Our Kitchen Cabinets with Nuvo Cabinet Paint

This is a sponsored post with Giani Inc.  A big thank you to Giani + all of our readers for supporting The Thome Home! 

The NEW Thome home is coming up on it’s 2 year anniversary this spring.  It has all just swooped over our heads ( time that is ) and we are so glad we took the plunge into another fixxer upper.  But, let’s not act like it’s been all roses here.  I think there have been at least 20x since buying this home we’ve cursed it, said it was causing us great anxiety and threatning to put it on the market and buy a brand new house.  Through all of those tough times of making this house a home, Dan and I are both so glad we hung on tight.

We are hooked on all DIY shows +networks.  Not only for inspiration, but for techniques and lessons to be learned.  The only thing I have against it all is the perception these shows give for the fixer uppers.  If you fork over the funds, 4-6 weeks later not only will you have a completely remodeled home, but one that is now decked out with the best home decor.  I think a ton of average folks watch, and get swept up thinking it would be the perfect idea for them to purchase a home in need of TLC, only to quickly find out that it is not how the story goes.

Now, if you have $$$ ready to roll out and hire contractors and such, you may be way ahead of the game.  But, if you’re an average family like ours, the reality is far from what they show on t.v.  We never have our blinders on when on the market for the worst house on the block.  And this house was no different.  The list was SO long, and so overwhelming, but exactly what our craziness craves.  It took weeks upon weeks of battling price, and even more tears trying to close the deal on this place.

Once we did, we had to tackle many projects that were not on either of the tops of our lists, but HAD to be done.  $8,000 to fix basement repairs – $2,500 to replace the front porch – $3,000 in paint.   These expenses were just in the first few months of home ownership, and only the beginning of where money had to be shuffled out too.  Where would I have liked to see $13,500 cash go towards? The kitchen! Take a look at a realtors picture of what our kitchen looked like on our first walk through ..

So, for someone in the market for a fixer upper, they may imagine that $13,500 going straight into a kitchen gut.  When unfortunately, that dream has to be washed away and the reality of doing “what’s important” first must.  Being a responsible adult sucks.

We decided that with all of the other rooms in the house that still needed just as much attention we had to pick and chose at first how we were going to make this kitchen more livable.  And by livable, I mean sanitary 🙂

We tore off the top cabinets that blocked the view into the family room – (made a huge difference in lighting as well) and, can you believe it …. left the rest of the kitchen like that for MONTHS.  Months and months of apologizing for this space when guests would come over and cringing when first time guests would walk through.  We were just embarrassed, but we did not know exactly what we wanted for this space, just yet.

That is until we came in contact with one of our most favorite sponsors on our blog — Giani Granite  They are amazing company, with even better products, helping homeowners like us bring the best out of our homes, ourselves and for an affordable price! Our first collaboration was to refinish our orange countertops with their amazing Giani Granite Countertop paint.  Not only was the entire process a cinch, but the results are outstanding and have stood the test of time.  Which is a lot to say coming from a mom of two messy boys – I am constantly cooking and cleaning those countertops!  So we took the first step into making this kitchen feel more like us –

Huge difference right?! The old kitchen was so dark and depressing – we used the White Diamond Kit to give our countertops new life.  The best  part of these countertop paints are that you are in total control of its outcome.  We knew we wanted more white than black showing through, and we aimed for more of a marble appearance rather than granite.

An entire year later, we decided it was time to give this kitchen another face lift.  We know a huge kitchen gut is about 5 or more years down the road for us.  In the mean time, we want to try a few different looks in our kitchen so that we find the exact style and fit we want when we do dive into a huge gut.  This time around, we wanted to utilize their Nuvo Cabinet Paint  line and give our cabinets a new look.  We used basic painter-grade paint for the above look, which was a mistake.  Not only did it fall apart much quicker, it just lacked the shine and coverage we needed.  We of course loved what it looked like in comparison to the old kitchen, but my heart has been longing for a tuxedo kitchen for a while now.

Two toned cabinets, black lower cabinets and white upper.  New hardware, new rug and new kitchen set up.  Of course we are crazy and decided to do this 3 weeks before the holidays again, but we are SOOO glad we did.  Dan was the man behind the painting this time around, unfortunately I wasn’t feeling so swell to bust out the project.  But, having him do it this time around and truly experience the product was so fun.  He loved working with the cabinet paint, and could not believe the turn around time.  He painted on day one, and on day two we put on the new hardware.  That fast you guys — I spent WEEKS last time around with the painters grade paint.

Here is the new and improved kitchen with the gorgeous Nuvo Cabinet Paint !

If you could see me on the other side of your computer screen you’d see a 19 week prego-chick doing the happy dance all over the place.  This new look has left me absolutely giddy and so glad we switched things up!

It is amazing what a little paint can do, and just goes to show you that you do not have to do a total gut to achieve an entirely different look.

To think this kitchen just under two years ago lacked every ounce of style and function.  SO glad we saw the potential in this space and Giani has helped up get there!

Let’s do a back to back before and after, shall we?

(insert all of the heart emojis)

This holiday season we will welcome our guests into our home and not apologize for the space.  We are so proud of our new and improved kitchen!

The best part? We are hosting a giveaway!! Wahoo! You can enter here, and on Instagram as well so make sure to stop at both social media outlets to enter!

The prize? TWO of my darling readers will have a chance to win a Giani Granite Countertop Kit in Sicilian Sand.

I adore this color kit, and the variety of style and color you can achieve with this kit leaves me feeling all warm inside for whomever the winners are!

TO ENTER::

One winner will be chosen from right here – on the blog.

Second winner will be chosen on Instagram, and you can check out my account  ABBY_THETHOMEHOME to see the details!

For an entry here, it does not get any easier than leaving me a comment telling me what countertops you would bring new life!  Your kitchen? Bathroom? For an extra entry,  share this post on  your facebook page.  Spread the love for an additional entry!

Contest is for U.S. residents only, for shipping purposes.  Contest will close out December 26, 2015 and prizes will be shipped January 1, 2016.