Kitchen Cabinet Chalk Paint Makeover: Part IV

[NOTE: Be sure to check out Part I, Part II, and Part III to see the progress from the beginning!]

For the past few weeks, the painted drawers and doors for our lower kitchen cabinets have been spread out across our house while we removed the existing tiled countertop and backsplash. (NOT a fun process, but my hubby did most of the dirty work on that part.)  This past weekend though, we decided it was probably safe to put them back on the cabinet bases so we can at least have a somewhat-functioning kitchen.

The process took a little longer because we still had to drill holes in the drawers to add the hardware.  But finally, everything was back in place. And it looks just as good as I had envisioned -- if not better! The contrast of the crisp white upper cabinets with the graphite lower cabinets looks really sharp. Apparently this style is known as "tuxedo" kitchen cabinets, according to this HGTV article. It's also been identified as one of this year's hot kitchen trends, which isn't too surprising given how much I've seen it on Pinterest.

Enough of my rambling -- let's get to the progress pictures!

Our temporary "countertop" is actually the plywood that was beneath all the tile. My husband cleaned it off and we just laid the plywood back on top so we at least have a working surface for now. 

In a way though, it's kind of a preview of what's coming because we'll be installing butcher block countertops.

As you can see by our patchwork walls, the tiles were a little stubborn and didn't want to come off easily. But it will all be covered up with a fabulous new backsplash!

A strip of the old beige paint color is also visible right now because we raised up our cabinets on this wall to make room for an open shelf beneath them.

I've gotta say, as happy as I was when I was done with the white cabinets, I really love how the distressed gray cabinets look. Right now they have two coats of Annie Sloan clear wax -- that second coat really helped add more richness to the Graphite chalk paint. I'll probably be wiping them down on a regular basis because the dark color will show dust more, and eventually another coat of wax might be in order.  Time will tell how they hold up, but I think the occasional maintenance will all be worth it for this effect!  

So, what's next?  Our butcher block countertops have been ordered from Lumber Liquidators, so it will probably be at least a couple weeks before we even get started on those. We've got a lot of countertop surface area because we're also extending it beyond our sink to add a breakfast bar, so I'm sure it will be a beast of a project. I'm honestly pretty nervous about the countertops, but my fingers are crossed that it will all turn out okay!