Mom 4 Real

How to clean, cook and create.

Open Cabinets With White, Aqua, Lime Green, & Silver Accents

by 101 Comments

Lately I have been admiring the open shelving that I have seen in different kitchens.  I just didn’t think it would work in mine.  Well, Friday I found myself in a mood, and when I get in a mood, the only thing that calms my nerves is some kind of project.  I was had shown Matt the picture of Home Stories A to Z’s gorgeous open cabinet display, and told him I wanted something similar.  He said, “Go for it!”  So, I did.
I started with just one…the one on the right.  I took the cabinet doors off and sealed the holes with wood filler, then I took the shelving out.  I decided to paint the shelves white and the background aqua.
I already had a sample from Lowe’s, which was more than enough paint.  It took two coats on each the shelves and the inside of the cabinet.   I am extremely impatient, so I dried each with a hairdryer in between coats to speed up the process.
As soon as they were dry enough, I popped the shelves back in and started dressing them up.  I wanted beachy tones…white, aqua, silver and light lime green.  So, I started poking around the house trying to find things that would fit my scheme.
By Saturday morning, I was itching to open the cabinet that was on the other side of the sink.  The only problem was my dishes.  I have been living with a mish mash of red dishes for the past few years, and they just wouldn’t do.  I finally had an excuse to buy new white dishes!  Let me say now, I don’t just wake up and decide to buy dishes…this is something we have been talking about for a while…or something I have been complaining about for a while.  I scouted out a few stores, and found nothing I liked.  A friend had told me that she saw some cute white iron stone-like dishes at Walmart, so in a last ditch effort, I tried there.  You know what?  They had just what I was looking for!  I was a little shocked.  I bought two sets of 16 for $50.  Then we made a trip to Lowe’s where I spent another $3 on another paint sample to paint the left cabinet.
Chalkboard Menu
I feel like my chalkboard menu stands out a little more now!
I love the way they turned out, and opening up those two cabinets gave our kitchen an entirely new look.  It doesn’t hurt that including dishes it only cost $53 for the update!
Next week, I am painting the countertops to finish it off, and I cannot wait!
I feel like it is all finally coming together!
It feels like it was only yesterday that I revealed my White Painted Kitchen Cabinets.
There is a new update to be seen!  I just painted my countertops…yep, you read right…my countertops have been painted to look like granite.
granitepaintedcountertops1
Sharing at:

Creating with the Stars

TDC Before and After

 

 jessicafollow

Comments

  1. I ABSOLUTELY love this!!! The colors, the photography, the decor.. it’s so crisp, clean and FUN! I’d feel right at home in that kitchen! I’m also IN LOVE with the little menu board over your sink. HOW CUTE IS THAT?! I may have to go ahead and copy you… :D

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  6. Yay! Congratulations! You’re a great fit for tt&j! I love your big-impact, super quick update too. I’ve been known to do the hairdryer thing myself. :)

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  7. Congratulations!!! So exciting! And your kitchen looks ah.maz.ing! I love the chalkboard over the sink and the painted window especially! You rock!

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  9. I can totally picture you waving your hairdryer to dry the cabinets Jessica!! Sounds like something I would do!! Love how they turned out – such a pretty blue color! And big big Congrats on contributing to TT & J – you are a great fit and I can’t wait to see your posts there!!

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  10. OMG I love it! That aqua color is perfect against the white cabinets. I’m so jealous. I took the doors off a few of my cabinets but had to paint them white because I have an ugly green countertop that would look horrible with aqua. Can’t wait to see your painted counters – I want to paint mine so bad but am afraid the paint will peel off. Your kitchen looks amazing!

    Lori
    Thrifty Decor Mom

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  11. Love how your kitchen looks with the open cabinets and the pop of turquoise! So pretty and fresh! I have an open cabinet with white dishes too but I’m still deciding how to finish the back. I like how you just went for it!!!

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  13. looks wonderful – can’t wait to see the coutnertops. Wanting to do mine – but haven’t taken that step yet. :)

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  14. Wow what a difference that made to your kitchen. CONGRATULATIONS!!! on your Exciting news, I am over the moon with you : )
    Angelina

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  17. Hey, Jessica!! love what you did with your cabinets, so colorful and pretty. Looks fantastic. And congrats on working with Jen, she is a doll!

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  18. Hi, Jessica, your kitchen cabinet update looks great, so colorful and pretty. I love what you did. And congrats on working with Jen, she is such a doll! If this posts twice, sorry!

