BEFORE 
AFTER
After staring at my vanity in the bathroom for years, I decided it was time for a change. A change that wouldn’t cost me thousands and that would update the bathroom to fit the rest of the house. Don’t get me wrong, the vanity was nice! It was a dark wood, installed just 7 years ago. But after creating a farmhouse theme around our home, the dark modern wood just wasn’t working for me anymore. I’ve seen many people on Pinterest and Instagram painting their cabinets and thought that I could probably handle this job (as much as I despise sanding and painting). I hate painting almost as much as my husband hates me painting. So I thought carefully about the process and decided to give it a go! I documented each step so that you’ll know exactly what I used and how I did it to complete the cabinets.
My first step was to take the drawers off and doors off the hinges and remove the knobs and hardware. I taped (this is my favorite tape for painting projects! off the granite and the tile on the top and bottom of the vanity (because I’m a wicked messy painter in all honesty). I wiped them all down with a small amount of Dawn soap and warm water on a cloth just to clean off all the dirt, dust, fingerprints, makeup, toothpaste…and whatever other crap was on them.
If you hate sanding as much as I do, you’ll really hate this part. BUT I do have a product that I used that I was told I “wouldn’t need to sand” first to use it. I sanded a little as a caution because these were bathroom cabinets that are opened countless times a day, there’s three kids in the house, and the bathroom gets humid from the shower…So as far as if this works without sanding, I think it would, but just to be safe I sanded each cabinet and door for a couple minutes. (Definitely not fully, but just to make some scratches in the shiny lacquer that was on them. My Ryobi Detail Sander worked perfectly for this and getting into the little corners of the cabinets.
Once slightly sanded, I again wiped them off with a warm washcloth and let them fully dry. The next step was to use FixAll Gripcoat Bonding Primer to prime the cabinets. I let the first coat dry overnight, then did another the next day. I had three coats of this on before I started painting.
After the primer was completely dry (I waited at least 2 days), it was finally time to paint. I had been debating on the color for months and finally ended up choosing this color.
Painting with a soft brush, same direction strokes works best for cabinets, so there aren’t any lines left by the brush. After 4 coats of paint on the vanity, cabinets, and drawers, they were completed. The paint can stated that it takes 30 days for the paint to fully cure and harden all of the way, so for at least 3 weeks we left the cabinets and doors slightly open so they wouldn’t stick and peel the paint. (My kids closed the cabinet once after a few days and I thought it would be fine…but it wasn’t. So really listen to the directions about letting the paint cure, especially in a bathroom with the extra moisture!). Don’t rush any step of the process and you’ll be thrilled with the outcome that will last a long time!
Painting the vanity really changed the whole look of the bathroom and gave it a more neutral farmhouse feel, which was what I was going for! Let me know what you think! To see more DIY projects and tips, follow along here and on Instagram @theamericanfarmhouse
-Meghan
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