Amazing Low Cost Transformation

Finally, I convinced my husband that painting our kitchen island was a great idea! Ok, great might be stretching it a bit!

The reason for the need to convince was two fold, first he thinks it is a disgrace to paint solid oak, which is what our cabinets are made of and second he really wasn't interested in painting. I always told him I would paint it and he wouldn't have to.

As usual, I just kept bringing the subject up and if he doesn't respond to my statement/question/comment then that is my green light to go ahead and do it!

So, I painted and distress it and he made the wood top for it.

Since he is an incredible woodworker, he was able to make a solid wood top for the island to replace the lovely 80's shade of grey lamanite that graced the top of my island. The wood for the top cost around $22.00 and we already had the paint, so the whole project cost less than $25.00!

Here's the lovely 80's version of my kitchen island,

Sorry about the white spots, my camera isn't the greatest.

And here is the amazing transformation costing less than $25.00!


There is an incredible product called Liquid Sandpaper (they may have changed the name to) Liquid Sander/De-Glosser, that you can get at Home Depot and probably Lowe's. It's in the paint section and costs about 4.00 per bottle, I had 8 doors and 4 drawers on my island, as well as the base and I used less than 1/4 of the bottle.

This product allows you to avoid the mess and dreaded job of sanding the piece. You simply wipe it on in a circular motion and let it dry 10 minutes and then paint away! It removes all of the poly that is on the cabinet doors and base.

We always use semi-gloss latex paint on all of his painted wood pieces so when we sand the painted piece to distress it the finish comes out matte. We have never primed any of our wood pieces and have never had a problem with the pieces peeling, chipping or showing wear and he has been building for almost 16 years.

The hardest part of the project is waiting for the coats of paint to dry! Patience is truly needed on any furniture painting project.

I have now convinced him to replace the top of the desk in the kitchen with the same wood top and I will paint those cabinets above the desk and the drawers on the bottom of the desk as well. I'll post that as soon as I complete it.

What do you have around your house that could use a little face lift? A coat of paint and some sanding and distressing will do the trick!