New Cabinets in a Box

Let me start out by saying, refinishing kitchen cabinets is NOT a weekend project. Originally I seriously thought I could finish the whole kitchen in one weekend. In fact, I was so confident that I decided to take it easy and do half of the cabinets one weekend and then the second half the next weekend. Let's just say my reality check came about 7 hours into the project when I realized I wasn't even half way done with the first half of cabinets, meaning I was still less than 1/4 of the way through the whole project. Also, if you couldn't already tell by the gross time underestimation, I had no idea what I was doing. I have painted just about anything and everything, but never cabinets. This was 100 percent uncharted waters for me.

After watching a few YouTube videos on cabinet refinishing and a trip to Home Depot, I decided to take a chance and try a fairly new product by Rust-Oleum which is basically everything you need for the project in one box. For real, I totally refinished by cabinets for under $100. If you've priced new cabinets lately, you know it's a steal of a deal. The box even included an instructional DVD which is clutch for the clueless do-it-yourselfer like me.

Here are a few pictures of what my kitchen looked like on move in day. Although the cabinets were fully functional, they looked like they had not been touched since the 70's.

First step was cleaning the cabinets and dousing them with liquid de-glosser. This stuff is one strong chemical and it even ate right through my rubber gloves, but it beats the heck out of sanding.

Then was on to the white paint. There is nothing more frightening than that first stroke of paint. Once you do that, there is no going back. Although the DVD said I only needed two coats of paint, because I was going from really dark cabinets to white, I actually needed three.

This was about the time I realized this was NOT a weekend project.

Next was the stain. I wanted the cabinets to have a little bit of a distressed look. Eventually I want my kitchen to have an old Mexico vibe. I was thrilled to death once I started putting stain on the cabinets.

Finally was a bond coat to protect my hours of labor. I also bought a can of spray paint and painted the hinges and hardware. I couldn't find new hardware that I liked significantly more than the existing hardware. Plus, hardware is ridiculously expensive. Originally the cabinet handles were black with a gold accent, and once they were painted silver they looked updated, modern and just like new. New hardware for $3.

After the first half of the cabinets were finished (which took not only the weekend, but a few hours every evening after work for a solid week) I just didn't have the energy to start in on the second half.

(1 coat liquid de-glosser + 3 coats of paint + 1 coat of stain + 1 coat of bonding liquid) x 2 sides of the doors = 14 hours of work, 1/2 of the project completed, and one exhausted girl!

I ended up waiting two solid weeks before starting on the other half of the cabinets. Yes, for two solid weeks I had a kitchen with half of the cabinets finished and have that hadn't been touched. It made for a great before and after demonstration, but not the prettiest kitchen you've ever seen.

After almost 27 hours of work, my cabinets are totally, 100 percent finished. I had my doubts, but overall I am totally satisfied with it. I would recommend the Rust-Oleum product to anyone. There are so many shades and styles to choose from and I could not have been more thrilled with the results. My only warning is that it takes a LOT of time. Like most great things in life, you have to work for them.

Here is my finished product.