(Before) (After)
I wanted an all-white kitchen. I googled multitudes of kitchen images and poured over home decorating magazines & blogs, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had to have: 1. Off-white walls 2. Bright white cabinets and 3. All-matching appliances for AS CHEAP AS I COULD GET IT.
1. White Walls
Are tricky. We had the perfect shade of creamy, warm, golden white in our heads. After weeks of deliberating on the caches of ivory, off-white, beige, pale yellow & white paint chips taped to my kitchen walls, I decided. Then I hated it. So I deliberated again, chose another color, and I HATED it. Both of our first tries came out stark, cold & uninviting, not much different than what was on the walls when we moved it. The third time was the charm & it’s gorgeous. “Havana Cream” by Behr was the color for us. My suggestion is to narrow down your paint chip selections, then buy samples to put up on the wall. It’s an investment that could actually save you money, time & most certainly, your sanity.
Gallon of Behr premium paint plus primer: $28 (+tax) x 3 = $84
Sample of Behr paint: $2.82 x 3 = $8.46 + Gallon of Behr premium paint: $28 = $36.46
2. The cabinets
The cabinet color was a different story. I already knew I wanted to use the same “Polar Bear” white semigloss by Behr that I was 
using on all of our baseboards.
I didn’t use or need a kit & I didn’t even know cabinet and countertop “transformations” existed. (More on the countertop transformation later.) We simply didn’t have the cash to reface, refinish or replace our ugly builders-grade laminate cabinets so I HAD to paint the cabinets. It was the only way. That said, I probably did everything wrong. I didn’t sand, prime, clean or prep the cabinets in any way. I didn’t degloss away the old shiny finish or prime before I painted. I simply picked up a 3/4″ nap roller, then put it down because it left a bumpy texture on my cabinet surface from all the lint depositing into the paint. So then I simply picked up my extra smooth sponge roller specifically for painting cabinets & doors, and went to work. And I absolutely love the results! I haven’t had any issues with wear, the finish has incredible “scrubbability” & it looks fantastic. (I also update the brushed nickel hardware.)
3. Matching Appliances
Who doesn’t love an all-white kitchen??? And why wouldn’t that include the appliances? Especially for us, as our newer fridge was white, we replaced our bargain basement black stove & dishwasher with my parents’ old stove (Works great for us & was FREE!) and a scratch & dent Kenmore Elite dishwasher from the Sears appliance outlet (www.searsoutlet.com/). It was 1/3 of the price with one small scratch, easily covered with white epoxy appliance paint.
The results are amazing. I’ve never understood why anyone would pay so much for stainless steel appliances that are so gosh darn hard to keep clean! Who wants to clean that streaky mess everyday??? (And I don’t even have kids yet–I can’t imagine!)
The Pretty Bee 