Painting My Island Black
When we first built our home, the last thing I thought of was painting my island black. We chose a lot of oak for the floors and the cabinets. White cabinets were my preference, but the salesperson said I should rethink that. It seems the white cabinets they were currently offering yellowed in a short time. That certainly ruined my plan.
Our first home had almond appliances and everything was off white. I was so over that. With this home I chose white to brighten things up a bit. Over time I have pretty much eliminated most of the white in the kitchen. Isn't that interesting? The white color called too much attention to the appliances.
After awhile, the stainless steel appliances gained in popularity and I loved the look so we bought a stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave and flat top range. I love them.
It took me a little while to figure out how to clean them without the smearing thing going on. I purchased a kit to clean stainless steel. It was a major disappointment! I used vinegar and water, nope not so good, but better. Then my son, who had worked at Lowe's for a few years, told me the guys in appliances use WD-40 to clean theirs. Bingo! That works like a charm.
After living here for awhile, I realized the amount of oak we had was overkill. The kitchen looked like a sea of 'oak'. Looking around it seemed the best idea would be to add paint to the kitchen island, right smack dab in the middle of the kitchen.
My husband was not on board with that! His philosophy is that you do not paint wood! So I waited until he was on a trip to do the painting. You know, it was less painful for him to watch and I didn't have to hear about it while I was doing it!
First, I used 'Kilz' primer and sealer to base coat the oak and then used a 'Pottery Barn' black to paint the cabinets. It needed two coats of the black paint.
Jon-Michael, my oldest son, changed out the white electrical outlets on both ends of the cabinet, with new black ones to match the paint. It always did bother me that the builder put white outlets on the ends of the oak island. What were they thinking? Now the outlets blend in and you don't notice them so much.
After painting the cabinet, the ends looked pretty plain. I used a flat molding to frame the ends, but it was still too plain. I headed to Lowe's and found a rope braid trim in the trim department and added that to the top of the flat molding. The base was screaming for attention too, so baseboard and shoe molding were added. Then it was caulked and painted to blend in with the cabinet.
Originally, I had intended to buy new hardware, but the drawer knobs and handles actually looked better on the black. The little bit of black antiquing on them looks more pronounced with the black background. I am pretty happy with the end result.
The black paint broke up the all over oak look, co-ordinates with the stainless steel appliances and unifies the kitchen area. I am so glad I didn't listen to Dave about painting the island black!
