DIY

About one year ago my family packed up our beloved home in Illinois and moved to a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  We moved here not knowing what insanity 2020 would bring, and we were thrilled to have found a home in time to get our kids into school right after winter break.  

The home is a 1970s style that is completely different from the beautiful 1920s architecture we were used to in Illinois.  It had a lot of brown, a lot of mirrors (so many mirrors! practically every surface was mirrored!), and a lot of carpeting.  But what it lacked in style, it made up for in space and location.  Because of that, we knew it was the house for us, and that with time, we’d turn it into a home that reflects our style.

Although 2020 was an extraordinarily difficult year, one of its blessings was extra time at home, which allowed me to accomplish many more house makeover projects than I would have in a “regular” year.

Because I accomplished so much, I thought it would be fun to do a recap of my 1970s home updates in 2020.  I worked very hard, learned a lot, and am proud of the transformation so far.  Looking back on these changes has me feeling excited for even more projects in 2021!

Limewash Stone Fireplace Makeover

Read about my limewash fireplace makeover!

The first project I tackled was making over our 1970s rock fireplace.  The orange color scheme did not work with my furniture, and I wanted to refresh it.  Using limewash to give the fireplace a facelift was a very inexpensive project, and actually very easy, too!  

Mirrored Built-In Makeover

Read about using peel and stick wallpaper to make over a built-in!

Once the fireplace was complete, I had to tackle the flanking built-ins.  They were oak wood with mirrored backs.  I did not enjoy seeing my reflection all the time. Ha!  Paint and peel and stick wallpaper gave the built-ins a whole new life!

Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring Installation

Read my review of luxury vinyl plank flooring!

Next up, we replaced the carpeting in the living room area and basement with luxury vinyl plank flooring, which matched the flooring already installed throughout the first floor of the home.  With kids and a dog, this flooring has been amazing, and we’re thankful we were able to get this installed before the world shut down in March.

Powder Room Makeover & Painted Countertop

Read about how I painted a countertop to look like marble!

After a couple of weeks of being stuck in the house in the early spring, I decided to make over the powder room on a whim.  I painted the vanity and baseboards with paint I already had, and then I ordered a paint kit online and painted my countertop!  I was very nervous about this project, but surprisingly it turned out really well!  I am a full advocate of painting a countertop if you’re on a budget.  It’s holding up great and looks really nice.

Built-In China Cabinet Makeover & Dining Room Makeover

Read about how I overhauled the built-in china cabinet and gave my dining room a beautiful makeover!

In the spring, my kids took over our empty dining room as their e-learning classroom.  But they quickly abandoned it for more comfortable locations.  When they moved out, I got to work redoing the built-in oak china cabinet and fixing up the dining room.  It turned out beautifully and is now one of my favorite spots in the house!

Limewash Stone Exterior & New Exterior Paint

Read about how to limewash exterior stone and about our exterior paint job and makeover.

As soon as the Wisconsin weather turned nice, I rented scaffolding and got to work limewashing the large exterior stone column – using the same method and products as I used the limewash the interior fireplace.  Once I finished that, professional painters took over and gave our house new life with a fresh coat of paint in Sherwin-Williams Pewter Green.

Faux Wood Finish on the Front Door

Read about how to paint a door to look like wood.

In what was one of my biggest DIY fails of all time, I tried to paint my front door to look like wood, and it went horribly wrong!  But I persevered and figured out how to get a convincing finish.  Now the front door coordinates with the garage door, and it looks very cohesive.

Kitchen Makeover

Finally, the last part of 2020 has been devoted to making over the kitchen!  It’s taken me months (approximately 3.5 months) because this job had many parts:

• Painting the kitchen backsplash
• Trimming out the soffit to blend it with the cabinets; and
• Painting the oak cabinets all by myself

Seeing this all laid out in the blog post makes me realize how busy I’ve been this year . . . and how much I love painting!  

