so the cook said: More Kitchen Organization...

You know you’ve been working on a project too long when the before and after pictures are on two different memory cards – This one has been mostly done for some time now, but I kept forgetting to get the last missing piece.

I’ve always been a bargain hunter. I get quite a thrill out of finding something at a thrift store and making it look special and amazing. Don’t get me wrong, IKEA purchases are pretty great, but there is nothing like the giddiness that a can of spray paint or a little hot glue can bring (and I don’t mean from sniffing it).

When we bought the house, it was a gift from the Lord that the wall colors matched our furniture and curtains exactly. And I wanted a blue kitchen to add some red accents too. However, I did not love the cabinets.

The tile was great, the new appliances were exciting, but the cabinets, were goopy (to say the least). The red stain may look ok – but it was done in a hurry. Up close, the finish was drippy and uneven. Half of the doors had been replaced with a different wood, and you just can’t make the finish match.

So, I begged Jeremiah to let me paint the cabinets white. I wanted my kitchen to have a clean feeling – not goopy red.

After purchasing an electric sander (a must for repainting cabinets!), we got to work.

My MIL (mother-in-law) helped me to get this project done in less than a few days. Jeremiah sanded, she taped, she and I primed, she and I painted…

Even without the doors finished, I could tell that this was going to be a change-your-life type project. We took the cabinet doors down to the garage to prime and paint.

After a few coats and lots of drying hours, the doors were complete.

Luckily, the previous owners had added new hardware that went great with the white cabinets.

This kitchen had more room than I knew what to do with. I knew I needed a solution for this big blue blank wall.

I had seen an idea on Pinterest for a free-standing pantry made from a wardrobe.

Pin found here.

Thanks to Craigslist, I found this great hutch for $30! Flour, sugar, rice, etc. would store nicely inside its doors. It was a cream color – but I knew that a can of paint would solve that problem.

But since the painting of the kitchen cabinets went so smoothly, I assumed this would too. I have since learned a huge lesson! When painting something red, you must use a gray primer. Otherwise, your first few coats will look pink. And I wasn’t going for the Mary Kay look.

Since I was working all day, I would paint all evening. And for some reason, the bugs loved this red paint. So, my husband even hung his bug light in the garage to help in the process.

If you are painting furniture or cabinets, those little sponge rollers will become your new best friend. They are small and leave a smooth finish.

After adding the blue painter’s tape, this turned into a patriotic party. Usually when I’m working on a project, the more I do the more excited I get. This project felt like the ~~red~~ ~~pink~~ patriotic project that would never end.

Five coats later, I was tired of red paint. I was tired of rinsing it out of my hair. I was tired of trying to cover the white. It was time to move it to the kitchen.

My sugars and flour fit nicely inside. But I did not love the glass doors. It made the inside look junky even though my containers were organized and labeled.

Again, my MIL came to the rescue. While they were visiting, she said, “Why don’t you put paper or fabric up against the glass?” Immediately, a light bulb went off in my head. I had the perfect red and white wrapping paper!

Once the paper was in place, I took a little more time to organize the jars and containers inside the hutch.

I love my labeled containers that stack so easily.

And all those jars fit nicely inside the tall door.

The knobs are what stumped me. The hinges were gold…the original knobs were gold…I was not a fan. I didn’t really want to have to replace all the hinges. Therefore, white or glass were my options. I looked at IKEA last week, but didn’t find any winners. Last night at Lowe’s, I stumbled across white knobs that would do the trick. There were some beautiful glass knobs, but they were priced at more than $5 each. Since I needed 6 knobs, I refused to pay more for the knobs than I paid for the hutch.