Cougar Chic Decor - Cochrane

Please excuse the mess, we live here!!

We completely gutted our kitchen and had this custom kitchen built for us in 2004 and at the time we LOVED it! We love pine because of its character and knots, but it is a soft wood, so we opted for knotty alder. Remember when wood and lots of wood was really in style?

The best part was the lovely terracotta tiles…

UGH, what were we thinking?!

If you’ve ever been quoted on a brand new kitchen renovation, it can cost anywhere from $20,000 -$100,000 depending on what you want done. I’ve wanted to paint the cupboards for a few years but I felt guilty covering this nice wood. I know many of you feel the same when painting some furniture pieces. BUT it was time, she had lost her sparkle and was looking way too old and dated!

I LOVE chalk style paints for so many reasons, and of course, I used FAT Artisan Chalk Style Paint made here in Canada (which I also retail) I decided to use ‘chalk white’, a stark white colour, because I really wanted to brighten up my kitchen and stay classic as well.

It’s winter here and a freezing -20 outside and the garage was just as cold so I decided to paint everything in the house. FAT paint has no stinky odour and it’s super easy to clean up with soap & water so I got straight to work. I laid out garbage bags across my entire dining room and then laid out all the cabinet doors.  Before I did any painting I scrubbed every inch of the cupboards so there was no greasy residue left on them. Another reason I love FAT Paint is that I didn’t need to prime or sand or strip my cupboards before painting them! What?! yup it’s true, the adhesion is incredible.

EASY TIP….I never tape off glass or mirrors when I paint with FAT Paint because it’s so easy to wipe off!!

I Love, Love, Love the look of glaze on cabinets!

Applying glaze gives cabinets some dimension with a unique character filled look without looking dirty. I used our Alberta Dames Soft Gray Glaze. In this picture, the top cabinet has been Grey Glazed and the bottom is just painted white. See all that time-worn beauty?! YIPEEE!

Now, for the big reveal……DRUM ROLL PLEASE….

I am in LOVE with my new kitchen!! I feel like a little kid at Christmas every-time I walk in. I want to kiss the cupboards! HeeHeeHee
We did buy new tiles….sometimes there is no coming back from that mess! Here is a close up of the new tiles.

I just LOVE them!!

MY MOST FAVORITE PART…My new CHANDELIER!!!!

I can’t even stand it.. I turn all the lights off at night except the chandelier and just stare at her in all her glory!

Remember these open corner cabinets? I don’t know what we were thinking of leaving these open with a house full of kids and dogs! I think I just didn’t want the old lazy susan style, and we planned on putting cute baskets in them but it was impossible to find ones that fit so they just got left as is. My awesome hubby built wooden crate/drawers for them that I stained Grey. I just had to add some pretty hardware then I finished it off by adding one of our new Furniture Stamps!! GASP…It is just so pretty!!

You probably noticed the new white counter-tops? We decided to stay on budget and rather than spend thousands of dollars replacing it we found a product called Rustoleum Counter-top Transformations that you apply right over your existing counter-tops! You can purchase this at most home improvement stores.

It’s so hard to capture in pictures but its White with tiny sparkles in it (love it)

It turned out beautiful and so far it is ‘wearing’ amazing!

I hope that I have inspired you and showed you how you can transform your space into one you love, without having a huge renovation and the big bills that go with it.

If you still feel a bit intimidated we do teach a Kitchen Cabinet Workshops where we teach you all of our tips and tricks and we know that you will leave feeling very comfortable and confident enough to paint your own kitchen. Our workshops are on the website www.albertadames.ca/workshops

Here is a list of EVERYTHING I used and the cost:
4 quarts of FAT Paint in Chalk White $160
5- 10oz jars of Alberta Dames Soft Grey Glaze $125
A pint of top coat $34
1 pack (4 sheets) of 600 grit Sandpaper $6
1- 1.5″ Paint brush (for FAT Paint) $15
1-1″synthetic brush (for top coat) $5
Total cost $345…if you didn’t glaze it would be $220!!! AMAZING!!

I am always amazed at how a little elbow grease (ok it was more than a little but really it wasn’t bad at all) and with some paint, how you can completely transform a space!

Here’s one last before and after…