1980's Melamine Cupboard Update

So, my husband and I had a little problem with our kitchen cupboards.  We didn't like them.  They were kinda really ugly, plus a few of them were missing their trim at the bottom. 

So, over the past... ummm.. year... we decided to give them a little facelift. 

Here's a reminder of what we started with. 

 

You can see the original post and a few more before pictures here:

 

And here you can read about how we decided to give them a facelift by adding trim and paintable beadboard wallpaper.   

 

The butcher block counters are from Ikea and you can read all about that adventure here:

 

In my defence, everything has been done since about the end of November, so it didn't actually take quite a year....

 

Anyways, here's what it looks like today! 

 

The cupboards were painted with Behr Premium Plus in white. On the melamine surfaces (backs of the doors and sides of the cupboards) I primed with a great primer by Glidden called "Gripper". Two coats of primer with a couple of hours dry time between coats. Then I waited several days for the primer to cure before coating them with the semi-gloss white paint.

And yes, in case you are wondering, the walls did get painted a light grey.   

 
You can read about the washstand makeover here:

When I painted the walls, I didn't paint the kitchen front door. But a few weeks ago, I decided to paint it a few shades darker than the walls.  My husband doesn't really like it as he thinks it's too dark. 

I don't mind the colour, though.  The one thing I do mind, though, is the carpet at the front door. It collects lint like crazy and takes ten million years to vaccuum off.  I guess it serves me right for paying only paying $10.00 at walmart. 



I do really like the mat in front of the sink, though.  It only takes 10 seconds to vaccuum, plus it's super soft on the feet. 

 

There's still a few things that will get done with time.  I'm thinking about painting the dresser that I have in here and I need to find something to hang above it, and I also need to paint the hallway, so the colours flow better between them. 

So, do we like the new look of our kitchen?  Yes, overall, it is a huge improvement over what we started with.  It's by no means perfect, though, as neither of us are professionals.  One of the reasons we decided to go the route that we did was because we are thinking about moving within a year or so.  We wanted to clean it up, make it presentable, but not have to put a fortune into doing that because we wouldn't be enjoying the results for too long.  But you know what else has made me happy about it?  When I've mentioned to people that it's wallpaper on the doors.. their reaction is... "no way?!" 

UPDATE: For more details on how the cupboards were actually done, please click HERE

 Linking to:
Tatertots & Jello
Funky Junk Interiors
Domestically Speaking
The 36th Avenue
The Shabby Creek Cottage
My Repurposed Life
Miss Mustard Seed
The Shabby Nest
Homespun Happenings
The Cottage Market
Five Days... Five Ways