Mini Kitchen Reno- Phase One

I really thought I could wait it out.
We bought a house with a ton of potential in the perfect location- no biggie that the kitchen is awful- we will get to it. That was June. I made it to September and it had to go. Black, gritty, shiny painted cabinets, ugly counter top, old appliances.
In the midst of needing a distraction- we got to work. And per usual, when I say we, I mean I passed on my ideas, did some light supervision, and Paul did most of the work. When the major renovation happens, the hope is to have the whole first floor open. But for now, some paint on the cabinets is step one. Countertop and maybe a bold wall color is next. And hopefully (but not likely) a good Columbus Day sale and me whining a bit might make those appliances come faster.
Not much is needed for painting cabinets. I followed the steps from this blog: http://www.livelovediy.com/2013/04/10-easy-steps-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets.htmll pretty much to a "t" (I chose a grey paint, not a white), so I won't take any credit or claim expertise. Luckily her method proved to be fairly easy, and better yet- inexpensive!
I might add- Contact paper is the devil.  Volunteers who are good at that kind of thing are needed!

Yucky black cabinets- 

Really annoyed by these

Bring on the sanding.  And sanding.  And sanding.

Use coarse grit paper to start, and  prior to priming use an ultra fine grit for best adherence (a power sander is a great tool to have for this project)

Fill holes from old hardware with wood filler, smooth, prime with Kilz. Use a high density foam roller for maximum smoothness

Me looking like I am working hard

But really making this guy do the work. 

Gotta love the green and gold counters and 80's stove- yikes

And another helper....

I wish our lighting was better- cabinets in Granite Dust by Valspar in semi gloss- we used the kitchen and bath paint- a little more expensive but worth is for the clean-ability.

Definitely a difference!