Sand with 3M medium grit sanding blocks, then prime and paint it. You probably don't need to use oil based primer, but if there is any bleeding of stains through the latex primer, I would use BIN on those. Topcoat with a high quality acrylic paint in satin or semi and you are done. It may take up to 3 topcoats to cover if the stain was dark. After the primer coat, you will want to caulk both gaps that should be tooled down with a wet finger and let that dry before painting over it.

First of all, I appreciate all of the sweet comments regarding my husbands work. This has been SUCH a labor of love. We have been in this house for 2 years with disgusting, original 70s cabinets and NO DOORS. I did not even store anything in the cabs, because they were so gross. I fashioned some pitiful "curtains" (basically panels of material velcroed to the openings) to cover the nasty looking innards of the cabs. We priced cabinets and got depressed. Some basic, china made cabs at Panda would have been minimum 12k. My husband has a woodworking shop in the upstairs area of his warehouse/office. He is great at making simple furniture and things. At first, he was going to make the boxes and we would buy the doors. Well, even THAT was expensive. I don't care for fine jewelry, we do not take exotic trips, I am not a "shopper" and I am not into fashion. However, I have always wanted and deserved a dream kitchen. My husband wanted to make sure it happened. We absolutely LOVE our house and plan to be here a long long time. We own a small business and he works 6 days a week. He started planning, measuring etc probably a year ago. We kept tweaking, and he started cutting and making cabinets, a little at a time. I saw nothing of this work, he would come home and tell me he was excited for the kitchen but to me it still didn't seem real. There are a few "flaws" that might not be fixable, but because they are small and also because they are from my husband's hands, I do not mind them at all. I can't wait to show you the interior of the cabs, and all the bells and whistles in this kitchen. That will have to wait, though! The pictures are dark because my kitchen is dark. I hate not having a window. We may add one of those "solatube" things eventually...I found out about them on the home decor forum here on GW. Hubby is adding some hi hats in the kitchen, plus we will have a light fixure over the peninsula (which is barely visible in the picture...it is jutting out at the bottom right.) We are getting a island hood vent (which I will start another thread about eventually, I am overwhelmed) and I am bummed because it is going to cause some of that "openess" to disappear, but I *need* an island hood vent! We are going to cover the gaps below and above the dbl wall oven. We are putting a curtain under the SS farmhouse sink, to hide all those cleaning products you see. Haven't decided the color or look just yet. Yes, that is a wood trim where the countertops meet the wall. My husband is going to stain it the same color as the countertops. You see...the counters...they are PLYWOOD! yes, PLYWOOD! We are eventually doing butcher block on the perimeter, and something different on the island (haven't decided yet) but the plywood looks so darn good, I told him let's just keep it until it falls apart! He rounded the corners and put a band on the edges, also. So, the wood trim you see, the backsplash will stop there for now and when the permanent countertops come in, he will finish the backsplash. We had discussed some sort of trim on the lower part of the cabs, but he got some undermount lights to put under the cabs that will not show at all, so we decided to skip it. Now I am wondering if maybe we should go ahead and do it. I am glad to see everyone was in agreement about needing something at the top of the cabs! I want to add that the ceiling is REALLY uneven so that is why you see such variations in the cab heights. I am worried that is going to make doing a trim even more difficult. My hubby curses the builder of this home every time he tries to do something to the house. He is sure he was an alcoholic, and says if he ran into him on the street he would punch him! lol. Walls are uneven, floors uneven, ceiling uneven, pitiful rigging of electricity, plumbing...you name it! As far as the help in posting pics...THANK YOU for taking the time to type that out and/or provide helpful links. I know how time consuming it is to explain these things (heck, I have already been typing this post WAYYYY too long, lol) so I appreciate the help. I think the problem is in the resizing, not the posting. Maybe it is indeed the picture quality as a few of you have suggested. When I see the pic in photobucket, it looks crisp and in focus, but when I try to resize it, it gets blurry. I will keep trying! Oh, and I do use a digital camera, a canon elph 7.1 megapixels purchased several years ago so I will see if that is the problem. thank you buehl, biochem, suzanne and htracey for the picture help! hollysprings-I will mention those terms and your suggestion to my hubby. Yes, def agree that undercab lighting is a must! still need our glass insert in the door of the corner cab...and shelves, also. Have 2 other cabs that have interior lights across from the island, not visable in this pic. But all cabs will have under cab lighting, for sure! And they will be on dimmer switches! kitchenkelly-thanks for the picture. Of course I need something smaller, but that look is very pretty! suzannel-my husband said if he knew how much work these cabs were going to be, he would have never been able to psyche himself up for the job! He also said he does not want to brag, but he even impressed himself! LOL! lascatx-I remember seeing that kitchen! Love it. I am not crazy about those tiles, but def considered something more "spanishy". BTW, my grandfather was born in Spain, and my husband is of Cuban descent so we do feel like we want to play up the spanish flair in our home. htracey-I *love* molding in general, but in this house, I wanted to stay away from it. Mainly because I grew up in a florida ranch home in the 1970s...and so did all of my friends, and I NEVER saw decorative molding EVER. I am trying to stay somewhat "true" to the era this house was built in. It's one of the reasons I don't want granite counters. I know might sound like a joke to some, not like this is a historic home from the 1800s or anything, lol. However, I have a "thing" for the 1970s...I just can't explain it! Of course, no one I knew had a double oven, or SS appliances for that matter. The other thing about crown molding is the ceilings are SOOOOO uneven it would be a nightmare for DH to install. So, in general I am NOT a molding fan (again, FOR THIS HOUSE) but I do see now that everyone agrees I need molding in this situation! Thank you again for your help. lynn, singingmicki, cmm and green-thank you for your input! And yes, I am definitely thinking something shimmery for the backplash. I don't think I want subway tiles, tho. Or glass. Maybe something mother of pearlish? Ok, I really like this...saw it at Home Depot and loved the sample, but after doing research, I am scared the product that gets shipped to me will not look like the sample. I know this is a marble and not sure how "70s" marble is...but I think it LOOKS very 70s. The 6x6 tile at HD was tubled and had a rough texture, which I really liked. here is *kind of* the antique mirror look that I like. Let's see if those S.O.B.s post, dang it! Ok, thanks again, everyone. I have neglected my family for far too long this afternoon, but I am so grateful for all the help, I need it!

