OUR KITCHEN || before + after

Last weekend I finished painting our kitchen cabinets.  I got the 'bug to start painting" about two weeks ago and worked on painting the walls and cabinetry during nap times and in between making meals.  One of the many benefits of Chalk Paint® is the ease of use!  I truly was waxing cabinet doors while my little ones sat on the counter top and helped me make dinner.

Above are the 'BEFORE' photos.  Now, in all honesty, we plan to do a major kitchen renovation next winter.  New cabinets, countertops, new walls/laundry room/pantry, etc.  With that, I feel there is extra freedom because if I don't love the colors, we will be changing things.  Plus, I was a little less careful with the painting than I would have been if this paint job was going to last me longer {I didn't paint the inside of the cabinets or take the doors off of the hinges to paint.}

I chose black {Annie Sloan's GRAPHITE} for a majority of the cabinets because we have black appliances in almost every cabinet.  I distressed the edges and applied the dark wax over the entire cabinet.  I am really please how it turned out and the appliances now blend into the cabinetry.

I painted the upper cabinets next to the sink white {Annie Sloan's OLD WHITE} only because I didn't the kitchen to start too feel to heavy with so much black.  I left the cabinets doors off of the uppers and distressed the edges.  I also painted the walls a soft cream, and that helped to lighted the space as well.

We have a little nook area off of the kitchen and that is temporarily housing my computer/home office area.  We took these cabinets from the office of our vacation rental, people vacationing don't need an entire wall of built-in file drawers!  We will build new cabinetry for this area when we remodel, but for now this serves a great purpose.

Although this will all be changing in a year or so, I just needed to give it some color.  I am a firm believer in the fact that our homes should be inviting and reflect our personality.  Not that our homes are perfect or designed perfectly, but that our spaces help to make being in our homes more enjoyable.  By just adding a bit of color to our kitchen, I am enjoying cooking and baking so much more!  Color really does make a difference!

Next week I will post more details about the paint colors and applications I used!  Until then, enjoy your weekend!!