My kitchen cabinets are down-right ugly, poor, brown laminate that they are. I am researching ways to make them look better but that will have to wait. In the mean-time, I was able to make a small improvement from the inside out just by using paint and some elbow grease.
Here are the cabinets as they were when I moved in. Dark brown stained wood. The cabinets were custom made back in the day and are very sturdy but it was hard to see the dishes so I decided to paint the insides in a semi-gloss white. This small change has made a world of difference.
Before
Here is the process as I went along. I had to give them one coat of primer and three coats of paint, this is what I am referring to when I say “elbow grease”. I would have loved the project to have been done long before the third coat but…
And finally the finished product.
Before & After
We too had awful dark brown cabinets… I (had) painted the exterior only with a nice almost white. But, what made all the difference is that we had all the doors taken off and replaced with custom doors. Then, nice bright polka dot knobs!
I had the a different problem. Old white cabinets built back in l923. What do do?
My daughter had the brainwave. Let’s turn the kitchen into a safari kitchen.
We crackled finished everyone of those kitchen cabinets. We call them our giraffe cabinets. It took a lot of practice to get it right but they look great and they don’t show the dirt anymore either.
We solved the problem with the old cracked ceiling. We made it look like a thatched roof to go along with the safari theme.
We wallpapered the walls with animal print wallpaper, sewed animal print curtains, adorned the walls with lion fish metal wall decor and called it a day.
Joan
Hi Joan,
That sounds so interesting, I would love to see photos. Maybe we could feature it here on Tchochkes.
Patti
Um. I don’t get it. Why paint the INSIDE of those (I’m sorry) disgusting brown cabinets? From the first photo, I expected the change to be something pleasant on the outside. You could line the insides with shelf paper or wallpaper or something & put all that effort you expended into the part of the kitchen 75% of the people who visit will only see.
Oh well.
Maybe this will help you get there,
I am eventually going to re-do the outside but I wanted to think about it for awhile. The dark, dark brown on the inside made it very difficult to see the glasses and dishes, both of which I have many beautiful and decorative pieces.
Shelf paper only sits on the bottom of the cabinet and does not benefit the user at all. The white really brightened up the inside and solved my visibility problem for the time being.
🙂
~ Patti