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Giving Your
Kitchen A Complete Makeover
And Doing It On A Low Budget At That
Countertop
and Backsplash: Phase Six
by Donald Thomas
With the kitchen cabinets firmly in place and finished,
you are now ready to proceed to the next task and that will bring us into
phase six of our ongoing series "Giving Your Kitchen A Complete Makeover...And
Doing It On A Low Budget At That--Countertops and Backsplash: Phase Six.
Up to this point we have dismantle an existing residential kitchen and
step by step we have rebuild a new one, complete with new ceiling joists,
studs (if needed) and we installed new insulation before we put up new
drywall (sheetrock) on the walls and ceilings in phases one through four.
And in phase five we installed the kitchen cabinets and we applied a finish
to your liking. Whether the cabinets were stained and varnished or primed
and painted; each finish is guaranteed to yield beautiful results if executed
properly. Each finish is capable of giving a kitchen an elegant and refined
look--one that can leave you breathless.
Now with all that work completed and done I can
rightfully assume that your new kitchen is beginning to take shape...and
that has to be a good feeling. We've gone from an old kitchen that was
worn and outdated to a vacant kitchen where every thing had been removed,
to a new kitchen that now has clean crisp walls and ceiling; to beautiful
cabinets that look great. But before we proceed to install countertops
on our base cabinets we should take this time to paint our already primed
walls and ceilings. To be perfectly honest with you there is an option
here: you can paint your walls and ceilings before your install your countertop
or you can paint them afterward--the call is yours, however, I prefer to
do it at this stage of the project (generally speaking, I'm really excited
about seeing the wall color(s) and the ceiling all finished up) and get
that taken care of. And of course I insist on applying at least two coats
of an acrylic latex paint on the walls and ceilings, but in the kitchen
applying an acrylic latex enamel on the walls might be an even better choice.
You see, the enamel has greater wipe ability than regular acrylic latex
paints, but they generally come in a satin, semi-gloss, and gloss finish.
If you had in mind putting a flat or matte finish on your walls it might
prove to be a little difficult to find...but then again, its worth spending
time checking it out if that is what you want.Here again, planning is the
key to getting the job done correctly and without losing a lot of precious
time searching for things at the last minute.
But before you begin painting your walls and ceiling
be sure to cover your newly finished cabinets completely; then do it again,
and a third time if need be. After all the work that has gone into making
your cabinets beautiful and charming you don't want to get specks of ceiling
and wall paint all over them...and not to mention spills and droplets that
would simply break your heart. So let's go ahead and wrap them up--now!
In the article "Interior Painting...Transform Your
Interior Into A Beautiful Enclave", I gave pointers and tips on how to
paint the interior of your home. If you like you are more than welcome
to click on the link above, or copy and paste it into your browser and
check out the information there, hopefully it will give you a few useful
hints that may prove to be of some benefit...at least I hope it does. But
as with most home improvement projects, as I have so often stated, the
key to doing a quality job is having the patience to do it correctly; that's
usually about 90% of it. So take your time and slowly paint your ceiling
and walls and enjoy the experience--I certainly do and I've been doing
this for twenty-five years now.
Installing Your Countertops
If you grew up in the era that I did when Chuck
Connors starred as the "Rifleman," and Wally and the Beaver kept you anxiously
awaiting the next episode of "Leave It To Beaver," than you know beyond
a shadow of a doubt that over 95% of the households in America had laminate
countertops...and that was just the way it was. There was nothing fancy
or eye catching about it and to be honest with you I never give it a second
thought--that is until late, when I became a home improvement contractor.
It never ever cross my mind to think that there might be an alternative--it
just never registered. Boring yes! But laminate countertops proved to be
quiet useful as a covering for kitchen cabinets, and they still are even
to this day. However, today there are so many alternatives to laminate
countertops. For instance, ceramic tile selection for countertops are almost
limitless...and just as varied in their beauty and design. A plethora of
colors and designs that can leave you mesmerize from their exquisite and
alluring appearance. Countertops have gone from utilitarian covering to
magnificent works of art that are without equal. Now countertops share
center stage with the kitchen cabinets and in many cases the beauty and
elegance of the countertops actually overshadow the cabinets by far. In
today's time many homeowners have chosen to build their kitchen theme around
the countertops, as opposed to the kitchen cabinets.
About the Author
Donald Thomas is owner and CEO of American Painting
and Pressure Cleaning, Inc. He has been in the home improvement business
since 1984. Please feel free to visit our website http://www.americanpaintingandpressurecleaninginc.com for more full length feature articles and whole lot more. Visit http://www.americanpaintingandpressurecleaninginc.com
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