My kitchen is hopelessly stuck in the 80's. We have remodeled and decorated most of the the other rooms in the house and simply cannot afford the $25k it will cost to renovate. So, the next best thing is to conduct a DIY project with paint and new hardware on the cabinets. I will have to splurge for a new countertop as the present one has rotten through around the sink and leaks onto the cabinets below. I saw an article in last months H&H and the ne countertop was laminate but looked wood with bevelled edges and the cabinets painted creamy white and it looked great. Any suggestions from the wonderful DIY'ers out there?
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Hi
I just had my cabinets refinished by a cabinet maker. He applied stripper to remove most of the old finish. Then he sanded with belt sander then by hand with sandpaper. Lots of work... He then applied three coats of varnish sanding lightly between each coats.
He said the yellow color will come back like before as it's the varnish that yellows over time. I asked about staining a different shade & he said he would have to sand much more to remove every trace of previous varnish to get to bare wood so the stain would penetrate evenly....so I changed my mind about the stain.
Lynndelg,
To answer your question, I think you will need both the paint stripper and the sanding. Sanding is a lot of work and will require you to expend a great deal of energy so you might as well let the paint stripper do most of the work and sand only as a finishing step. If you apply the paint stripping product in thick coats, wait the allotted time and don't apply a ton of pressure when scraping the wood (to avoiding dings and pock marks) your cabinets will clean up beautifully.
My inlaws cabinets are like yours and they had a really thick varnish on them. We advised them to use paint stripper, but they thought sanding would be good enough. It took FOREVER and, although they thought the finished look was good enough, it not one that I was happy with. They oversanded in many areas and now that the cabinets are painted white, I feel these imperfections show up like you can't imagine.
Hope that helps!
Constance
Painting cupboards is a huge project and might wait until spring when I can utilize the garage as my work space. Not sure how to stain cupboards though!
Your kitchen cabinets look almost exactly like mine and I was also thinking of updating mine. I am looking for a more contemporary look - planning on stripping the cabinets of their yellow stain and leaving them their light wood color. Also want to add frosted glass to a few cabinet doors and maybe have open shelving. All has to be done on a tight budget as I am a new home owner with very little spare cash. Please let me know if you have gone ahead with the renos.... and how it turned out.
Does anyone know if cabinet doors need to be sanded or can we use a paint stripper? Looking for the easier and quickest way!!!
but then again, I always agree with you, don't I? :) I too like the idea of staining the cabinets espresso .. it would look great!
I like Dekota_Skye's idea to stain your cabinets dark... how about espresso. Get some great brushed metal hardware, and a new faucet. How about painting your stools around the island?
Another suggestion - can you cut out the wood in the "corner" cabinet and add a glass or plexi glass? It would make a beautiful showcase cabinet.
You have fantastic bones... er.. your kitchen does, that is! hehe
I say forge ahead and PAINT!!! Those cabinets are almost like mine and I painted mine, and I've been happy with them ever since - I love them! What's on the floor in your kitchen?
You have so many options. I would suggest you have the perfect kitchen for offwhite cabinets (Dutch Boy carries a beautiful shade called White Castle). I would then suggest you paint the walls RED!!! Yep... it's popular, it's vibrant, it's beautiful and I think you'd be very happy with it. You would then have the option of bringing some contemporary features into the kitchen or going with a more french country or tuscan country feel.
Another suggestion - go with a contemporary style kitchen with a darker stain on the cabinets (you'd have to sand them really well), an ice blue on the walls and dark mocha appliances - it does look mocha, is it? How about a stainless steel or brushed aluminum countertop? Or black... or even a granite if you're looking to splurge a little.
I love your set up... whatever you choose to do, I'd love to see pictures.