DIY Kitchen Storage Makeover

So....

It's been awhile.

Like a long while.

In my time away, I've moved twice and got married. So, at least I have that as an excuse. Sort of. 

Anyways, my awesome hubby now gets to live the dream of all my DIY projects (he's thrilled), and I've been wanting to share them for so long now! I also want to share some new hairstyles, though these will be for shorter hair as in pixie cut short, because that's what I've been rocking for the past 6 months....

Right, back to DIY. So, I bought one of those kitchen storage shelving units awhile back. You know the ones that have the cardboard backings and seem like a good idea when you bought it because you were broke but then you realize it was actually a terrible idea because it's fugly and always will be. Yeah, one of those. However, after the whole getting married things, we had even more stuff than before, so I couldn't really afford to throw out a perfectly functioning storage space just because it was fugly. So, I decided to give it a makeover! 

(Along with my bedroom furniture that belonged to my great grandmother and had been painted when I was 8 by my mother's friend to pink and purple flowers on white. Not fugly but definitely not appropriate for marriage, let alone my husband). 

Most of my furniture is white and I am obsessed with minty blues, so I dragged my husband out to Home Depot to find some nice paint colors that fit my vision. and I researched first too. I didn't want this to be some afterthought, not properly executed makeover. I wanted it to last. I actually referred to this post a lot. It was super helpful:

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/04/how-to-paint-furniture/

So my first step was buying a primer. I ended up going with her recommendation of Zinnser Cover stain primer with the brown label. I researched meticulously and that one was across the board my best option. I bought a lot of it because, well, I had big plans. But for the amount the price was right. Because of fugly's dark color (espresso) it took two coats of primer. Oh, and no sanding was necessary for this project seeing as it's all particle board and factory made parts. :)

For paint, it's really what you like best. I bought two Behr colors from Home depot, and off-white and a mint color, but I also ended up going to Benjamin Moore to get several other colors, which is an entirely different story. 

I bought Floetrol to help extend the drying time for the paint as well as Minwax's water based polyurethane to protect my hard work. Seriously. I meant business. 

The Floetrol might not be necessary for everyone, but for me it was a must. I am a slow worker and a perfectionist and definitely had some dried paint drops at first that drove me nuts. 

And I did the brush on Minwax polyurethane....but considering I was losing patience at that time, I am likely to invest in the rub-on formula mentioned in the above referenced post.

TA-DA! 

Ah, so much better! The handles on the outside are the mint color as well. And my hubby actually perfected the whole project by using a scraper to remove excess paint in the corners and any dried paint drops. He's the best. Now it matches our kitchen is no longer an eyesore to me. If anyone is super interested in the colors I will go and look in my garage for the names because right now they are escaping me, and then I will post them. ;)