Updating Old cabinets

 Months ago we installed new uppers in our kitchen.  We installed a set of custom lower cabinets in one area but there was a run of base cabinets that would have been too complicated to replace.  Made many years by vocational school students, the doors are thinner than normal.  They are essentially plywood.  But to remove them and put in a new base is more money and time than we wanted to devote to it.  So we mutually agreed to paint the lowers and put on new hardware to give them another lease on life.  

There used to be two very ugly faux drawer fronts underneath the sink.  They didn't fit properly and wobbled all around--in fairness all of my 5 kids pulled on them at one point or another when they were growing up.  But you can see the lovely orangey color and the dated hardware.  I had obviously removed the two faux drawers at this point--an embarrassingly easy thing to do that took about 3 minutes of time.  We also removed a piece of quarter round that was under the counter and discovered that there was a bit of a mess there.  Moisture had gotten behind the trim and mold was growing. There was a gap, caused in part by levelling the counter but also partly because there used to be a different counter and sink there in my childhood.  I did not want to put trim back there.  So I went to my source--Youtu*e  and sure enough someone had solved a similar problem with an old door.  

The solution was to put painters tape behind the gap and seal it thoroughly.  Then we used wood resin fill to fill the gap. The procedure was pretty easy.

Here it was after filling the gaps so that that top is flat.  We sanded it down with a mouse sander. My wife then took off all the old hardware and painted the drawers and lower cabinets.  Amazingly, for the first time ever, our new hardware lined up with the holes for the old hardware.  Truly a renovation miracle!  

Our plan was to replace the two faux drawers with one longer piece of wood.  I am a bit of  a wood hoarder.  Lumber is expensive and old wood is just so special.  One of the pieces i had saved from the bathroom gut job was a lovely pine board.  It was too thick for our purpose so a friend planed it to the correct thickness for us.  Today we painted and installed it.  The lowers look amazing!

The Youtu*er I watched called this process "puttin lipsick on a pig."  Well this pig looks pretty fine!  We used Heirloom Traditions paint for this.  I have used their paint in other applications in our home and find it to be exceptionally durable and very easy to apply.  This color is called London should anyone be interested in the color in their own home.

First project of 2023 finished!