Kitchen: eco friendly & retro funky
- Created: Nov 05, 2009 by Elaine Vitone
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In April 2008 we bought a 1920s Victorian fixer upper with an early 1960s kitchen. We love the Geneva cabinets, which had held up beautifully, but hated all the cream and brown. We decided to redo our kitchen in a sort of retro-meets-contemporary look and chose a minty green palette inspired by an article from the late, great Blueprint magazine.
We didn't have the dough for a professional auto-body paint job, so my husband figured out another way. He removed all the handles, took the cabinets out to the yard, taped off their interiors, and used a paint sprayer to apply three thin coats of satin-finish latex paint, then two coats of polyurethane. When bugs or leaves fell on the wet paint, or clogs in the paint sprayer caused splotchy bits, he just touched things up by dabbing gently with a foam brush.
We used all the original hardware. My mother-in-law and I brightened up the handles with chrome polish and used naval jelly to clean the rust off the screws.
We LOVE how the cabinets turned out. We think this finish really makes the shiny handles pop. It's been a year and a half now, and I can report that the paint still looks awesome, and the poly seems to be performing as we'd hoped: no stains, no scratches, no worries!
This kitchen is green in more ways than one. We installed high-efficiency windows, rehabbed our cabinets rather than threw them away, and used eco-friendly Marmoleum flooring.
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- Categories: Green Renovations, Cabinet Refacing, Kitchens
- Tag: Remodel
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Comments
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LOVE IT!!
Jamie, Nov 20, 2009
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Elaine didn't mention that she and Dylan installed the kitchen windows themselves...they'll tackle anything...they have no fear!
Mary Gayle, Nov 06, 2009
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Well done, y'all must be busting your humps getting a space like that lookin' so purty!
Matt Griffin, Nov 06, 2009
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Nice job elaine!
Moss Shimek, Nov 06, 2009
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Really beautiful and hip. Especially love the brick. Nice work!
Repair Home Admin, Nov 06, 2009