I’m excited to share my DIY plans for 2021 with you soon, too!  I’ve got a long list going already, and I think they’re going to be so good!

Tell me in the comments what’s on your home update list for 2021?

-Bre

Oak cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s Hampshire Taupe were a budget-friendly way to update a dated kitchen.

Over the past few months I’ve been working on updating the kitchen in my new home.  I’ve already shared the Painted Tile Backsplash and Kitchen Soffit Makeover, and I’m so excited to share the Painted Oak Kitchen Cabinets Makeover now, too!

Before I show you how painting the oak cabinets made a huge difference in the look and feel of my kitchen, let me tell you that there is still more to be done in here. 

We will be updating the lighting in this room (including removing the large ceiling light that’s visible in these photos), and plan to install new countertops (and possibly backsplash) next spring. 

So, we’re almost finished, but not totally done yet! Just want you guys to keep coming back for more – ha!!

Painted Oak Kitchen Cabinets – a DIY Makeover

Okay, so take a trip down memory lane with me real quick . . . here’s the “before” of the kitchen.  This is the real estate listing photo from December 2019.

Orange oak or honey oak cabinets, brown and cream granite countertops, and a brown and cream glass mosaic backsplash were all relics of a 1990s kitchen renovation.

And here’s the new look so far, with just the wood cabinets painted so far! (Yes, there are Christmas decorations in these photos.  It’s almost Christmas. :-)).

The cabinet painting process was long and involved.  I started on October 17, 2020 and finished on November 25, 2020 – yes, the day before Thanksgiving!  

Here’s why it took me so long: I used a cabinet painting process that professional cabinet painters use. 

I did extensive research in painters’ forums and consulted professional painters to find out how to paint oak cabinets to last. This included finding out which products professional painters use to paint oak cabinets. 

No, they don’t use chalk paint (they use high quality paint), and yes, you have to sand. 

I did a trial run with all of the products and methods in my Oak China Cabinet Makeover. Then I refined the process for this kitchen cabinets makeover.

If you’re interested in painting wood kitchen cabinets or laminate kitchen cabinets and want to learn about this cabinet painting process, check out my ebook, DIY Cabinet Painting Pro! 

It is a totally in-depth guide on painting kitchen cabinets, and gives step-by-step instructions, as well as supply lists, planning documents, checklists, and more.  

Because I used a professional quality of workmanship and painted my kitchen cabinets section by section (as opposed to all at once), it took me a while. 

I did not have the space to paint all 30-something doors and drawers at once, and I didn’t want my kitchen to be a total mess during the process, so breaking it up worked best for me.

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• Step-by-step instructions
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Taupe Cabinets – Benjamin Moore Hampsire Taupe

For my kitchen makeover, I decided to do taupe cabinets with the cream painted backsplash.  I wanted a color that works with the current brown and cream granite countertops, as well as a color that will work with the new quartz countertops we plan to install next year. 

Painting these oak cabinets white would not have worked in my kitchen (though it is entirely possible in other kitchens)!

(May 2021 UPDATE: our new backsplash and countertops are in!  See the completed DIY Kitchen Makeover in that post!). So, Benjamin Moore Hampshire Taupe was the winning color! 

I never thought I would have taupe kitchen cabinets, but here we are.  I like that they’re neutral but not white.  I think white would have been too stark with the current countertops, and much too bright for my home once we install the new countertops (which will primarily be white).

Does Oak Grain Show Through Paint?

Now, one question I’ve been getting a lot on my TikTok videos about this painting process is whether the grain shows on painted oak kitchen cabinets. 

The answer is yes, to an extent the grain is visible.  That is because I did not use any type of grain filler product.  I decided it was not worth it to me to go through that added step, so I painted without filling the grain. 

Here is what the painted oak grain looks like in certain spots.  The edges of drawers and details around the flat panels of the cabinet doors are the most visible spots, in my opinion. 

