What Not to Wear: Kitchen Style

When we bought our house, we fell in love with everything except the kitchen. It's small and somewhat outdated. And even though the house came with new appliances, they're white - and that's just not my style.

I wish we could win some HGTV 100,000 sweepstakes and Candice Olsen could come redo our kitchen......but, that's probably not going to happen. So, I'm taking baby steps in updating our kitchen, starting with those icky white appliances. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but I decided to paint the refrigerator and dishwasher. Surprisingly, it went pretty well and was relatively easy. (If you're considering doing this, I would highly recommend the Ace Hardware brand appliance paint over Rustoleum. It goes on a lot better and dries faster/more evenly.)

Here is the before:Here are the afters:

The refrigerator still needs one more coat, but you have to wait 5 days between coats. On the dishwasher, the panel is a hammered gold but it doesn't come out well in the photo. For the refrigerator I used 4 cans of black appliance paint, and 1/2 a can of plastic paint for the handles, etc. I used the same plastic paint on the dishwasher, and maybe 1/2 a can of appliance paint.

I also repainted the (white) ceiling fan. There's a really nice metallic finish on everything but the blades, but it doesn't come out well in the photo either.The next step is wall paint and laying floor tile. I'll be sure to post more photos!

P.S. This project was posted on DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land, The Shabby Chic Cottage, and Beyond the Picket Fence.