Painting Bathroom Cabinets - Master Bath Makeover

I've been wanting to redo my master bath for quite sometime.  I've been loving all the gray and white bathrooms all over Pinterest....of course....aren't you??

There are two reasons I have not tackled this bathroom in the last few years and it original everything since we moved in 11 years ago...

#1....time

#2....cost

oh, and lets throw #3 in, ....we have been looking at houses to buy 

So, the big question has been major renovations? or just a makeover?

Here is what we had to work with...

A mural that was painted before we moved in by the builder and thermofoil cabinets in which the outer plastic coating had completely come off.  

People are shocked when they found out I had not painted over this mural years ago.  My reasons, because #1, I don't like to pay people to paint rooms (I only have twice in 11 years because they were 2 story rooms!) and #2 the mural was oil paint and there was texture to it, which would involve dsanding and priming and lots of work!!!  

So, last month I finally decided the budget could not handle my grand Pinterest dream remodel quite yet. I decided to just paint the walls and cabinets.  The sanding of the walls sucked, the priming of the mural sucked, and the climbing on cabinetry and ladders really, really sucked!  Add in the fact that I decided to do this in bare feet and got a nasty case of plantar fascitis in BOTH feet from climbing all over for days on end! 

Goodbye mural! 

2 coats of primer and 3 coats of Benjamin Moore Simply White

The cabinets were the easy part!  The thermofoil  peeled off the drawer fronts in seconds.  The only place I left it was on the sides of the cabinet and the cabinet boxes.  I sanded this part with 150 grit sandpaper for a few seconds to rough it up.

Next, 2 coats of Paris Grey Chalk Paint® brand decorative paint by Annie Sloan.

I was not in the mood for waxing.  Plus, I had just discovered a new product by Artisan Enhancements called Clear Top Coat and I'm loving it.  I painted on 2 thin coats of this matte finish that works beautifully with Chalk Paint®, attached the old knobs, plus two fun whale tails I had gotten at Anthropologie and called it DONE!

I added an old door from Habitat Humanity that I painted with some Paris Grey and French Linen Chalk Paint® and chipped it up, and an old ladder from a flea market.

It is amazing how just paint and a few vintage finds can completely transform a space??

 It feels so much lighter and brighter in there!