If this type of visible wood grain bothers you and you want to paint your oak cabinets, you will need to use a grain filler or wood filler product.  (Yes, I talk about that in my cabinet painting ebook, DIY Cabinet Painting Pro, too!)

You can see that the paint fills in the grain, but it does not “level up” with the rest of the wood, so the marks remain.  

Is It Worth It To Paint Kitchen Cabinets Yourself?

I will not lie to you – painting cabinets is a huge project that can feel like it will never end at times.  Even though I did not love the process, I believe it was 100% worth it to paint my kitchen cabinets myself.

I saved thousands of dollars with a DIY cabinet painting job, and can use that money for other improvements in this space! (CHECK OUT ALL OF THE IMPROVEMENTS in this final reveal of my DIY Kitchen Makeover!)

Plus, I feel really proud of myself that I accomplished this huge painting job all by myself.  

Let me know what you think of my kitchen transformation so far.  I hope you like it!  Make sure to check out my new countertops, new backsplash, and more in this DIY Kitchen Makeover post!

-Bre

• How to Paint a Tile Backsplash
• How to Disguise a Kitchen Soffit
• How to Convert a Kitchen Desk to Pull-Out Trash
• The Easiest DIY Under Cabinet Lighting
• Complete Cabinet Painting Supply List
• How to Paint a Countertop
• DIY Kitchen Makeover Reveal!

After I painted my kitchen tile backsplash, my husband and I started Part 2 of our kitchen revamp: our DIY kitchen soffit makeover.  Our goal was to disguise the kitchen soffit (the part of the ceiling over the cabinets; sometimes called a ‘bulkhead’ or a ‘fur down’) and make it look more like it is part of the cabinets and less like wasted space.

I am painting the kitchen cabinets and the soffit the same color to make them blend together (you can see the finished painted cabinets in this post and the totally finished DIY Kitchen Makeover here), but this post is intended to show you how this kitchen soffit makeover made our kitchen look better, and how you can do the same!

Supplies Used for This Kitchen Soffit Makeover

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

Tools Used:

• Miter Saw
• Brad Nailer
• Mallet
• Level
• Tape Measure

Wood Used:

• 2.25″ crown molding
• 1×2 wood
• 1×3 wood
• 1×4 wood

Supplies Used:

• Caulk
• Wood Filler
• Pencil

How to Disguise a Kitchen Soffit

Before I jump in to give you all the details on this project, let me show you the “BEFORE” photo of the kitchen.  This shows the backsplash tile has already been painted, but we hadn’t yet begun making over the soffit.

Over the course of a couple of weekend days we transformed the soffits, using multiple sizes of boards and molding.  Here is the step-by-step!

Step 1: Attach Crown Molding to Top of Soffit

For the first part of our soffit makeover, we installed 2.25″ crown molding at the top of the soffit – connecting the soffit and the ceiling – with the brad nailer.

Because of the steps that came later in this process, we first attached small pieces of 1×2″ wood to the back of each crown molding section.  We did this so that the crown molding would sit flush with the boards we attached to the soffit later in the project.

This means that the crown molding was sitting out farther than the soffit – and that is just what we needed for the next step to look right.

Step 2: Attach 1×3″ Horizontal Boards to Soffit

Next, we cut 1×3″ boards with the miter saw, and attached them directly below the crown molding installed in Step 1, and also on the lower front of the soffit.

Because the crown molding was mounted on the 1×2 pieces, the molding and the 1×3 boards were flush together.  We cut the 1×3 boards with straight cuts at the end of each soffit, and beveled cuts in the inner corner.

Step 3: Attach Vertical 1×3″ Boards to Soffit

Once the horizontal 1×3 boards were in place, we measured the distance between the 1×3’s at every corner, and we cut 1×3″ pieces to attach in the corners.  It was interesting how different the measurements were!  The soffits were definitely not the same size in all spots.

As in Step 2, we cut the outer corners with straight cuts, and did bevel cuts for the inner corner.  We attached the vertical blocks at every corner.

