The last in-process picture...

Until we're done.

It's down to the finish work, and getting so dang close I can almost taste it.

It's taken a couple of weeks, but the original cabinets are all but done! I have to put one more coat on the hinges of the upper ones and then we can reassemble. I don't know that I ever said we decided to keep the existing hardware instead of replacing it. Of course the old stuff had to come off for painting, but I decided to try to clean and lube one latch to see how it would look and work. Let's just say I was astounded at the result! You can see what we started with.
I don't think it's paint, but rather shellac or varnish or some other such finish. First off, I tried some WD-40, to see if we could get the latch to work better. Yep. What a difference a little squirt of the stuff made! Sure felt stupid for not trying it sooner. You just get used to the way things are and don't always think of ways to change them. So then I tried sanding the goop off. We think the latches and hinges are actually brass - they're certainly heavy enough. So that really started us tipping towards keeping them. The only question left was how to refinish them. Turns out there's an oil-rubbed bronze paint from RustOleum - just the finish we needed! As I looked for the paint, I found Citristrip. Nasty stuff - you have to wear chemically resistant gloves to use it - but it sure works. Gross when it does - as you can see in this picture taking during the wait time - but effective. And it sure saved time to not have to fill in all the existing holes and then drill new ones for new hardware...

Put all that together and what did we end up with? This:

We're delighted. And it's sure less expensive, as we'll be able to return all the hardware we bought for these doors and drawers. No, the old side won't match the new, although the finish is close and the drawer pulls very much the same, but we're happy to keep the integrity of the old hardware. We will install magnetic latches instead of the old ones on the cabinet interiors (similar to the double roller catches still available, but harder to use). That'll make the doors easier to open and close - you won't have to reach in and release the interior latch each time. This also serves the purpose of not having to put your hand on the wood of the door to pull it open or push it closed each time and that will absolutely keep them cleaner! My mama didn't raise no dummy. Can you just imagine how much more dirt will show on this near white than on the original finish? We took all the doors down, which meant removing all the hinge pins - probably the hardest part of the whole operation. I didn't strip the hinges, but did repaint them (the part that shows, anyway). They just didn't have the layers of goop on them that the latches did. Tiny little brush for that work.

Painting the actual cabinets wasn't hard, just time consuming. I had to wash them all with non-phosphate tri-sodium phosphate (huh?). Again, chemically resistant gloves. That got rid of grease, oils, general grime and took down the shine to allow paint to adhere. And then three coats of paint...  At least I could do nearly all of it with a roller. Probably could have gotten away with two, but cabinets take hard wear, and three will hold up better.

I had a bit of extra time this morning before work, and was able to put the drawer pulls back on. And here we are! 

Won't it look great when it's all back together?  Joe and I resisted the idea of painting these for so long, wanting to keep the wood finish. But that was so out of our price range (matching new to old) that we decided to paint. We were both kind of dreading it - until I put the first coat on. We were astonished at how much brighter the kitchen looked after just one coat. It's not like the old finish was dark! We alread love it. And, while we're still adjusting to how the new space works, we already find it miles and miles better than the old one. We can actually both work and not trip over each other! And I can work on multiple things and not run out of room! I must confess it's taken some adjusting to remember we can put things on the counters right off the stove or out of the oven. And we're finding out just how easily soapstone stains - using our cutting boards a LOT, including a big one on which to put dirty dishes. But the stains fade away, and, if we want, we can really hide the vast majority of them by simply oiling the surface with mineral or cooking oil. We'll see.

Next up?

Tile.

We're doing a backsplash ourselves, and plan to start this weekend. We have to do some priming tonight, but should be good to go tomorrow.

Then we're on to paint. Fairly good idea of the colors we want, but we need to nail down exact shades and then figure out what goes where! This is where we're going to add color. We've purposely kept everything else neutral, to make it more timeless and also easier to change if we ever get tired of the color scheme.  Goodness knows I was tired of the old one! After 26 years, can you blame me?

No more pictures until it's all done - you'll just have to wait for the grand unveiling!