, along with a small detail brush to get into the routed sections of the doors. 

I used long even strokes and applied thin layers of paint. I used a fine grit sandpaper to sand down any brush stokes or drips, after each coat was dry. This method worked so well, that I have very minimal brush strokes. 

You can sand down any strokes once each coat is dry. If you don't catch the drips right away, do not try to smoothen them out. Wait for it to fully dry, then sand it down with a fine grit paper. I had one spot that I didn't notice and was able to sand it down once the coat dried. After you apply your final coat of paint, you won't see it!

Once you get your final coat of paint on, let it completely dry and rehang your doors. 

Here is what they look like all painted. I think they look really good for painting them with a brush. 

My cabinets took two coats of primer and two coats of paint. 

I din't take the hinges off the doors, I just taped them and used my small detail paint brush to get around them really well. 

Once everything was fully dry, I hung the doors and couldn't believe what one weekend of painting did to the kitchen. It looked so much better and so much brighter. 

so much better!

After all this hard work, I needed to add knobs, so that we wouldn't touch the cabinets to open the doors, and ruin the paint. I bought knobs and pulls off amazon, and waited for them to come. But in the mean time, I also found some lamps that I wanted to have in the corner window. That area was looking really bare. 

Amazon for the win! Two lamps for less than $40!

Seriously, those lamps make a huge difference! I am so in love!

Two days later, and my hardware are in. These were really easy to install with a template that I bought from Lowes. 

Another great Amazon find!

Love these! 

The template comes with a drill bit to use to make your holes. If you don't buy the $8 template, the hardware you buy should list the size bit that you will need to use.

LOVE!

The kitchen looks so much bigger and brighter. It is a different feeling having it white. 

Here it is with everything all together. I can't get over how different it looks and how easy it was to paint and attach hardware! 

Don't those lamps make a huge difference? What do you think? 

This project was so affordable because we had the primer and paint from our fireplace remodel, so all it took was some time and hardware. This project was less than $100! Best $100 I have spent on a project. 

Pin image for future reference.

I hope this helps anyone that wants to tackle this task too! I was so hesitant to start it, but am so happy that I did.