Dressing Up Kitchen Cabinets

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
~ Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

I'm sharing you today my very first d-i-y attempt when we moved in to our first home. I've been meaning to surprise you with a post on a project that elicits oohs and ahhs because of its dramatic transformation but the truth is, I started with a low-key, simple, and functional one. Just like what my mother used to say, better be slow yet consistent rather than work in high gear then lose steam quickly.

Here's our plain Jane kitchen when we moved in:


Since I don't want to bore you with pictures of all cabinets, here are a few of them. First angle is the cabinets right by the stove. (Please pretend you didn't see that hood above the stove. We'll change it eventually after accomplishing our major priorities like painting and flooring, which I'll be posting in the future.)

This one is right by the dishwasher.


Pretty much like a lady without make-up (sounds like me 95% of the time :-P)) so I decided to add a little bit of pizzazz by adding knobs to make them functional first, stylish second. It's like putting a little lipstick with SPF 15 to protect the lips and keep them pretty.

In order to accomplish the pizzazz part, first, I had to decide which knobs to use. To match the stainless steel look of our dishwasher, I opted for the knob with a satin nickel finish. Home Depot sells this knob for $2.99 (+tax) a piece so after multiplying it by 31 (the number of spots I planned to put them), I thought, holy moly, it will cost me $92.69 (+tax)for the whole project! Luckily, after much research, I saw this:


a pack of 50 pieces of the same exact knobs, still at Home Depot, for $49.97 and thinking that there'll be other projects that I could use more knobs, I grabbed it instantly.

Second, I had to learn how to drill so I asked Mr. Homemaker to give me a quick tutorial on handling the drill. His rule was simple: drill should be perpendicular to the cabinets and hands should be steady while pushing the bit inside the wood.

To make the knobs centered, I made templates on where I could drill the holes.



Let me digress a bit. After drilling 31 holes, clocking in 3 hours of prep and drilling time, breaking 2 bits, and burning my finger with a hot bit, I certify myself as a qualified driller.

Here's how they look now after putting in those new knobs.





Overall, for an inexperienced d-i-y woman that I am, I feel so accomplished for installing all those knobs. Opening those cabinets and pulling those drawers are a lot easier for us, especially for our little toddler.

Total cost is: $1.09 x 31 = $33.79 (including CA tax)
Comparing this amount to the original cost of $92.69, can't beat the deal I got.

Update:
I'm linking with the excellent bloggers below so please click on the images for tons of inspiration :)

Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for her Metamorphosis Monday

Leah over at A Silly Little Sparrow for her Toot Your Horn Tuesday

Becca at the Blue Cricket Design for Show and Tell Wednesday

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence for her Under $100 Linky Party

Vanessa at Southern In My Heart for her Inspiration Friday!