Studio Cabinet Painting Progress (Plus, A Different Style For The Third Section Of Cabinets?)
Y’all, I finally have paint on the cabinet doors and drawer fronts!! I decided to tackle these one section at a time since I have a total of 50 doors and drawers in the whole room. So for now, I’m working on the cabinets for the mural wall, which currently looks like this…
This is the wall I’m the most anxious to see finished, so naturally I’d start there.
And after what seemed forever getting these doors and drawer fronts prepped — sanded, trim attached, caulked, and primed — I was finally ready to paint yesterday! I only got the backs done, but they’re painted and sealed, and they look so pretty!!
When I got up this morning, I was so anxious to head to the studio and see how they all looked after they were dry since they were all at various stages of drying when I finally went to bed last night. And I was so excited to open the door and see this gorgeous satiny finish in the sunlight coming through the windows.
That, my friends, is the beauty of my absolute favorite clear coat, General Finishes High Performance Topcoat in a flat finish (affiliate link).
I swear by the stuff. I’ve used several water-based clear coats before, including Minwax, Rust-Oleum, and more, but in my humble opinion, those are junk compared to General Finishes.
So after admiring the smooth finish, I turned the light on to see the actual color. It’s so perfect! It’s pink without being too bright or looking like it belongs in a child’s room. This color is Sherwin Williams Tuberose, but I had it color matched in Behr paint.
Behr paint is my absolute favorite general purpose paint, and since I almost never go to Lowe’s or Sherwin Williams, and Home Depot is like my second home, it’s really convenient for me to get my paint there. They have all of the Sherwin Williams and Lowes formulas in their system, so you don’t even have to take a sample with you to have it color matched. It may not be 100% identical when mixed in the Behr base color, but it’s always close enough for me.
I love this color so much! And I love that it looks so much like the dark color in my favorite flower in the whole mural. I didn’t color match it, so that was just a happy accident.
If everything goes as planned, I should have the fronts done today! I don’t know that I’ll get them all installed today, but I’m definitely going to try. I haven’t yet decided how I want to add the gold accents. I’ve considered paints, paint pens, metallic wax, gold leaf, etc. So far, the front runner is a Krylon 18kt Gold Leafing Pen. I think a pen/marker would be the easiest, and according to this video comparing several gold pens/markers, it’s the most metallic.
Regarding the cabinets just inside the studio from the breakfast room, someone suggested that I use the flower mural wallpaper as an inset accent on the doors. I can’t seem to get that idea out of my mind. I really do like the idea of this section of cabinets being different from the rest. I worry that three sections of cabinets all painted the same pink color might be too much. So making these different appeals to me.
I’m just not sure about the flower design, though. I think it would be too much to use the flowers on these cabinets and as curtains in the back entry. So it seems that I’d have to choose one or the other.
To see how it might look, I took the fabric and draped it over the cabinet. My main concern is that it might be too much seeing it from the main areas of the house. I’ve been looking forward to the day that I can leave the studio door open, so the floral pattern would be visible from the entryway, parts of the living room, kitchen, and breakfast room.
I can’t decide if it would be too much and too overpowering, or if it would be just the right amount of color and pattern, and give a bit of a preview of what’s in the rest of the studio. If I do use it on the cabinets, it would only be inset panels, and wouldn’t cover the entire bank of cabinets. So there would be breaks in the floral design rather than one solid mass of flowers like on the mural wall. In other words, it would be obvious that these are cabinets.
And if the flowers would look better as curtains on the back doors, I do wonder if I could come up with another idea to make these cabinets different but coordinating with the rest of the room. I like the general idea, but I can’t think of a specific idea!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
The flower fabric goes really well with all the pinks, purples, peaches, and greens among the various decorations in the breakfast room 😉 Looks like it pulls a bit of that room into the studio, while bringing some of the studio out in to the breakfast room as well.
Love the color on the cabinets so far! Curious are you using a brush/foam roller or your little sprayer to paint them?
Oops sent too fast. Also, are the sizes of the flowers too big for the size of the cabinet doors?
+1 this was my thought too – I think the size of the flowers are too big for cabinet insets. If you were going to do it I think you would need to size down the design.
I’ll be sharing the whole painting process from beginning to end as soon as I get them finished. And I’m waiting because I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to paint the fronts. 😀 I might actually brush instead of spray.
Looks so dang great! They are so smooth and beautiful, the color is wonderful!
Thank you so much for recommending the General Finishes topcoat. We used it on the door/drawer fronts for our DIY Ikea Kitchen w. semi-handmade fronts. My husband LOVED working with it, we both loved how they turned out, and they’ve held up so well! We’ve been slowly remodeling our own bungalow that was similarly last updated in the 60s and every time we have to do anything I pull up your blog to see what products you used. You’ve never steered us wrong and saved me so much mental labor!
I’m so glad to hear that you like it! It’s the only water-based clear coat I’ll use. I used it on my kitchen cabinets, and seven years later, they still look almost perfect. And I’m very hard on surfaces, as people can see with my floors when I’m working on projects. 😀 After six years, my kitchen cabinets have three tiny chips in them, all about the size of half a grain of uncooked rice. And with the clear coat, they’re so easy to clean!
Why not use Spoonflower and create a plaid paper using the same colors as your wallpaper. Keep background sane color as your studio walls. Then apply paper to doors.
This is what I was thinking!
+1 on this idea!
You mention you use Behr paint, but you don’t mention which one. You also don’t mention which sheen paint you use when you add a General Finishes top coat. Please share this info.
My go-to Behr paint about 99% of the time is Behr Premium Plus — the one with the white label. When I plan to use the General Finishes topcoat, I use Behr in an eggshell finish. If I don’t plan to use a clear coat, I generally use Behr paint in an eggshell or satin finish, depending on the project. I never, ever use anything with a higher sheen than satin, not even on my trim.
