It really REALLY isn't easy being green.

A quick update on my past week.

I taped. And painted. And top-coated. And antiqued.

Then I did it again, after searching online for the reason WHY I was getting "tiger stripes" on my cabinets. On Thursday, Billy-my-hero came home and hung the finished cabinets (top and bottom of what I call "the long bank" - I had yet to start the other two sections of the kitchen). As we gazed upon them, trying to ignore the tiger stripes (I had even repainted the doors on the top of the long bank due to the same problem), I felt very VERY uneasy.  Could I live with their imperfection? They were oh-so-smooth, but... tiger striped. AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH.

I decided to sleep on it and see what I thought when I went downstairs and saw them the next morning. On Friday, I went to buy new paint. A different brand, a different type, a different color, still very very expensive. Then I ONCE AGAIN removed all the hardware (third time for some doors), re-taped, PRIMED, and began my project all over. The new paint takes much longer to dry... 16 hours before re-coating, to be exact. My garage and table space is limited, which means I can only do so much at one time. The primer had to be brushed on because it's too thick for my sprayer, and I elected to brush the paint on the cabinet frames this time, since they are relatively covered once the doors are on anyway, and it would save me time masking off my entire kitchen space (for a third time).

This week my goal is to complete the project, if humanly possible.

I am so so tired of painting for poor results.

I take full responsibility... I'm sure my problem is due to the dye I added to my milk paint. The cabinets looked great (no tiger stripes) until I put the top coat on. For whatever reason, the top coat (which gave the cabinets the amazing professional finish) reacted to the dye, resulting in the stripes, no matter how many times I repainted. Lesson learned.

The good news: I think I'm really going to like the new paint color. The finish is still a good quality finish, just not quite the perfect professional finish of the all-sprayed rock-hard General Finishes Milk Paint and High Performance Top Coat (which I will definitely use for some of my other oak cabinets... I will just NOT add dye. ever. again.).

They will be a bit glossier. Yes, if you look closely you will see some brush marks from the primer underneath. But the color is lovely and makes my house look updated and fresh. I hope next week to post the final result. Whatever it is, I will be happy with it.