CottageCore: Painting the Kitchen Cabinets Farrow & Ball "Pigeon"

You've heard of "pandemic baking"? Welcome to my version: pandemic painting. Rather than dwell on the sad prospect of a summer with no guests, I'm seizing this opportunity to spruce the place up. Most of the walls haven't seen a lick of paint since we bought the place and painted it top to bottom in 2007. The kitchen was in slightly better shape; we'd renovated 11 years ago using plain IKEA pine cabinets (no longer available), painted a nondescript off-white. I've been itching for a cabinet-color refresh for years, and now—with no guests underfoot—is the time.

Painting the Cottage Kitchen Cabinets a "Beachier" Color

Despite its modest size and lack of insulation, our 1925 beach cottage has its charms, and we spend nearly every weekend of summer there. Cabins of the era, even when not a primary residence, can be a source of endless projects. Every year it seems something needs repair or sprucing up. We renovated the kitchen 11 years ago using IKEA cabinets that we painted ourselves, and it's held up fairly well. I only just refinished the wood countertops last summer. This year I'm planning a cabinet-color refresh to something a bit more "beach-y." After considering dozens of possibilities, I've arrived at the perfect paint color. Let's take a look.

Cheater's Guide to Touching Up Wall Paint

We're coming up on two years since we bought our home, so that means two years since we painted. With holiday guests expected, it's time for a touch up. So a few weeks back I went through the house looking over all the walls and placed a small piece of blue painter's tape next to every scuff, smudge, and scratch. Then I rooted through my paint closet and found the unused paint that I had thought to store, clearly labeled Farrow & Ball Blackened — thank you, Past Self! All I had to do now was mix some of that with 50% water, test a small area to see if the color blended (finger's crossed), and get this job done.

Removing Old Paint from Door Knobs and Hardware

The door knobs in our mid-century home are original, circa 1946, which means they're made of solid brass.

Unfortunately, former residents painted over them. Boo! What's a Renov8or to do?

Choosing a White Paint Color Is Harder than It Seems

BM "Super White"

I've always been a fan of Benjamin Moore Paint. My previous apartment pictured here was painted BM "Super White" and I loved it. That space, though, was spare and ultra modern. For our new home I also wanted a white, but not that same stark "art gallery" white. Our new home was built in 1946 and it has a real mid-century appeal that I would like not just to bring out but to honor. 

Painting the Old Kitchen Cabinets to Match Kraftmaid Canvas Color

Don't you love our newly painted cream cabinets? They didn't always look this good. We inherited a kitchen that was recently renovated but it was... meh. Just enough had been done to it to allow a seller to list a home as "renovated with granite countertops", but very little design sense went into the choice of fixtures and colors.

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: Step by Step

The most important thing about painting cabinets is to take your time and go through every step. You will not get a good result by hurrying. Here's how you do it, step by step.

Paint Tip: Freeze Brushes Between Coats

I painted quite a bit when I was a kid. My dad always had a home renovation project going on, and we kids were his assistants. One of the jobs I really disliked was cleaning paint brushes. No matter how much water I ran through the brushes, there was always paint coming through and it seemed like hours before the water ran clear. And don't even get me started on the oil-based paints! (Turpentine, yuk!)

I used to say that when I became a grownup I would throw away my used brushes and start with a fresh one when I resumed painting. For years as a young adult, I actually did do that. And I'm not talking cheapo paint brushes. These were Purdy's at $10 a pop. That's how much I dislike cleaning brushes.

Now that I'm a homeowner - and a better money manager - I can't bring myself to spend hundreds of dollars on brushes every time I get the urge to change a room's color (which is often). So here's what I do.

Cottage Paint Color: Ice Blue

Choosing paint color for the beach cottage hallway was challenging. The porch and hallway are where visitors form their first impressions, so we knew we wanted it to be a light color that reflects the colors in nature surrounding the cottage - colors of the sky and sea.

Cottage Paint Color: American Cheese (Yellow)

Painting the bedroom turned out to be more complicated than painting the bathroom!

The bead board in this room is the original tongue and groove type boards as opposed to bead board panels. Not only was it not pre-primered, it was original knotty pine. So, before we could even begin to paint, each of those knots had to be treated with Zinsser Bin and allowed to dry. If you don't do this, the oil from the pine seeps through the coats of paint and in a few years would start to show up as rust-like spots.

Here's a photo of the walls before.

How To Paint Beadboard and Trim

Bathroom with bead board and hardwood floors installed

If you've never bought a house that needed every room painting, you can't imagine how daunting it can be. While we were ecstatic to see the mauve tiles gone and the bead board up, it meant we had a lot of work ahead of us.