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  19. Jess Jess..you are THE WOWman! I can’t believe it..first- I love the new look…and those counters are just going to finish it! :) Also- Hello TT&J mama!! You did good…you have worked so hard and I am so excited for you! Of course I will be there…with bells on!
    Keep truckin’ mama!
    -Jen

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  20. Congrats on the contribution to TT&J! Also, the cabinets look awesome! I really need to finish mine, as in, paint the inside of the doors and the backs. Beautiful job!

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  21. When I started reading this, I thought the first pic was the one you showed your husband as a model! But it’s YOURS! Unbelievable! Just beautiful! Wish my ‘moods’ ended up so well! Can’t wait to see the counters! Dona

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  22. Love your cabinets! The color is great! Congrats on TT&J! Have a great week.
    Leslie
    House on the Way

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  23. Congratulations on TT&J! Your kitchen looks fabulous already and cannot wait to see the counters.

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  24. Love it! The color is great and it really pops! Congrats on the TT&J job! I can’t wait to see what you do!

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  25. I love your kitchen, the colors are perfect. I’m totally with you on being impatient! Congratulations on working with TT&J!

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  26. what are your kitchen countertops made of? i have been wanting to paint ours forever

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  27. That’s NICE!!!! Love it. That’s the color of my dishes.

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  28. Parties rockin in the house tonight! Congrats. LOVE your cabinets…I want to go rip off some doors now LOL. There is no way my husband would be as willing though.

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  30. I love, LOVE your open shelving! And, the color you chose is fabulous … your pretty dishes pop beautifully against it! And, CONGRATS to you … what a well-deserved honor. I’ll be tuning in, for sure! Hope to see you at Haven.

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  31. Raising a big fist of tatertots and a huge cup of jell-o in your honor! You are a rockstar and deserve to be hanging out with Jen! Love the cabinets too and those dishes!!
    Kelly

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  32. Congratulations! What exciting news! I absolutely love the kitchen. I found a mason/decorative jar that I loved and our new kitchen makeover is centering around aqua/turquoise and I adore it! I havent’ posted anything yet but I am loving the color! I love that you painted the inside of the cabinets. It looks great! Oh, never mind. I did post the hutch but the fence wood backsplash and mason jar chandelier are yet to come! Love your blog and thank you for visiting mine!
    Marty@Marty’s Musings

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  35. Congratulations Jessica,I love Tatertots and Jello! I will be sure to stop by on the 4th Thursday. I love the cabinets too!

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  37. OMG! What a difference it made to take off your doors and paint the inside with that gorgeous color! I am so amazed that you had so many green and aqua items to place on the shelves! You really hit a homerun with this as well as on T&J!

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  38. Your cabinets look great. I’m anxious to see your countertops and how you do them. I’m wanting to do mine.

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  40. Cute! I love that bright teal on the back of your cabinets. I took a door off too, just to dip my toe in the water a little bit and see if I could hack the new trend. You know what? I’m likin’ it! I threw baskets in my shelves and now my vitamins are within easy reach and I still get the “open concept” (but with all my junk hidden in the baskets). Congrats on your TT&J news!

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  44. I love the bold color choice for the background. And congrats on the tt&j contributing position! I’m so excited for you my friend! And so well-deserved!

    :) Linda

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  45. This is the most beautiful kitchen redo I’ve seen in a long time, the colors are so what I would love in my home.

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  46. I am partial to turquoise and beachy looks so this is the most wonderful kitchen! Congrats. Found you off of HomeTalk

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  48. I love the colors and I’m so glad you found some white dishes that you like :) and for the TT&J venture~Congratulations!!! I’m so happy for you and I can’t wait to watch you grow!
    Debbie

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  49. That looks absolutely amazing. I love the aqua and open shelves. I would love for you to come and share this at my Winter Blues Wednesday party going on right now. Hope to see you there.

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  50. Hi Jessica…. found my way here from Savvy Southern Style.

    I love the open cabinets. I have almost an identical layout in my kitchen and wondered how it would look if I opened up two of my cabinets, since the one on the right has 2 doors and the one on the left has only one. After seeing yours, I’m going to go for it!

    Also…. I’m gearing up to paint my cabinets and I love the sounds of the Nuvo system. May I ask how your cabinets are holding up? Is the paint wearing well and are you happy with it?

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  54. It’s absolutely gorgeous!!! Love the color you chose…so perfect for your kitchen! Nice work, sista! And CONGRATULATIONSSSSSSSS on your big news!! So well-deserved! So happy for you, sweet friend!!! ~V

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  56. I LOVE that color combination! If my kitchen looked like that I would cook all the time. Also, congrats on becoming a contributor to Tatertots and Jello! That blog is one of my favorites as well.

    I host a link party every Thursday – I’d love you have you join and share this.