The soffits were already looking better at this point!

Step 4: Attach 1×4″ Boards to Connect Cabinets and Soffit

Finally, we removed the small piece of trim or molding that was at the top of our cabinets and the base of the soffit.  You can see it hanging down in this photo.

We then used the brad nailer to attach 1×4″ boards to the base of the soffit (at the top of the cabinets), so that approximately 1″ of wood extended beyond the base of the soffit.

By having this piece stick out farther than the soffit, it actually made the soffit and the cabinet boxes look like they are the same (or similar) depth, as opposed to the soffit sticking out farther than the cabinets.  It’s a crazy visual trick!

Step 5: Caulk!

So . . . my husband did an incredible job on this soffit makeover, but he is not a carpenter by trade.  Because of that, we had a lot of caulking to do before priming!

I used Alex Flex caulk because it said it’s the best for molding and trim, but I’m not a caulk expert (bummer!), so I don’t know if this more expensive caulk was truly necessary.

After caulking and priming, I’ve now started painting the cabinets and soffit, and it’s looking SO GOOD!  Here is a little sneak peek of how this is all coming together! (UPDATE: TO SEE THE TOTALLY FINISHED PAINTED CABINETS, CHECK OUT THIS POST and see the TOTALLY UPDATED KITCHEN WITH NEW COUNTERTOPS HERE.)

I really think our attempt to disguise our kitchen soffit is working and making our kitchen look much nicer than it did before!

I hope this post is helpful to you, too!  As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments!

-Bre

• DIY Painted Tile Backsplash
• How to Convert a Kitchen Desk to Pull-Out Trash
• DIY Painted Oak Cabinets
• How to Hide the Side of a Refrigerator with Magnetic Panels
• DIY Kitchen Makeover Reveal

Earlier this year I totally transformed my 1970s orange rock fireplace with limewash.  Because that project went so well, I decided to try my hand at a DIY limewash stone exterior makeover of the same 1970s orange rock on the outside of our house, too!

(This orange rock musta’ been on sale in 1977!) 

This limewashed stone project was the first part of our outdoor overhaul (which you can see here!), and was an absolutely PERFECT DIY project that significantly updated my home’s exterior! 

Limewashing is definitely the easiest way to change the color of a home’s stone facade or rock facade.

What Supplies Do You Need to Limewash Exterior Stone?

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

Listed here are all of the supplies I needed to limewash my exterior stone column.  Some of the items I needed may not be required for your job – especially if your stone or rock is low to the ground.  I have noted those items with an asterisk (*) in the list.  The rest of the items are actually quite inexpensive, so this job can be done on a budget.

• Romabio Classico Limewash (I used two quarts of the Riposo Beige color to complete my large stone column) (**Limewash comes in many colors.  Make sure to choose a shade that coordinates with your home’s paint colors, roof color, etc.)
• Masonry brush
• 3″ Chip brushes
• Water spray bottle
• Paint stir sticks
• Mixing bucket
• Hose with spray attachment
• Terry shop towels
• Drop cloth or tarp
• *Scaffolding (we rented it from a local rental company for around $180 for a week) or ladder
• *Extension pole
• *Lockjaw Tool Holder

How Do You Limewash Stone Outside?

Limewashing exterior surfaces is actually easier than limewashing interior surfaces because you don’t have to be as careful to protect surrounding surfaces (limewash is all natural so it doesn’t harm plants!), and you don’t really have to clean the surface the way you do inside.

Now that you know that, let me show you how it’s done!

Mixing Limewash

Begin by mixing the limewash for the first section of your project.  I mixed one quart at a time to keep the limewash “liquidy” the entire time I was using it. 

I emptied the one quart container of limewash into my mixing bucket and thinned it with three cups of water. 

When mixing your limewash, check to see what dilution ratio you’d like.  The product contains instructions for how much water to add. 

I diluted this batch of limewash more than the limewash I mixed for my fireplace makeover, because I wanted to let a little more of the rock show through. 

