The Chalkboard Paint Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

I firmly believe in making the best of what you have.

What I have is a very small kitchen.

But after a few weeks of elbow grease, $25, and a pint of chalkboard paint,

I can finally say loud and proud:

I love you, little kitchen.

I've spent the past couple weeks painting the exteriors of our cabinets with a soft white paint and the insides of our cabinets with chalkboard paint. It's been so much work, and I'm so excited to finally be able to show you!

 

First, let's start with the exteriors of the cabinets. Those got a nice new coat of fresh white paint.

The interiors of each cabinet also got painted white, and then the backside of each cabinet door got painted with black chalkboard paint.

The chalkboard detail added so much character to an otherwise average little kitchen.

 
Just so you know what a huge improvement this is, take a look at what these awful 1970's cabinets looked like just a few weeks ago:

These cabinets are over thirty years old, and were gross in just about every way possible. Since replacing them is totally not in our budget right now, I knew my only option was just to make the best of what we had. I realize that painting your kitchen cabinets isn't for everyone, but for an outdated kitchen like this, it made such a phenomenal improvement!

After painting the cabinets, I labeled each cabinet with whatever goodies were stored inside.

This is my favorite cabinet, full of mugs I've collected through the years, mostly from thrift stores.

I also made a special cabinet just for our party supplies. We entertain a lot, and it's nice to have everything in one place.

I decided to spruce up my silverware drawer, too.

I  painted and labeled my old wooden silverware organizer.

and then I used the same blue paint on my old wooden knifeblock.

and then I made a little area for all my spices, labeling each one and storing them in a crystal bowl I scored from the thrift store.

I updated the kitchen light with a chandelier I found on Craigslist. It's much better than the former boob light.

Some of the cabinets needed more TLC than the rest, like the pots & pans cabinet.

I  got to enjoy contorting my body into a fruit rollup to reach the 4 feet of hidden space.

   
But the end result was totally worth fruit-rolluping myself.

Here is another one of my favorite parts of the kitchen.

I like the tile. I hate the color. Totally outdated, and not cohesive with my color scheme.

(ignore the dining room...under construction)

So, I painted it.

Like I do everything else. 

I used paint and then put 2 layers of poly over it.
(Update. This totally did not last. Since this post, I've done something much better to this tile. Seriously. Check it out...it's awesome.)

 I also added a chalkboard trim around the bar. Those chairs are another Goodwill find. Originally $5 each and dark brown. I just primed and painted them a semi-gloss white.

I also added a few botanical prints in white matted frames...one of my fave easy art ideas.

And although this room still has a ways to go, it's so much better than it was when we moved in.

It's really starting to feel like home!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Don't forget to pin this post so you'll have this info when you need it!

 

**To see what's happened to the kitchen since this original post, check out these posts! There's been so much great stuff!

Click here, here, or here

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