Project 2016 -- Florida or Bust: Kitchen Makeover Day One

It's all about going South! Since my dear husband (DH) and I have decided that we are going to fix up the house and move back to Florida. With as many things as has to be fixed up, it will take us three to 4 years to get everything done and we plan to put the house up for sale in 2016. Kitchen first!

I blogged previously on my kitchen makeover and told you some of my plans. Last night, the DH and I went shopping at one of my favorite stores, Lowes! We picked up both the Cabinet Transformations® and Countertop Transformations® kits that we are using as well as paint brushes, rollers, drop clothes, roller pans and more. The gentleman who helped us suggested that we do the counter tops first and the cabinets second. I think that I will follow his advise. While I don't think that it matters which I do first, I do think that doing the counter tops first is better as I can work on painting the cabinet doors while the counter top cures. However, since the counter tops take a week to "cure", it will mean some difficulty in having to be very careful around the counter tops when working on the cabinets.

I underestimated the amount of work that needed to be done in advance! I have a lot of cabinets filled with a lot of stuff. So that has given me a good opportunity to purge. I have already made one trip to Goodwill and have a new pile started. But regardless of whether I am giving it to Goodwill or keeping it, it all has to come out of the cabinets!

In order to keep track of the cabinet doors, when I was removing them, I took paper and mapped out my cabinets. I then lettered and numbered each door on the paper and transferred that letter/number combination to 2 pieces of painter's tape. One I attached to the door and the other to a plastic sandwich bag which contained the hardware for that door. This was something that was recommended on the Rust-Oleum website.

I also have to remove the built-in microwave oven/range-hood combination. I could leave the microwave where it is and paint the cabinets around it, however, then if it ever has to be replaced, the replacement may not cover the unpainted portion of the cabinets. And since that may happen before we sell the house, I don't want to worry about it later. Better to take the time to remove it and paint properly. Thankfully, I have the original installation instructions. So by reading it backwards, the DH and I should be able to safely remove it and replace it later after painting. By the way, this should be something that everyone does when installing anything in the home or putting any item together that has more than 2 or 3 parts. Keep a file folder or drawer that contains the original installation and/or assembly instructions. You may end up throwing them away 3 years after you get rid of the item, but they may come in handy at just the right time!

The DH is facing at least a week of cold meals. Ouch.

Got to get back to work. Happy remodeling!