Kitchen Progress

We've made a lot of progress in the kitchen. This weekend we cleaned, stripped, sanded and primed the cabinets, cabinet doors, and drawers.  It was a lot of work, but it actually went by pretty fast. We're following these steps for painting the cabinets:  http://www.squidoo.com/paintingcabinets

Here are the pictures from before we started:

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - Before

Here are pictures of what it looks like now, with at least 1 coat of primer on everything. We're not painting the inside of the cabinets because that would be way too much work for little actual benefit.  We decided it's ok if you see the wood tone when you open a cabinet door. Once the doors are put on, you won't even be able to tell.

After (w/primer)

Cabinet doors

Today we also picked out the paint for the kitchen walls and living room.  I got 4 samples at SW to test on the walls because I was having such a hard time with the paint chips.  We tested Sherwin Williams' Comfort Gray, Sherwin Williams' Silvermist, Behr Light French Gray, and Benjamin Moore Smoke.  I got Kevin to put the paint on the walls without letting me know which color was which.  Then, I picked my favorite and he picked his favorite.  We both ended up picking the same one as our #1 and that made the decision pretty easy.  We decided on Benjamin Moore Smoke!!  Its a really pretty gray blue that has a little bit of aqua... exactly what I was looking for!

We're also trying to decide on the backsplash.  I ordered samples of 3x6" and 2x4" Carrara marble tiles online. I prefer the 2x4" tiles because they come on a mosaic mesh and will be easier to install than the 3x6 tiles, which have to be placed individually.

BM Smoke paint, 2x4" Carrara tiles, & Steel Gray granite

2x4" Carrara marble tiles and  3x6" Carrara marble tiles

We're going to finish the primer coats and sand them this week.  The granite countertops are being installed on Friday morning. As soon as they're installed, we'll work on the final coat of paint! Hopefully, by next weekend, the kitchen will be a completely different space. :)