DIY Outdoor Kitchen Reveal

You made it to the last step: Painting, followed by my DIY Outdoor kitchen reveal! After installing the trim and building the cabinet doors, I was more than ready for the final step of this outdoor project.

I made sure to fill alllllll the nail and screw holes with wood filler and sanded everything really well. I started with a coarse sanding sponge and increased the grain until I sanded with a 180 grit sponge.

I did the same with the doors and then got my supplies ready.

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For the frame and the inside of the built in, I used a roller and brush to apply the finish. But I did use my paint sprayer on the doors.

I started by priming everything. I decided to use this primer. I’ve used it for different projects before and it has never disappointed me. Once I applied it, I waited the recommended drying time before sanding it lightly with a fine (180) grit sanding sponge until I couldn’t feel any roughness or bumps.

Then it was finally time for the fun part: the color!!

I debated between a light color and going a bit moodier with a deeper color.

I ended up going for the latter. I tested a few different samples and used the  countertop tile to make a decision.

I ended up going with the color Grizzle Gray by Sherwin-Williams. It has the perfect depth I was looking for and it went really good with all the elements of my back patio.

I gave it two coats following the recommended drying times and sanding lightly between coats.

This Emerald trim urethane is a very high quality type of paint. It is on the expensive side, but I honestly think you get your money’s worth. It’s self leveling, meaning that it shows minimal brush/roller strokes. It’s also very hard once it has cured so it’s perfect for high use pieces like cabinets, trim, etc.

Now to address the slat situation I mentioned on my previous post. It’s an outdoor kitchen, so there’s always a risk of bugs entering the cabinets. But I really wanted to minimize the chances, so I decided to use a clear material as the door center panel to minimize my hose chances while at the same time maintaining the door aesthetic.

I went with plexiglass for this. I didn’t need an entire 4x8 piece, but buying separate pieces would’ve been just as expensive for less material so I bought a whole sheet.

I ended up scoring a 30% off piece that had a broken corner, and because I didn’t need the whole sheet, it ended up working perfectly for me.

I also bought the scoring tool needed to cut the plexiglass material. I tried it and it worked on some pieces, but it required a lot of arm strength and apparently my arms are not that strong… oops!

So I busted out my jigsaw and used a blade with small teeth to cut through the plexiglass. It worked just fine!!!

One I had cut all the pieces, I glued them to the ledge I made on the frames using mu router. Now the doors were nice and sealed and my DIY Outdoor Kitchen was almost ready to use!

The very last step was sealing all the corners with an outdoor grade sealant and once the recommended drying time had past, you better bet I busted out my grilling utensils and gave them to my husband because my work there was done and I was ready for someone else to take over the grilling area lol.

I hope you liked these grilling area posts. It was quite a bit of work but I’m so happy and proud that I was able to build it myself!!

I hope this encourages you to tackle that big project you’ve had in mind for a while!

Marite