What if instead of the fabric you did a gold mesh insert? Do you know what I am talking about? I’ve seen panels in different patterns at Lowes and HD. You could either inset them with or without the the cabinet face behind it.
I love this idea!
Pink cabinets with gold mesh inserts! Personally I really love this idea for this room!
Yes! Pink cabinets with gold mesh inserts – the stuff that is designed for radiator covers!
This is a great idea!
I think having the pattern right inside of the doorway would be busy due to the groupings you already have on your shelves in the tv room. It would detract from the nicely staged shelves. Plus, being able to have that surprise pop of floral in your little entry would be really nice; like little surprises everywhere you look.
What about doing a geometric gold stencil design (or freehand)? You could even match or mimic the design on the walls in your music room.
I love this idea! If I do end up doing the gold accent on the pink cabinets, a gold geometric design on the ones by the door would tie them together. Love it!
Love your mural. Could “Spoon” it in a muted version and reduce the size of the flowers.
Would you consider doing a pattern in gold using the pen to add something maybe to mimic the design on your music room doors? Can’t wait to see this finished, it is going to be beautiful.
What about insets using the small bathroom wallpaper? Just a thought.
I did a project a while back and found using the paint pens test it on the paint, with your topcoat.
I was repairing freshening some outdoor signs. I did some tests first. When I tried gold paint pen over black spray paint with a spray sealer the sealer made the gold translucent. I ended up using some leftover gold spray. I did your trick of spraying the paint into a bag lined cup and using the wet paint on a brush. That got a better result staying with all sprays. So do a sample on she extra lathe to make sure it shows well.
I doubt your general finishes topcoat will mess with it but with paint pens it’s best to test/sample to ensure the desired look.
I recently tried paint pens to highlight some details on a vintage art deco sideboard I have. I found they didn’t flow evenly and I had to keep stopping and shaking them to get them started again. So much for getting even lines.
Never again. I’ll finish the job with a paint brush.
What if you painted the doors in stripes with the colors from the wallpaper?
What about painting some kind of floral design from the mural with the gold pen? Not the complete fronts, maybe a line around the front and flowers in one corner?
LOVE the color…I am a pink girl anyway. And love Behr paint.
I can’t imagine that you’d be happy long-term with the wallpaper visible from your other room. And honestly, in my mind, it takes away from that special wallpaper wall. This seems like one of those decisions that needs to percolate for a while.
You’ll think of something I’m sure. Everything you do, ends up perfection IMHO. I can’t wait to see it finished.
From that angle, all I can picture is the cabinet being a shade of green that will compliment both the mural wall and also pull from the accent pieces you have on the shelves in your siting room. I feel like adding another pattern will take away from your beautiful mural. No mater what direction you go it’s sure to be amazing!
Why not glue the fabric to the back inside of the cabinets? Plus make curtains for entry way.
Okay how about painting plaid, or gingham or stripes on the other cabinets. If you want to mute them, copy a smaller scale floor design on those doors.
Those doors look wonderful! The finish is so perfect. Did you spray, roll or brush the paint…and then the finish too? And that water based finish holds up to use? I have to repaint some dressers I did – the tops are too fragile. Would that work for them, even if someone put a glass of water down? I tried water based varnish once – every time it got wet it would turn white…UGH. Had to go back and use regular varnish. I can’t get over how beautiful the doors are…can’t wait to see the fronts! A lot of work, but SO worth it. Love some of the ideas people are giving you for the other cabinets…I like the idea of the mesh or the drawn on design like you have done before. A little quieter from your other room, and it leaves a great surprise for your mural and curtains.
With the cabinets being on the same side of the room as the entry, what if you painted them the same color as the entry. They are both visible from the kitchen and could be a good compliment. Even if you used the gold mesh on them it would be great imho. You will know it when you see it.
Oh I love the color. Those doors do look beautiful in your photo. I can’t wait to see it all done.
I think it would be way too much to direct the eye to see more of your fabric. You already have a lot going visually. See the whole, not just the pieces.
I love the cabinets and big work tables! What a great work room. The colors are vibrant and the floor is understated exciting. What I wonder about is the ultimate use of the space, I would be concerned with the use of strong patterns fighting with the work at hand. What if it clashes? Is busy design required? I would personally need some visual peace to let my creative juices run wild in a work space especially if the space is used for design work for the public. Form follows function. If that is no longer the goal disregard this comment.
Yes that satin finish is quite lovely and smooth looking. Please don’t use gold leaf!!!!!! PS How will a water based finish hold up to the oils on your hands touching it over several years?
I wonder what it could look like to try a scaled down version of the bathroom wallpaper as an inset in those cabinets?
Then you’d have the same pattern in both spaces, but the pattern you see from the living room would be less coordinated without being matchy matchy?
The cabinets look great and the color is fabulous! Are you spraying or rolling the General Finishes? Also, are you still using the criteria sprayer for the painting of the cabinets?
Critter not criteria. Darn autocorrect!
I’ve rolled some, sprayed some (with the Critter) and brushed some. I’ll give y’all a whole rundown of the process once I’m finished.
What if you did an outline of the floral pattern from your wallpaper in the gold pen?
I love me a gold mesh insert to go with your hardware!
I think to put the wallpaper on that cabinet would not do either the cabinets or the paper justice…
Why not try a plaid or check pattern in complimentary colors on a few doors?
After seeing the photo looking through the door of your breakfast room, I want the base cabinets on the studio wall ( where you can see the fabric in the photo) painted the same purple as your TV cabinet in the breakfast room. It would be a great transition into the studio, ground the cabinets & balance all the pink cabinets. It just jumped out to me! Then add whatever embellishments you desire.