The guest bath: REVEAL

It's almost a year, since we bought this house...how time flies. The past three...or four...months, I have been talking about re doing the kid's vanity (guest bathroom). When we first bought the house, I knew that would be the first wood cabinets I would tackle- primarily because it was the smallest and would take me the shortest amount of time. I heavily underestimated the amount of time. I was thinking a week tops....somehow, I always forget that my toddlers don't let me do anything...so one week turn into several months. I was ready to give up several times....but if you know me, I'm a perfectionist. I was going to see this through...and I was going to do it well.

The bathroom when they showed us the house

The process started well before Thanksgiving. First I sanded all the wood. Seriously, the poly coat on it disintegrated on contact- it was horrible, but it was super easy to do. The bad thing is that this bathroom did not have windows, so when I sanded all the fine sand stayed in the bathroom and then my allergies acted up big time. Then, I realized they plugged up and ruined my vacuum. You need to use a dry/wet vac or a shop vac...don't use your house one...it will ruin it. Then, I had to take all the hardware off. If you EVER do this....label the hardware. I later found out that some screws were longer than others by a couple of centimeters....but that was enough to not fit back in....so I had to undo them all, and start again....my blisters will never forget that. You should probably use a power drill/screwdriver....I didn't because I was putting them back on, while the children slept.....bad idea, but it seemed good at the time...then again, I had forgotten where all the screws went.

All sanded down to the wood

Once all sanded and hardware off, I took the doors and drawers out to the garage and did the vanity first. You have to use a wood primer...a bonding primer. It's more gel like, covers up the grain a bit more, and its specifically used for cabinets, so it won't drip. It's not any more expensive than regular primer at Lowe's, and worth it. It was so easy to spread....one coat is really all you need. Again, I was a perfectionist, so I did it twice, but really once was enough. I was trying to really cover up the grain. After the two coats dried and cured (about a week)....I did the paint. I picked the "all american" ( a pint) color from Olympic at Lowe's...it was a gray/blue. I thought the color could be boyish, but a bit elegant too....so it would not look childish. I figured, if we ever sold this house, I wanted to pick a color a bit more neutral than bright blue or something.  For this process, I hated the idea of seeing the paint brush streaks. So, while at Lowe's, I found some little foam rollers specifically for cabinet painting. THEY. ARE. AMAZING! They did the job so well, people would think the thing was spray painted...no brush marks at all, I really liked that. And they cost about the same price of a nice paint brush.

Did the vanity first

The cabinet behind the door next

After two coats of paint, dried and cured (about another week), I decided to put a coat of polyurethane. I figured since this bathroom does not have a window, the wood needed protection from the steam and vapor. I got the polyurethane at Sherwin Williams, because they were having a 40% off sale, and it came just a bit cheaper than Lowe's. The pint size is way more than you will ever need. I will probably use that pint all around the house. All you need is a super thin coat. Also, be aware that it only comes off with paint thinner...I ruined a perfectly good paint brush with it, by not following instructions.

Paint process....primer, then paint, then poly.

Almost done

Once all that dried and cured (about another week). I had to take my work outside to do the same to the doors and drawers. That took me the longest, because it was so COLD outside....I dreaded going to the garage and/or I had no one to watch the kids. So, it stayed out there forever.  It had taken me so long to get to the doors, that as soon as I was able to get out there, I went ahead and skipped the primer...accidentally....the paint looked so much different and the grain was so noticeable. So, I had to wait for that to dry, so I could prime it. I could have sanded it all down again, but I didn't want to, and since the color was going to the exactly the same, I just put a thin coat of primer to hide the grain...and it did the job fantastic. I followed the same process and it took me about another couple of weeks for that to get done. I finally finished it all yesterday, and decided to hang it all up.

All painted, ready for top clear coat

The color grew on me...the poly coat, after it cured, made the color a bit more "greenish" but it's okay....you can actually see that the doors and the actual cabinet are two different tones, that's how I noticed, but once the poly really cures on the doors it will look the same.  Again, I had to be careful to follow the same steps on everything, so it looked cohesive. I didn't want to do a half well done job and then not even look good....especially if we ever sell this house. For the finishing touch, I added some contact paper to the bottom of the drawers. I really liked how it turned out- the shower curtain, the wood cabinets, the drawer liner- all match.

THE BIG REVEAL

The drawers

The cabinet. Did you notice all the trim and
baseboards are white now?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
What a difference paint makes...that's all we did in this room. We didn't even paint the wall. Just a bit of paint to cover up that nasty 1980's oak - granny color, as my hubs likes to say.

For now, I'm going to take a week break, and then I will tackle the Master bath- you'll have to stay tune for that...it won't be the same color.