I recently ordered my Crown Point cabinetry in the black milk paint finish. I love the sample door they sent me. The finish is a flat black and sort of a chalky color. It is not a deep, saturated color as their classic paint is (at least the black isn't). This was perfect for me since it has a slightly lighter appearence overall. I was a bit worried that the kitchen would appear too dark. You can also get it in a burnished finish (which is slightly sanded to reveal an underneath color).

FYI..Crown Point has been a dream to work with. I can't praise them enough!!

I second rubyvine's assessment of Crown Point-- they are fantastic. The milk paint finish is beautiful-- it is chalky, but the color still has a lot of depth. We love it.

Ruby and Danielle:

Do either of you know if the paint finish is a catalyzed conversion varnish finish? I suspect that the milk paint might be more healthy?

I am thinking about getting a quote from them, too. I really like the inset look of the cabinetry, but, of course, maybe frameless would be better for my small kitchen. I'm also wondering if it is a good idea to have frameless cabinets in earthquake country. We live about 8 miles from the 1989 Loma Prieta epicenter!

Any thoughts?

Karena,

If you get on The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company web site you will see that it is an organic paint that is enviornmentally safe (no VOC's, HAP's etc). Im not sure though if that answers your question about the finish. If you contact Crown Point they will send you a video explaining their finish processes. It is quite interesting to see their work from start to finish.

I have read that frameless cabinets are not quite as strong. I personally ordered the beaded inset cabs. If your kitchen is really small you may want/need the larger frameless cabs. But in a bigger quake I am not sure if the difference in framed/frameless will matter (I live on the east coast so I am not quite sure about that)

I encourage you to contact CP as they are wonderful people to work with and they are having huge discounts right now (including a free milkpaint upgrade! :)

I am very happy with our frameless CP cabinets. We have inset on our island, so it is the best of both words. We have the extra storage (and lower price) on the perimeter and beautiful inset drawers on our island.

We got 3/4" dividers between each cabinet, so the doors appear inset (I'm not saying my frameless cabs look like inset, but the doors have these dividers on the outer edge)

karena, my dining room cabinetry has the milk paint finish, same color as Danielle's island. Crown Point does use a catalyzed conversion varnish over their milk paint. One of the main reasons I went with Crown Point is exactly because of their finishing process which includes hand brushing of the milk paint, hand sanding, 2 coats of varnish, and baking twice. (I think they bake the regular paint 3 times.)

I included a link to Crown Point's finish info. Scroll down toward the bottom for the milk paint.

Erika

Here is a link that might be useful: Crown Point Finish

Thanks Ruby, Danielle, and Erika! When I read on their web site that the average kitchen was around 40K, it kind of scared me off.

Did you guys have your layout all nailed down before contacting them, or was there some back and forth on the design? How long did it take to get your cabinets and how were they delivered? Ruby, do you have a picture of your kitchen?

I did take a look at the Old Fashioned Milk Company. It's great to know the history of the paint and that it has no VOCs whatsoever.

Thanks, once again, for your information.

Karen

karena - although we did not end up using CP, I did have some preliminary conversations/design idea exhcanges with them and they were great. Have only read positive reviews of those who have used CP. With the economic slow down, have heard of folks getting good discounts with them, so you might not rule them out completely before talking with them.

I, too, was set on milk paint finish. We ended up utilizing local cabinet company. Were very flexible folks to work with and they were able to get custom milk paint color for me. I wanted some distressing, so the finishing process added several extra steps. Now that cabinets are installed, I am very happy that I stayed committed to using milk paint and was lucky enough to have a cabinet maker who was willing to think outside the box and create a finishing process they had not utilized previously.

Karen,
My kitchen is 19 x 12 and we were nowhere NEAR 40K for our cabinets. MUCH less than half that. (Unfortunately it was more than a quarter, though).

We did away with some uppers (which gives us so much more light-- we really are glad we did this), went with frameless, and skimped on some of the 'extras' (we only have a few pull-outs for example. We also did not do a panel for our fridge, which I regret... SS is a nightmare with 4 kids.. so many fingerprints).

Good luck with your project.

Alice,

Thanks for your comments. I did notice that there is a milk paint dealer here close to where I live--I like knowing that. The one custom cabinet maker that I checked out locally, though, is out of my price range. I have seen Danielle and Erika's kitchens and the cabinets are absolutely gorgeous.

Danielle,

I called CP today. I'm going to send them my drawings and get a quote. I'll see whether I can afford them or not. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for all the enthusiasm! I hope I can afford them because I love the inset look!

Good luck, Karen! My designer was Carole Stevens, lovely, lovely woman. Do you live in New England?

Thanks Erika! No, I live in the San Francisco bay area, not too far from San Jose. Both my parents were New Englanders; Mom was from Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Dad was from the Boston area. He passed on an heirloom piece of furniture that went to my brother and I remember him telling me about the milk paint finish. I like traditional Cape Cods and I live in an older neighboorhood, which has some of the "New England" feel.

I talked with Nina Jordan today. She was lovely, too.

If you want to save considerable money on Crownpoint and are up for it, you can get them primed only and paint them yourself with milk paint or whatever you desire.

That's what I did, although I used FPE Eco, not milk paint. We saved quite a bit that way.

Crownpoint was great about the whole back and forth design process long distance. Good luck.

Danielle00, What floor species and stain are your gorgeous hardwood floors in your kitchen? I guess I do like floors with a reddish tint unless it is my monitor that adds the red tint?