Hi Laughable, my cab maker did most of the painting, but I painted a small wall cabinet that I purchased seperately as well as the inside of an existing cabinet. The hardest part for me was mixing the different colors to come up with the 'perfect' colors. Make sure you write down every recipe. My favorite blue ended up being my sisters who was just fiddling and didn't write down the recipe! Mixing with warm water helped dissolve the powder better. I didn't think it was hard to paint on just check for drips. Sanding in between coats takes off any undisolved powder and gives it a nice soft look. I put on two coats to even out the color a bit. I think three coats would have been too solid for the look I wanted. Definitely paint some sample boards first for practice and to see how many coats you want. I used a clear acrylic finish. It did deepen the color somewhat. Have fun, it's a great look!

I use the box to both support the wall cabinet and as a platform to level it in all directions before placing the permanent shims. Base first, walls first is a topic like religion and politics. I was taught bases, about 2/3 of the cabinet installers I know do base the others walls. Reasons. If you are going to run into a problem it will be in the bases. Easier to align walls to bases (meant to say talls) , allows faster time to template. I can then use the box system which makes it far easier to get dead plumb and level, get shims placed properly in relation to screws and not over torque them. (important especially for inset). Lastly I'm short and typically installed solo, no way I could do that with a ledger. I've never damaged a base cabinet but I do protect them. I've also never dropped a wall cabinet. I also use a system of 3" ply strips. Place those along the back and edges of each cabinet. Shim and level those to a whisper above finished floor height. Pin them to the floor. Then bases are dropped in and screwed. Have to carefully plan any exposed end cabinets. While this works best when also putting in a new floor.... I find it so much faster and accurate that I will even cut down the sides of all the bases to have the height needed for the ply. Using a sled for a circular saw and a combination square I can cut ten an hour. It prevents having a land locked shim that needs adjustment. Very useful with really bad floor variation. Alternative is cabs with no sub base and site build it instead. This post was edited by jakuvall on Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 11:15

The beige rooms were more interesting than one usually sees, and the first bedroom especially appealed to me. If I had to move again almost everything would come along, most importantly my collection of Chinese porcelain and the many paintings and other art on the walls. Also my parents' dining room table, most of the other furniture and most of the rugs. Also of course our books. Any place would almost instantly feel like home. I would have to leave my garden with its collection of many antique roses. Fortunately, most of them can still be acquired.

Beautiful and inspiring. Maybe because I already live alone, I always try to see the beauty of the world around me. Just this morning, while walking Carmelita, I saw two different parents with their children, taking a walk, enjoying the mild temps. I spoke to one, my neighbor across the street. He had his 18 month old daughter in a backpack on his back. As soon as I said "hi", that baby's face lit up in a big smile. She is the happiest baby and they are a very nice little family. I am blessed to have nice neighbors all of whom I met while walking my dogs over the years. Yes, it's a difficult time and I miss being able to just head out with friends for fun times, but it is a good time to look inward and try to appreciate all that I have and what I can do to help others. Thanks for sharing this.