Our Hopeful Home: DIY White Modern Farmhouse Painted Kitchen Cabinets

painted kitchen cabinets farmhouse country style

To say that I've been waiting for years to paint my kitchen cabinets would be an understatement. Lucky for me, the kind people at DecoArt helped me turn my dream of a white modern farmhouse kitchen into reality. It is truly amazing what a few coats of paint can do for the overall ambiance of a room. That, along with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, of course. Read on to see the before and after shots that I am absolutely thrilled to be sharing with you today.

This post is sponsored by DecoArt but all opinions are my own.

Many of you are already familiar with my kitchen: it's a nice size, with lots of cabinets (250 square-feet's worth), a nice bar/counter, wood floors and beautiful granite countertops. Unfortunately, that dark wood really dated the room. That, along with the lovely fruit murals painted on the soffits, a la the 1980's. It was great 13 years ago when we moved into this house, and I think this kitchen would have been considered top-of-the-line back in the day. Unfortunately, we're not living back in the day. Hence, my need for change.

Decoart Americana Decor Satin Enamels 8 fl. oz. jar

I must admit it felt a little bit like Christmas morning when I received my DecoArt Americana Decor Satin Enamel paint in Pure White. I also received some jars of their Stain Blocker/Sealer since my cabinets were so dark. The blocker ensures that the wood tannins never seep through the paint and mar your beautiful paint job.

According to DecoArt, their satin enamels are specifically formulated for revitalizing old cabinets. Their durable finish makes them ideal for high use areas like kitchens and bathrooms. And they come in 21 colors!

Americana Decor flat angled paint brushes

Their soft, straight-edged and angled brushes came in very handy throughout the painting process. The smaller brushes were particularly helpful with the detail work on the cabinet doors.

Decoart Americana Decor Pure White jar paint

Since I'm such a white paint kind of girl I was quite happy to see that they had Pure White!

Our kitchen's farmhouse transformation began when we replaced the two can lights above the bar last year. We went from this, ahem, lovely metal rimmed can light.....

To this!

It was an incredibly easy project that made a big visual impact. But let me tell you -- nothing prepared us for the visual impact of our DIY DecoArt painted kitchen cabinets! Read on to see the amazing transformation.

Just a reminder of the "Before."

pantry white side by side refrigerator microwave double oven dark cabinets

Now here's just one side of the kitchen as it looked pre-painting. Ugh.

white painted farmhouse kitchen cabinets

And here's the same side totally transformed with white paint, right before we put in our new stainless steel french door refrigerator and put the pantry door back on. I'm pointing that out really clearly here because we've all read about kitchens in blogland that were totally transformed with nothing more than a can of white paint. Almost seems too good to be true. Then we come to find out that they actually added new appliances, lighting, rugs, curtains, accessories, etc. There's nothing wrong with that, but I believe we all need to be up front and transparent about it from the get-go.

So, in addition to the new fridge, we also added some new farmhouse drawer pulls and cabinet knobs, new bar stools and a new (after my awesome DIY transformation) pantry door. And of course we painted the soffits gray, which I feel helped create a HUGE difference. I really want you to see and know how our new, overall look evolved. That's not to say that the paint alone wouldn't have been awesome in and of itself! I believe that's pretty evident in the above picture, old refrigerator and all, don't you think? I do!

dark mahogany kitchen cabinet doors in garage pre-painting

By way of sneak peek into the process (I'll be sharing SO much more info on this in a later post) here are the cabinet doors that we transported out to the garage, and placed on long tables, supported by big red cups. Bet you didn't know they were good for anything more than keg parties and backyard barbecues, did you?! They were a real life saver in that they were sturdy enough to elevate the pieces off the table so that I could concentrate on painting them with the DecoArt Stain Blocker/Sealer followed by their Pure White paint.

kitchen cabinet doors on cups waiting to be painted

Here's a cabinet door after I coated it with DecoArt Stain Blocker/Sealer which dries to a clear finish. As for the paint, I will say that some pieces required more than the requisite two coats of paint. I think the lighter the wood, the less coats you'll need. But mine were SO DARK! You might also want to consider using primer to be safe depending on the original color of your cabinets, although DecoArt Satin Enamels do not require it.

Below are some comparison shots of the before and after. I love showing you these shots because I believe they really showcase the stunning after effect, illustrating what a few coats of paint can do to really brighten up your living space.

kitchen bar marble countertops bar stools soffits wall mural

Before.

backless gray wooden bar stools kitchen bar marble countertops

After.

Before.

white painted farmhouse kitchen cabinets farmhouse drawer pulls glass top stove

After.

As you can see here, white paint takes this kitchen to a whole new level. In this shot there's still blue painter's tape across the floor, since I was in the process of painting the baseboards. But I just couldn't wait for the whole kitchen to be done before I started taking pictures!

Before.

After.

And for your viewing pleasure, allow me to wrap it up in side-by-side photos.

Do I think the white paint made a huge difference in my kitchen? Heck yeah! What do you think?

Out with the old.

In with the new!

white farmhouse kitchen cabinets glass top stove DIY Eat sign pitcher pink lemonade

white hydrangeas ironstone pitcher kitchen countertop glass stove top

You knew I couldn't resist taking a beauty shot that included hydrangeas! They make my farmhouse-lovin' heart smile!

silver farmhouse drawer pulls cabinet hardware

I am in love with the brushed nickel drawer pulls and knobs. The old ones were brass. I spray painted all the original hinges to match. (More on that later.)

I fell for these Target counter stools when I first laid eyes on them. One part of me wanted to go with upholstered stools, but due to the much higher price, and the fact that we do have one tween and two teenagers, I opted to go with the more economical and more practical choice. The gray color was just perfect!

I think my DIY vintage farmhouse kitchen EAT sign fits perfectly right here for now.

And I'm really loving those industrial farmhouse pendant lights even more now!Can you tell that I'm thrilled with the result of my DIY DecoArt Pure White painted kitchen cabinets? What do you think?

I have so much more DIY info to share in future posts, i.e., detailed cabinet painting instructions/tips, how to spray paint hardware, how to upgrade your hollow core wood door, how to countersink a farmhouse drawer pull, etc. And I will most certainly be adding some farmhouse touches as I go along. Those posts are already in the works! And in honor of the completion of our DIY white modern farmhouse kitchen I will be hosting a GIVEAWAY for you, my dear readers! I think you'll be as excited as I am when you see what I'll be giving away to one lucky winner. So stay tuned for that!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my

DIY White Modern Farmhouse Painted Kitchen Cabinets.

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