Series: An 80's Kitchen Reno- {Part 9- Cabinet Painting and Compact Hinges}

Back to work on the kitchen, the new cabinetry was built, and the new doors were here.  Now the transformation could begin.  I will forever be awed by the power of paint.  Often just having the right color can immediately bring a space or piece of furniture into the present. The most visually noticeable change to our kitchen was paint.

Before painting, I removed and labeled all the doors and drawers.  I also removed the old laminate backsplash.  Since it was attached to the side of the cabinets, I needed to sand the glue off the wood so that the paint would adhere and be smooth. I also did a general sand of all the cabinets and frames.

  But what a difference just priming made!

 

All of the priming of the frames was done using a brush and roller. I did about two coats of primer, and then it was time to paint.  I used Benjamin Moore Simply White Satin finish in the  Advance paint line and applied three coats.  

In between painting the frames, I started work on the doors.  Before painting I drilled for the new hidden compact hinges.  My hinges are referred to as overlay, because the door overlays the cabinet frame.  To get the right size, I measured the distance the door 'lays over' the frame. Mine were 5/8" overlay...not a standard size sold at big box stores, but they were easily found online.  I also purchased a template and forstner bit to drill for the new hinges.  I measured, marked and drilled for each one before painting, so as not to damage the new paint job.

Blum Hinges | Forstner Bit and Template | Kreg Jig Bit

I didn't have the Kreg Jig template when working on my kitchen, but I've since helped my Mom and Dad add hinges to their kitchen cabinets.  He purchased one and it was a great time saver on the project.

I sprayed the doors and set up my spray station outside and later moved to working in the basement.

After the final coat, I let them dry for another three days so the paint could harden before installing them.  Again I have an older kitchen, so I ran into an issue when I began installing them.  The first doors I put up were over my refrigerator, which had a newly built cabinet frame.  It went up smoothly.  The next ones, for the life of me I couldn't get to fit.  It turned out that the old cabinet frames were SLIGHTLY thicker than the grips on the hinges.  This prevented them from attaching and closing properly.  I literally had to walk away from the project before I figured this out!  

But once I realized it was the frame thickness, I found that I could work around it and push the back portion of the gripper INTO the frame so that they fit.  And with that, I got all of the doors installed. They still needed a few of adjustments with the screws, but that was to be expected.  Hopefully this can help the next person that runs into that problem.

Joyfully Growing Blog

Ashley and Mike over at Joyfully Growing have an excellent article about selecting and installing soft-close hinges--both compact and long arm.  I love their advice and explanation about the difference between long arm  and compact hinges.  I think I would have chosen long arm hinges had I known that was an option. 

The hidden hinges and paint made a world of difference in bringing the kitchen into the 21st century.  Up next was to have new countertops installed. 

 

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{An 80's Kitchen DIY Reno Series}

 

-Part 1 - Before and After

-Part 2- Modifying a Cabinet to Replace an Old Double Oven 

-Part 3- Demo, Carpentry, and Design Plans 

-Part 4- Demo Day

-Part 5- DIY Peninsula and Fridge Surround

-Part 6- Ordering Materials and Fixtures

-Part 7-Running Wiring for Sconces thru a Header Beam

-Part 8- Matching an Older Door Profile

-Part 9- Cabinet Painting and Compact Hinges