    Thank you for the great post!

    -Angie
    http://www.easylivingmom.com

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  57. It take that kind of bravery to make cool things happen. The changes are dramatic and so fun!
    Liz

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  59. Wow! These cabinets look awesome! I can’t believe it only cost you $53 for such a huge impact! Great job!

    AprilHoff
    housebyhoff.blogspot.com

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  61. Great change! Just a word of warning. I hate to be a kill-joy, but latex paint takes up to a month to cure. Especially in cooler weather. I’ve made the mistake in the past to put things back on shelves, before the paint had completely dried, and wish I hadn’t. Cheers!

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  62. I’ve been wanting to take off a few doors
    as you did and now I have the motivation..
    thanks for sharing.
    Sandy

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  65. I guess I had better go check out Tatertots and Jello – 2 words I never thought I would type together.

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  66. I want to do something similar, but I haven’t had the nerve. I guess I just need to go for it.

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  67. Wow–love what you are doing with your kitchen! The open cabinets look fantastic–I love the color you used on the inside. Looking forward to seeing what you do on your counters!

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  68. Your open shelves are beautiful! I’m so glad you took the risk because it looks really great, adds the perfect pop of color and it looks so good against the white. And yay! Congrats on being a TT&J contributor!!!

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  69. Wow this looks amazing and so fun and cheery. What a great place to hang out and cook in your kitchen. Enjoy the fun new update!

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  70. Jessica, it looks amazing ! congrats on your contributor role at TT&J…she is lucky to have you…ox

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  72. Un lavoro fantastico,ora la tua cucina ha una luce meravigliosa!
    Bellalullo

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  73. This kitchen is amazing!!! I am in the process of trying to figure out what to do with mine and this has totally inspired me. I wanted to paint my wood cabinets white and paint the kitchen cream. Love the color inside the cabinets. My husband is very anti-white. Sent him this link so he can see just how fabulous, bright, cheerful and anything BUT boring a white kitchen can be!! Thanks for the inspiration and hopefully it will get him to agree to let me give it a go. :)

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  74. Love the aqu a n the background. You are daring to open your cabinets like that. I could nt do that in my kitchen.

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  75. I haven’t been able to actually comment on this, and now, that I can I have to say I’m totally IN LOVE! Your da bomity-bomb, girl!

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  77. I love the colors and how it all works together. I am a new follower and look forward to seeing more. I wanted to do that with mine but hubby wasn’t having it. Might eventually do a glass type door but we will have to wait and see.

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  78. That is so fresh and pretty! Love the colors, all of it! This kitchen is full of personality. Love it! Sharon

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    • Hi, Kristina! I used cup hooks that screw into the wall. You can get them anywhere for about $3 for a pack of 10. Have a fabulous day!

      Reply

  81. I love this aqua color! Can you share what brand/color it is? Excited to try this!

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    • Hi, Tracy! Thank you! The color is Escape and it is Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint that can be purchased online at The Home Depot. Hope this helps! xoxo Jessica

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  82. Can you tell me the color paint that you used for the cabinets at Lowes?
    Thanks! Love it!!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  2. […] In case you haven’t figured it out, that girl is me, and this is the kitchen that has tortured me since the day we moved in.  Some folks love dark cherry cabinets and dark laminate countertops, but this girl is not one of them.  I love bright and white cottage style.  I lived with this dark kitchen for nearly ten years.  It never even thought about painting my kitchen cabinets, and definitely didn’t think painting my countertops was possible, I mean, who does that?  Well, a few months back, I was cruising around reading some of my favorite blogs, when I stumbled upon a Nuvo Cabinet Paint giveaway.  I entered and forgot about it.  Then I got an email saying I had won the paint  giveaway.  I was both excited and nervous.  I consulted Matt, and we decided to try the white…boy am I happy we did….here is how our cabinets turned out.  You can see the full White Kitchen Reveal by clicking here and where I opened up some of my kitchen cabinets here. […]

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  3. […] the bomb.com. i mean type in http://www.bomb.com and it’s going to take you to this post.. mom 4 real i’m so diggin these pops of color in the backs of shelves! homey home design faux wood is […]

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  9. […] I recently painted our kitchen cabinets white, and ended up taking some of the cabinet doors off and painting the insides a gorgeous deep aqua.  I added beadboard backsplash and a fun little chalkboard menu.  You can see the full before and after by clicking HERE. […]

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  15. […] Mom 4 Real has another beautiful white kitchen, but had the genius idea of removing some of her upper cabinet doors and painting the backs with a fun teal color. Such a great way to add color, while still keeping that white kitchen feel. […]

    Reply

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