This  House Make-Over post is for all of you who don't think you have the time or the money to fix up your house. This "kitchen cupboard painting project" was done in one day, with one adult (me!), 8 children (ages 4-13) and for less than 100 bucks!  See, you have no more excuses not to get started on that project you've been putting off.  

Need more information on how to do your next project? CLICK to see lots of great "How To" home improvement videos.

I didn't mind the stain on the cupboards too much but in many places the wood had water damage or the stain was worn off, so to make them nice again, it would have taken ALOT of sanding. Since we plan to do a major kithchen remodel (when we get enough $$ saved for it) down the road, I only wanted to spend minimal amount of money and time making this kitchen look better. Painting the cupboards was the solution. Of course those GIANT knobs from the 60s era had to go!!

Step #1:  Take down the cupboards. Even though it takes more work than painting while still attached, it's just  too hard to not get paint on the hinges, which looks awful.

Stiep #2 Remove hinges and screws: We had the daunting task of removing  total of 360 tiny screws.This is where the 8 children came in! Pictured above is the "hardware crew".  Three kids at a time would work for about 20 minutes and then I would rotate a new group of kids to spend 20 minutes, until all hardware was off the cupboards.

Step #3 Lightly Sand: While the hardware removal was going on INSIDE, the sandpaper crew was working OUTSIDE. You will notice that even my four year old was sanding. This job was perfect for the little ones as it just had to be lightly sanded or as I told them, "scratch it up kids!". 

Step #4 Prime and Paint:  I used less than a half-gallon of KilZ primer (water base) and a little more than half-gallon of creamy white, semi-gloss paint. Primer dries very quickly which meant by the time I finished with all the cupboards I was ready to paint. Yes, the children even helped with this. While I don't have the pictures to prove it, I do have the paint stains now permenantly on my cement. Oh, well... Tip! Before allowing children to paint, double up on the plastic covering!

Step #5 Reattach hinges & knobs: The knobs were the cheapest I could possibly find and actually were the bulk of the total cost to do this project (I already had the paint sitting around). To stain them, I had one of the kids dip each one in a bucket of stain and then let dry. IF I had decided to replace the hinges this project would have cost double (or more!). Since my hinges were covered in dirt and grime, I soaked them in TSP/water solution while we painted. We scrubbed them a little and they came out shiny and clean.

A few days later, I ended up priming/painting over that ugly wallpaper. Did you know you can paint over wallpaper? When we remodel the kitchen down the road, we will put in new drywall, so painting it seemed the best choice for now.

The end result is a brighter, cleaner looking kitchen. An inexpensive, quick fix to hold us off until we do a ktichen remodel. Now, what to do about those pink countertops...any suggestions (cheap and fast of course)???