I truly appreciate all the responses and ideas. I am stumbling in the dark on this "small, easy, room upgrade" that began in freakin' June. I am thankful for any ideas, guidance, or suggestions offered. ChiSue - My home is 60+ years old and in some places the ceilings aren't quiet 8' tall. It was cobbled together by a man with a heavy drinking problem - seriously. I've met him. I've got a lot of restrictions here! LOL There are many good reasons I've named it "Little House of Horrors on the Prairie!" It lives up to its name. Just Got to be Me - No the room isn't manly; it really doesn't have a set "look." It's just a small "living room/TV room/breakfast nook off of the kitchen. Original oak floors (no bevels!), two windows, both are too big. The room is too narrow, 11'10" wide, and about 14" long for the living room area. Sage green walls, brushed nickel ceiling lights (2) and brushed nickel ceiling fan/light that goes with nothing except I love it. It looks like a steampunk view of an old aeroplane propeller. Peonies and Posies! - I really don't want to mix the trims, and if I do it won't be for long. I would like all the trim to be the unstained, satin finish color of the 60-year-old white oak floors, except for the crown molding. I ordered the trim from a small sample to try to match the new front door, which was also chosen from a small sample. I have baseboards for the entire room and moldings to go around two windows and two doors. The lumber yard salesman totally insulted me and I cancelled the door order from him. The trim was already non-refundable. The new door does not look good with the trim. Of course the new door is out in the garage right now so it's not too much of a problem - yet! LOL I love the door color; I don't care for the trim finish. It is non-returnable. Susan JF- I do have two women, who have painted two rooms for me, available to come Wednesday and "fix" the horrible paint problem. I'm choosing between two "sage colors" and may go with a cream color on the ceiling - if I can find an off-white/cream color with no yellow or green undertones. I have a painted ceiling in the den and the bright white crown against the "camel" ceiling is amazingly beautiful. I plan to leave for Arkansas in a couple of weeks. What's not finished before I leave will probably not get finished until Spring. Since the contractor and electrician show up for about 15 minutes every weeks, I know not everything will be done. I'm hoping the outside window trim, and the damaged steel siding will be fixed. That's about all I can hope for. My options are... - Install this trim, as is, and live with it until Spring. At least the windows will be trimmed and the cut plaster and protruding insulation will be covered. - Order new trim, finished without staining, wait a month or more for it to arrive, and then have it installed (hopefully) in the Spring. - Install the trim I have now and hope I can cover the too-red stain with cream colored paint. Since the two big dogs are in this room a lot I don't want to fight with the painted baseboards and moldings like I have to do in the three rooms that are "all painted trim." - Pray for a tornado.

Michele, for the closet, I had an old Frazee paint chip color wheel and selected the color Mythic Fire,7796N. If you are going to try this project, you should probably get a color wheel and find the best undertone match for the wood you want to match, or take a sample of the wood to the paint store to look at chips if you don't have a wheel. What matched for my stained cherry wood may not be the best match for your wood or stain color. Good luck!