Cabinet Capers: Erasing the Past

This entire process has been very entertaining for me. I live alone, as far as other humans go, and have learned that I can laugh out loud at myself without fear of wondering if I should be committed. Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy. I’m frakkin’ nuts! So by that logic I am doing okay.

I laugh frequently at the gross things my house presents, and to be honest it’s almost daily.  Between Pete occasionally sharting in the bed (twice! really??!) and the remnants of German cockroach infestation, I have seen my share of poop; especially for being a non-parent.  I should rename this blog: Easty’s House of Poop, aka EHOP. Ha! #EHOP

When last we left our heroes, the cabinet doors were drying after a couple coats of primer and my head was pounding. 

Time to eradicate the past horrors from the kitchen and bring this baby into a new era of well-being! I donned the rubber gloves and a bucket of soapy water and got to scrubbing.

Before (eeeewww)

After (aaahhhh)

Why yes!That is a good, solid layer of roach poop/pieces. I gagged and laughed my way through it because if I can’t laugh at really disgusting stuff, life gets just a little too hard. Here are the two big guys all scrubbed down and degreased (the same process as the doors.)

After Brett got the new walls in, we did some reordering of the cabinets to make the kitchen a little more cohesive. There used to be a single unit over by the refrigerator that wedged it tightly against the wall and provided a ridiculously small surface area.  So we moved it over to the cabinet next to the stove to create more counter space and so the fridge could breathe. The orange arrows below show the move, but please forgive the terribleness of the rendering:

See that green arrow? The original plan was to have a double upper cabinet with glass inserts installed in the door panels. Then this happened:

So I was like, “Suck it, jigsaw! I’m going all-open shelving!”

And that’s the new plan. This is how I roll.

Once all the cabinets were in place it was time for a light sanding and primer.

Pete was super helpful and not in the way at all.

 

BTdubs, my dog looks dead but I swear he’s just really hot and tired. It was 101 degrees outside (it’s the duurty south ya’ll) and with all the indoor/outdoor movement, plus the power switching on and off to rewire some of the electrical, it was about 97 degrees in the kitchen.  Poor Pete! He works so hard.

Brett secured all of the cabinets to the wall and installed the counter-top and sink. I broke out the wood filler once again (woot!) to erase the past lines between the units so it looks like one solid piece of furniture. I plan to put “feet” at the base of the cabinets later on so that you really get a sense of furniture-ness and not these-are-standard-box-store-cabinets-ness. whew.

Oh! And Brett rigged the sink cabinet to make it seem like it was built for an apron sink! Which of course, it totally wasn’t. In fact, we had to go out and purchase a new sink unit (hello unexpected reno cost!) because the original cabinet fell apart when we removed it from the wall. Years of water damage corroded the particle board and it just collapsed in my hands. The good news is that Lowe’s had an unfinished version in-stock for $105 that blended well with the originals. Added bonus: I did not have to de-poop that one!

Before

After!

     

After sanding everything down, giving it another couple coats of primer, it was finally time to break out the real paint.



Ooooo low odor! No VOCs? Now we’re talkin’! I used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Cloud Cover, satin finish; quite literally ripped this one off from the Petersik’s. I’ve spent enough viral time in their kitchen to know that this is a great color and finish. And they highly recommended it, which is more than enough for me! Sold!

Next comes the hardware phase plus censored expletives! Good, good times!

Hugs,
~Easty