I made sure to stir until all the lumps and clumps at the bottom had dissolved.  Once everything’s mixed, it’s time to get to work.

For me, that meant climbing the scaffolding.  I was scared to do this!  When my husband could sense my fear and said (in a nice and caring way) that he didn’t think I was going to be able to do this, I got the jolt I needed and climbed right up. 

Once I was up there, I was fine (see – I’m smiling!).

Wetting the Stone or Rock

To start the actual limewashing of the stone, I sprayed a small section of the rock with the garden hose.  As Romabio (the manufacturer) recommends, I worked from top (left to right), on down.

Within each section, I used my water spray bottle to re-dampen stones prior to applying limewash, where necessary. 

I found that as I got to the end of a section I’d sprayed with the garden hose, the sun had dried up much of the water.  So, the water bottle was a great way to get the stone wet again to accept the limewash, without wetting it too much with the garden hose.  

Applying the Limewash to the Stone

With a small section wet, I began applying the limewash to the stone. 

My scaffolding didn’t get me high enough to reach the top left corner of the stone column, so I used my extension pole and tool holder to reach that corner with the masonry brush. 

I used the masonry brush to cover the large stone pieces and rocks, and then I got into the grout and crevices with the 3″ chip brushes. 

I find the masonry brush too unwieldy to get into the grout, but the chip brushes make this part of the job easy.

Because the sun was pretty hot on the day I was painting, I was wiping off excess limewash pretty soon after applying it to the rock.  I didn’t have to do too much of that, however, because the rock was so crevicey and jagged that a lot of the natural stone was showing through anyway. 

The terry towels worked great to cover my bucket of limewash and catch drips, too.

I worked section by section, going down the rock column, making sure to keep the application uniform and to pay attention to parts that were easy to miss, like the sides of rocks and bottom parts of rocks.

I finished the entire column in a day of work (about 7 hours, including a lunch break), and saved myself a lot of money by limewashing the exterior stone myself.

Admittedly, the Riposo Beige limewash doesn’t look fantastic with the 1970’s brown siding of the house.  I think it’s too stark of a contrast. 

It does, however, look FABULOUS with the new color of our house (which you can see in my 1970s exterior makeover post)!  Here’s a teaser to whet your appetite!

Why Limewash Exterior Stone Instead of Painting It?

I know you’re probably wondering why I chose to limewash my exterior stone column to change its color instead of painting it or whitewashing it, and I have lots of good answers for you!

Limewash Looks More Natural

First of all, limewashed rock – unlike painted rock or whitewashed rock (whitewash is just thinned down paint) – has a much more natural appearance.  It is ultra matte, just like rocks and stone, and allows the natural patina to show through (where desired). 

I did not want a totally polished or covered look that paint would have given, so limewash was the natural choice here!

I also like that the limewash will continue to patina and age with time, unlike paint.  I didn’t want to destroy the rock – just update it to work with our new color scheme – and that is easily accomplished with limewash.

You Can Remove Limewash, If Needed

Next, limewash can be removed within 5 days of application!  So, I knew that if I limewashed the stone column and hated it, I could rent a powerwasher and remove it.  That “insurance policy” is huge, in my opinion!

Limewash is Easy on Plants

Finally, limewash poses no harm to the environment or surrounding surfaces.  I didn’t have to worry about some of it dripping on the bushes or grass below the stone, because it’s totally natural and non-toxic and washed away as soon as it rained.  It was nice not having to think about any of that!

This limewash finish will last approximately 10-15 years, which is the same as an exterior paint job.  So, I will have to re-do it at some point to maintain the look, but that is the case with any painted finish.

Let me know if you have any questions about the limewashing process at all.  I am such a huge fan of this material and want to sing its praises from the highest mountain!  It is so DIY friendly and makes such an impact at a low price.  It’s amazing.  🙂

Make sure to check out the entire exterior makeover reveal!