Lighten Up!

I’ve been trying to fix up our master bath room to make it well, a little lighter.  When we moved in the cabinets were black and looked way too dark for a light and airy feel.  Sorry, I had already taken the cabinets off when I took this picture so you get to see how disorganized they were as well. 

I took all of the hardware off from the door hinges to the knobs.  Note to self: it is much easier if you keep all the screws and hinges/knobs together in separate bags so it is easy to put them back together.

Next, I sanded each of the cabinets to get the black paint off and to roughen the surface up. I used a fine grit sandpaper and a hand sander since I didn’t really have that many cabinets to do.  I then wiped each one down with a wet cloth to get all the grit off of them.  

I decided I wanted a greenish grey color on the cabinets since I feel like spas use that color scheme for a relaxing atmosphere.  Instead of priming each one and then painting, I decided to try the Behr paint and primer in one.  I used the sample first to make sure it would coat the cabinets enough.  Lo and behold it was perfect!  The color I went with was Juniper Ash and it has a lot of grey in it so it doesn’t look like toothpaste. 

While I let the cabinets dry I decided to freshen up the hardware.  It was all looking a little too varnished and I wanted the chrome look to…you guessed it…make it look lighter!

Bodie took a page from Oliver’s book and decided to help me spray paint the fixtures.  Well, actually he kept throwing the ball into the mix so I switched off throwing/spray painting with Rustoleum’s Metallic spray paint.  I used thin, even coats and did maybe 3 or 4 to make sure they were well coated. 

After all the cabinets were painted and dry (took a while since you have to paint both sides) I coated them with poly for extra shine and protection.

So here you go…..the before and after (note I didn’t even bother cleaning in the before picture so my after would look so much better!)

Before



After

 Behr Paint and Primer in One: $13 ($10 coupon)                                                                    

Rustoleum Spray Paint in Metallic: FREE                                                                   

Sandpaper: FREE

Total Cost: $13

And here is a sneak peek at what I still want to do to update the master bath for a prettier, spa look:

·        Hang some art or a picture that is actually to scale

·        Frame the bathroom mirror DIY style

·        Hang the glass vases I bought 6 months ago next to the candelabra

·        Add cool twig art to the vases

·        Take out the heater on the ceiling that doesn’t work

·        Make a DIY chandelier or pendant to replace the heater

·        Put privacy film over the window so that we can keep the window open for natural light

·        Add baskets for towels

·        Add a towel knob near the shower