Kitchen Renovations VI

At last - the kitchen is finished!  well - all except for two little pieces of trim that will remain  un-mentioned - and painting and replacing the stove hood... and - - the putting back the fridge, stove and dishwasher part.....(and lining the cabinets - and putting a up a curtain...
oh good grief)

But other than THAT -  the Kitchen is finished!

In case you've forgotten what it looked like a few months ago - here's a before picture......

So - one task down - just 10 more to go! (but at least THIS one is finished!!)

Kitchen Renovations V

One step closer to getting the kitchen put back together - check out the new floor - Eddie has it done and it looks BEAUTIFUL!!

 Just pretend the cabinet doors are back on - and the weird funky wallpaper (who puts wallpaper on the end of a center island anyway?) - is not still exposed... for the purpose of this

"beautiful floor" picture.....

oh yes - and ignore the open blinds that show the still missing deck in the background... The FLOOR - FOCUS on the the floor!! - - isn't it beautiful?

and now - the cabinets.... I managed to quit the endless cycle of touch up painting long enough to get some of the doors back on and in place.  The hinges had flat head screws - I have decided I HATE flat head screws... they are the devil!  My drill kept slipping out of the groove -  knocking into the cabinets - leaving big gouges in the paint - which will mean I have to touch up some paint before all is said and done (AGAIN) - but LOOK - the cabinets have some doors!  Aren't we excited! : )

 No handles in place in this picture yet - but I have put up the wallpaper border....and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  If it hadn't stormed racoons and squirrels today- I would have gotten all of them on.  But - my dogs are afraid of thunderstorms so I had to come home and keep them company  - otherwise - they flip out!!

Kitchen Renovations IV

I love paint - it's the universal equalizer.... no matter how miss-matched something might look like when you start.....

give it a coat of paint - and it pulls it all together.....

This color happens to be one of my favorite - Rust-oleum Espresso - easy to spray and chocolaty rich - it covers almost anything in just one coat.

Finally - the cabinets are starting to come together!!!

I did find an article on line on how to remove paint from hardware.... at this site {http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/377801/removing_paint_from_metal_door_knobs.html?cat=6} - he recommended taking an old pot, placing water to cover the hardware - covering the bottom of the pot with baking soda and gently simmering the hardware for about 30 minutes - I tried this and it worked - - the paint pretty much peeled off.... took me about 4 hours to remove it from all the hinges and handles - and the last 30 minutes was tedious - as the concentration was getting pretty weak.....

My fingers got pretty raw towards the end - the secret was not to let the hinges cool off - or the paint re-adhered to the hinges.... or (as I found out towards the end of the process) - to let them simmer - then shock them with cold water and chip the paint off  - it would get brittle and flake off really easily then....

Not bad results for old hinges with 3 coats of paint..... pity I'm going right downstairs to repaint them...

I couldn't decide which color to paint the handles - so used a couple spares to try a few colors - I had originally thought to paint them brushed nickel - but didn't like the color - something about the hammered metal of the handles didn't work with the brushed nickel - nor did it work with the cafe au latte (the top color shown in this picture).... I think the black looks the best.... which, incidentally, is the color I just spent the last 4 hours removing....

In my defense - the old paint was peeling and built up - - - this new coat will look fresh and new....

or so I will keep telling myself so that I won't kick myself across the house....

while all this has been drying - I've finished painting the last of the cabinet doors - and gone over the house and painted the cabinets themselves (I'll take pictures and post them soon).....

not too long and the cabinets will be done.... Eddie's almost done with the floor - - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.......