As mentioned in our previous kitchen update, we decided to embrace the existing countertops and lean into a tone-on-tone approach for Phase One — after all, when else do you get mauve counters to work with? We prefer making smaller, thoughtful updates and living with a space for a while instead of gutting it immediately.
After making five quick, impactful updates to the kitchen a few weeks earlier, we knew repainting the chipping cabinets would significantly reduce the worn-out feeling in the room. We tested two mauve tones and both liked the darker shade on the right — it almost exactly matches the counters.
The winning color was Sherwin Williams Artsy Pink, applied in their Emerald satin finish. Below is a summary of how the cabinet painting project went, plus a couple of other updates we completed at the same time, including installing hidden hinges, which made a big difference for a relatively low cost.
Here’s how the kitchen looks now. We also painted the dishwasher to match the cabinets, which blended that section of lower cabinetry so it didn’t feel visually interrupted by a stark white appliance.
For context, here’s a “before” photo of the kitchen when we bought the house. The space now feels more open and much more like us, which makes it enjoyable to use every day.
This kitchen sits in the heart of our home and gets a lot of daily use, especially now with virtual learning. One kid will often work at the table while the other does projects upstairs, so having a comfortable, functional space matters.
Funny detail: during renovation work when the soffits were removed and the floor patched, we discovered that the walls had once been painted mauve. Even the cabinet toe kicks were mauve at one point — so this color feels like it belongs here.
Another coincidence: Artsy Pink sits on the same swatch card as the pink used on our duplex doors, just a shade deeper, which creates a satisfying visual connection across the home.
How We Painted The Cabinets
We have a full cabinet-painting tutorial elsewhere, but here’s the concise version of what we did. First, we removed all doors, drawers, hardware, and old hinges. We installed new hidden hinges as part of this update to clean up the cabinet faces.
We wiped every surface with a liquid deglosser to remove grease and residue that could prevent paint from adhering. On one door we even scraped off an exterminator sticker that dated back nearly thirty years.
We lightly sanded each door with an electric sander to ensure the new paint would adhere properly. That uncovered some areas of poor original adhesion, so the sanding step was worthwhile.
Next we primed both sides of each door with a stain-blocking primer and used a 4″ foam roller for a smooth finish without brush marks. Our kitchen only has seven doors and five drawers, so the process was manageable and fast in terms of coverage, though drying and curing required some time.
Once primer was dry, we applied two coats of Artsy Pink to both sides of each door and allowed them to cure for about four days before reinstalling. Thanks to the small number of doors, the whole job took less than a quart of paint.
Back at the cabinet frames, we sanded and filled old hinge holes with wood filler, then primed and painted the frames. With the doors off, we also painted the cabinet interiors, which made them feel much fresher and more finished than the raw plywood they were before.
For the frames and interiors we used two coats of semi-gloss white (Pure White by Sherwin Williams). That step alone made the cabinets feel significantly refreshed.
We’ll share more about how we organized this smaller kitchen in a future post, including tricks we used to make limited storage work efficiently. For now, a tip: repainting the insides of cabinets while the doors are off is a high-impact, low-effort update. We also added thick clear shelf liners to protect the paint on the shelves.
All told, the quart of paint, rollers, wood filler, and the hidden hinges added up to about $96 — under $100 for this whole update.
Up close, the cabinets were previously scuffed and worn, but now they’re smooth and refreshed inside and out.
Painting The Dishwasher Mauve
We painted the dishwasher to match the cabinets to avoid a visual break in the lower run. After light sanding, we rolled on the same paint used for the doors. It’s held up well through regular use and steaming cycles, and now that section reads as a continuous run of cabinetry instead of being interrupted by a cooler-toned white appliance.
Given how compact this kitchen is compared to our previous one, we’ve focused on smart organization. If you’re downsizing or making less space work harder, we have a separate post that details exactly what’s stored in each cabinet and our organizational strategies.
Update: since this project we completed a full kitchen renovation with new Ikea cabinets, which we also painted mauve. We’ll share a tour and show how we organized the larger cabinetry in that remodel.
We’ve also written about favorite neutral wall colors like Edgecomb Gray if you want another paint reference for coordinating rooms.
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