Kitchen Makeover Autentico Iceland

Splashback
Using my arts and crafts collection of polished pebbles that were a gift, some unpolished pebbles, and melted glass decorations bought long ago at a brocante (why?).

I glued the bits on with tile glue, then donning surgical gloves, I moulded the grout in between and wiped off and smoothed as needed.  I sealed it with hard oil from La Maison Naturelle - about seven coats, whenever it felt dry I sloshed on another one until I felt...satisfied.  It is waterproof and as a splashback it keeps itself pretty clean and is easy to wipe over.

Kitchen cabinets painted with chalk paint (Iceland from Autentico)

There was a bit too much wood in our kitchen for my liking, especially as I wanted but could not obtain whitened wood because the French do not like it, they do not want it, they do not approve of it, they have never heard of it. I do not really like the French favourite colour for wood kitchens...but wanted wood for ecological reasons and sort of got cornered into it (learning experience will not do again).   Also the room is shaded and dark, and needed 'brightening'.

 I had already added some panels of colour, green and white and spent a long time realising I needed to paint one row of cupboards in a cool pale blue (Autentico Iceland, www.autentico-chalk-paint.fr).  I really like the way the cool colour makes the cupboards 'lift' and recede, reflecting a clean blue light, and making the kitchen look wider, balancing out the colours on the other side of the room.    Not everyone shares my taste for adventurous choirs of singing colours,  but I share my taste wholeheartedly.  I also love the silky soft texture and the fact I can see the wood grain in the paint.

How I painted the cupboards
I took advice from Autentico, and used their 'Velvet' rather than 'Vintage' paint which is not designed for kitchens but furniture, and is more porous.   I washed the cupboards with sugar soap (Hot tip, prepare Savon St Marc which is French equivalent of sugar sop in advance, following instructions for surface preparation for painting, and gently heating the crystals so they are thoroughly dissolves, put in spray bottle eg leftover from window cleaning so quickly available for chalk painting projects).    Straight after cleaning I wiped off the cabinets with kitchen towels.  I did 4 coats of paint to be sure, one in morning, one in afternoon for two days, and in between the third and the fourth I sanded, and I sanded the 4th coat, using plaster grade, ie very fine sandpaper, and waxed 4 layers, waiting until absorbed before starting another layers, and leaving overnight before buffing with soft cloth.   I find it enjoyable to gently sand and polish and prink and preen the surface to my entire satisfaction.  I fit in a layer of the process when I can, in between domestic and other duties.  If I wait 'until I have time' for the whole project, I never do and it never gets done.   On one cupboard, the one we all use the most,  I finished with ecological water resistant hard oil, to do a comparison for practicality and wear, both seem fine so far.

Kitchen stays in use...
One of the appeals of chalk paint is you don't have to dismantle kitchen, sand, use foul stripping products etc.  I never manage to execute projects which require this much upheaval, our kitchen is never out of use, all day long, so I painted with all the food in the cupboards, the doors and handles on so we could continue to open the doors (I decided not to paint inside as wood is in good condition).  I took the handles off at the end, cleaned them, and put them straight back on.

This blue wall goes down behind the dishwasher, I wanted to tile it to protect from food and coffee splashes, but we ran out of space (it's a very tightly fitted kitchen).  So I made up some thick paint with lime, and then waxed over it in a brighter blue wax, 3 coats, and 2 coats of clear wax, so far is durable and washable and resists stubborn stains...well, you have to think of these things.


Before and during cabinet painting