With the bases, I had to do two coats of the brush-on. With the doors and drawers, I did one coat of spray, but I did 2 swipes across each area as I sprayed (3 on a few that had a lot of grain)--enough to make sure it was covered; and spraying is such a fast process! You can also use the brush to catch anything you may have missed with the spray. I sprayed outside btw. NOTE: The poly coats at the end are CRITICAL; otherwise, the spray looks uneven (not color but application), but the poly completely erases the spray-over/hazy application look from spraying (you'll know what I mean if you try it). I was really worried after the first spraying because the application looked bad, but I moved forward--and so glad I did because the poly is a miracle! Looks perfect.

More labor intensive to brush on so stands to reason there is more cost. We're in the process of remodeling our bathroom and are going the DIY route. We built a vanity and a linen cabinet and after what seems like exhaustive research, have decided on a product called, Cabinet Coat (formerly called Insl-x) recently bought out by Benjamin Moore. We had it tinted in a BM color, Simply White. All research on this product suggests a rock hard finish that requires no top coat, delivers a smooth finish, is easy to maintain and will last for years and years without chipping. I just finished painting the vanity today and here's my take: 1. Although the can states you only need 2 coats (one primer and one finishing coat), the raw wood soaked up quite a bit of the first coat of paint and ultimately took 3 coats for full coverage. As the paint is expensive it would have been better for me to prime with a less expensive (but still proven) product first. 2. I used a Purdy angled brush to cut in and then a disposable foam roller for the flat surfaces. Spraying is only as good as the person who sprays it on and I am no pro. Brushing gave me more control and the product leveled enough to make me look better than I am. 3. Prep is key to any project and this is no exception. I sanded, vacuumed and tack-clothed first. The Cabinet Coat sanded down great with 220 after each coat. 4. The satin finish is not as shiny as wall satin paint, which turned out to be a good thing for me as I didn't want a glossy finish. If you want something shinier you can put a topcoat on but performance-wise it's not necessary. Time will tell if this will last but it came highly recommended by a cabinet refinishing pro.

Start with the big ticket items first. That means Cabinets. The refinishing of the cabinetry is going to take the most amount of time and money. The next is the flooring. This could come in at the same price (or more) as the cabinetry so you will want to work with flooring people who KNOW about installation, subfloor requirements, etc. If you are ripping out hardwoods, you will have a floor drop. If you are ripping out carpet (and installing the same vinyl???? Please elaborate...I'm not clear on what is replacing the carpets) you will have a floor height drop AND you could have a wonky subfloor (happens MORE OFTEN then you would think). And the age of the house could indicate the type of issues you are most likely to find UNDERNEATH the floors you have. The TRIM can be dealt with by the HIGH-END flooring professionals that you hire. But you MUST communicate that to the installers/shop. You must tell them that you expect to have baseboards painted white (which white????) and then installed AFTER the floors have been installed. How tall will the baseboards be??? We won't know until the hardwood/carpets are ripped up and the floor DROP is measured. Oh...and maybe after you have to add in a layer of subfloor to deal with the floor height issues or wonky subfloor issues...so we won't know until everything is ripped out. Oh boy. See how complicated this gets? I shall assume the cabinet boxes are being left in place and are being refinished on-site (in your home)? The cabinetry people are probably the pickiest of the bunch. The NEED certain things to happen before, during and after their work has been completed. So let them go first. And flooring goes in last. And trim goes on after the flooring has been installed. And if any of this feels overwhelming, you are better off finding a General Contractor who will do the organization for you. A competent designer with a slew of contacts can be enlisted to get this done. His/her contacts/installers/people will be the one's to do the work. The Designer can become the Project Manager for you. If you wish to manage this on your own then the cabinets are finished FIRST, then counter tops (if you are replacing them...doesn't sound like you are), then flooring and then trim. But it all depends on how the cabinet boxes will be refinished. And maybe new subfloors added to deal with bad building techniques, etc. Whew! Confused yet? I certainly am.

The layout I believe would work best would NOT be an L formation as earlier mentioned. I do think it’s perfectly okay to place a couch back along the stair wall, and would do that, with another couch of the same dimensions facing it, placed along the sliding glass door of the living area. You have three sliding glass doors in that room, and will never use or need all three. It doesn’t make sense to do so. I would leave the center SGD available for easy flow, and arrange your furniture the way it works best in front of the other two SGD. If you do an L formation in the living room, it drastically limits the flow in that area. I would recommend instead to use two couches facing each other, one backed up to the SGD and the other to the stair wall. Then you could even float another short couch or two arm chairs in the center, directly facing the FP, if you wanted. Also love your color choices and the use of headboard or board and batten, as well as the painted kitchen cabinets. I am in the process right now of replacing all my kitchen cabinet doors with newly sprayed white shaker door fronts after already painting all the boxes, and it has completely transformed my space. This is the second home that I’ve done this in and the results are well worth the effort/and/or expense! It will be a lovely room when you’re finished.