Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint (One Room Challenge Week 2)

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We are rolling along on the One Room Challenge. And it’s sometimes more of a challenge than we anticipated! ;)
Isn’t that how it always goes? Especially with older homes.
You can’t go tearing anything out and expecting it to go smoothly.
There are always unexpected surprises OR things that you really need to fix before continuing on.
Usually things you hadn’t planned on.

That’s where we were this past week. We had hoped to be starting on the shiplap by now but haven’t gotten to that yet.
We decided to fix the water valve/box issue and it was a bit more of a pain than anticipated.

In case you missed Week 1 of the One Room Challenge, you can see it, here.

Remember this?

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

First step…

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

And now it looks like this….

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

SO much better.
My husband wanted to get it all in one “box” however, there was a stud in between the drain pipe and water valves so he had to use 2 boxes.
Still, night and day. It’s the little things, really. I LOVE this. :)

We also got the upper cabinets down off the wall.

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

And wow, it’s so much brighter in here already!
It’s amazing how something like that would make such a difference.
I’ll be including affiliate links, when I can below, for anything I’ve used. You can check out my disclosure here.

We also removed the counter top as you can see above.
BUT once we unloaded that old cabinet, realized that the base and shelf needed to be replaced.
Both were terribly warped.
So my husband built 2 new, very sturdy shelves and put them in.

He also started working on the cabinets he was building on each side of the existing cabinet.
(and drew a few lines on the wall to mark studs, too ;) … plus you can see my Behr Nano White paint chip on the wall there)

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

Again, we ran into a few snags but are all set now.
He’s almost finished with them and I will hopefully get to paint it this weekend.
All that’s left for me to paint is that frame you see above. I painted the doors when I painted the other cabinets.
We are actually using doors from the cabinets we took down off the wall for the 2 cabinets we are building, so they will match.
Hopefully we will get started on the shiplap bright and early Saturday morning. :)
Stay tuned, and follow along, on my Instagram stories because I’ll surely be posting progress as we go!

I was able to paint this full side of “wall” cabinets below with General Finishes Milk Paint! Yay!
Just love that paint.

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

It goes on like a dream. I’m very happy with it and plan to use it in my kitchen also.
If you remember, I painted my kitchen cabinets about 4+ years ago with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
It has held up beautifully but I am wanting to repaint in a nice, bright white like these.
That is my next project. New paint in the kitchen, painting over the brown upper wall and a brand new tile back splash.

Anyway, I can’t think about that right now. ;)
Let’s focus on these crisp, clean, painted cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint instead.

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

I applied 2 coats of Snow White and one coat of High Performance Top Coat in Satin. (favorite top coat)
I used the same paint/sealer combo on our dining room furniture recently.

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

Night painting! ;) I had planned to spray these with my fave paint sprayer but the day I needed to start we were having downpours.
Oh well, this paint is so easy to use that it went quickly anyway.

Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

I am undecided on whether I will put hardware on the doors, here and on the other side.
I never put any here because they are close to the walk through to the bathroom and I didn’t want anything sticking out.
I also sort of just like that nice, clean look without anything breaking it up, like knobs, etc.
What do you think?

Alrighty!
That’s it for today friends. I can NOT wait to get that shiplap going.
Can not wait, I tell you.

PIN this to get your DIY on and painted cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint too!

EASY DIY PROJECT! Painted Cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint - One Room Challenge Week 2 - artsychicksrule.com

Be sure to hop over and check out the rest of the One Room Challenge participants to see their progress this week.

Updated to add: See other posts in this challenge here.
Week 1 Style Plans
Week 2 You are here!
Week 3 Shiplap & Lighting
Week 4 Painting Shiplap and Room Progress
Week 5 Vinyl Plank Flooring
Week 6 The Big Reveal!!

Want to know about my kitchen cabinets I painted with Chalk Paint?

See the kitchen now, here.

Oh, and if you haven’t already, go see what my friends and I are doing with old windows today!
I made a beach sign out of an old window. See it and my friends’ window decor, here.

Have a wonderful weekend and Easter too!

xoxo

 


16 Comments

  1. Y’all are moving right along. :)

    I love the uncluttered look of no cabinet hardware.

    Is Behr Nano White paint a pure white, Nancy?

    Sheila

    1. Yep, getting there, slowly but surely. :) Hmm, I’m not sure I’d call it a pure white. It’s a softer white, however, it doesn’t really lean towards any “colors”, just a nice, soft white.
      Not sure that helps! Whites are so hard and come in so many variations! I just know I wanted one that didn’t lean towards any shades of color but also didn’t want a bright, sterile white for the walls.
      Nancy

      1. “it doesnā€™t really lean towards any ā€œcolorsā€, just a nice, soft white.”

        As you say whites are hard – this sounds like a good starting point.

        Thanks,

        Sheila

  2. Nancy, this is looking wonderful! I would ‘nix’ the hardware on the doors. I think your reasoning is spot-on. :-)

    1. Hi Susie, I used a brush and a roller. I brushed to get in all the crevices and then rolled to smooth everything out. :)

  3. I’m getting ready to do my cabinets and I am torn between AS chalk paint or GF milk paint. What do you like better? I have found putting a water based poly or GF finishes on white yellows over time.

    1. Hi Lori,
      I like both! :) I’m actually posting a “4 years later” post on my kitchen cabinets and island tomorrow. I’m sharing how they held up, my thoughts, topcoat I used, what I’ll be doing when I repaint and more. Come by and check it out.
      As far as GF poly, I have had really good luck with the High Performance Top Coat not yellowing much, if at all. I know others have different experiences though! The base paint and sometimes even the base wood can affect the final coat. (discoloring, etc)

  4. We are in the beginning stages of painting our kitchen cabinets white. I had originally planned on using the General Finishes Snow White Milk Paint, but read so many bad reviews about the white taking 4+ coats to cover. Instead we are using Stix primer (ug!) and Joanna Gaines Cabinetry Paint in white. This has been very difficult-the Stix is thick and gooey and leaves brush marks. (which the white does not cover.) We are going back and sanding the ones that don’t look so great, but now I’m scared to re-prime and paint them. Any suggestions? Do I need to switch primers or just order some Milk Paint and try again??

    1. Hi Katie!

      Yes, depending on the what you are trying to cover, white paint can sometimes take a few coats to cover fully. I’m actually not familiar with Stix primer as it’s not one I’ve used. I can tell you, it is hard to get a good finish (if not impossible) with anything in that consistency, as you have found. If it’s not giving the coverage you are after, try switching the primer you used to something else, such as Zinsser’s 123 or Sherwin Williams Adhesion Primer. Both of which I’ve used over the years. But honestly, if you are going the primer route anyway, you could also then just skip the GF product and go with something like Sherwin William’s ProClassic Enamel or Enamel Urethane Enamel, both great for cabinets. Also, switch to a small cabinet roller to eliminate the brush strokes you are getting. Hope that helps and good luck! Don’t give up, you’ve got this! :)

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