Refinishing my kitchen cabinets

TroyD

Lookin' GOOD, Ron. Keep on rockin' broham.

BDT

Early B.

Keep up the good work and show us lots of pics.

BTW, does anyone know what it would cost if you hired someone to do this?

Ron-P

Thanks guys. The pics are a bit washed out looking due to the flash and being shot at night. I'll take some daylight pics Thursday when all the framework is done.

Early, we were quoted $1,200 on up.

Ron-P

Here's a couple of updated pics of the work we did last night. All the framework now has it's first coat.

Early B.

Damn! You guys work fast. At this rate you'll be done by mid-September.

BTW -- what's the wiggly white stuff on the bottom?

Ron-P

Are goal is to have the kitchen 100% complete by mid-next week. Then, we can work on the doors a few at a time. Our biggest issue is getting the kitchen done so we can clean the insides, put down shelf paper and reload everything to get it off the dining room table.

Right now I'm cutting new skins for the side areas of the cabinets like that big "L" shaped area next to the stove. I've got 3 of the 5 areas done and stained.

That white wiggly stuff is the glue from when I pulled off the bottem trim work. That bottom trim will be stripped, stained, varnished and then glued back on.

Midnite Mick

It must be the light because it looks like you stained around the adhesive on the bottom.

Still think that you will have to do something about the countertop and appliances though......but just my opinion.

Mike

brettw22

Some cabinets have the lower section that's between the floor and the bottom of the cabinet as a black section to dress up with that floor banding you typically see more in a commercial environment (grocery/drug store, etc).

Ron-P

It must be the light because it looks like you stained around the adhesive on the bottom

The board is black under there, the glue I used was white.

Still think that you will have to do something about the countertop and appliances though......but just my opinion.

Probem is, there's white, black and stainless steel. If we went all black, the entire kitchen would be way too dark. If we went stainless, it would not match and it's a horrid looking color anyway. White is still the best option. The ceiling is white, the trim around the kitchen is white as is the kitchen door, window and window dressings. There's enough white in the kitchen too go with the countertop and appliances to give a good balance throughout.

brettw22

The way you can balalnce out the total darkness by going with black appliances is to lighten the countertop a bit. I know you said anti-contemporary, but I think a concrete countertop (dyed to preferred color) with beveled edges would be awesome to contrast the darker appliances. True, concrete is a contemporary element, but i think the beveled edges (looks awesome) could be pretty impressive.

Shizelbs

How can anyone dislike stainless steel appliances? I think they would be perfect with your new cabinets.

I think Brett is right. You are going to have to find the way to a good balance through the right countertop color.

BIZILL

damn it ron! hurt my feelings just there. i just loves me some stainless to come home to after a day at work and club polk. black on stainless coupled with a dark granite and i'd say you've got a winner. put the speakers and mini on hold and 'get you some'.



i know...i know. take my own advice. heck, i can't afford granite, man!

Ron-P

Sorry BIZILL, but I just don't like stainless, to me, it's very cold and harsh looking, it doesn't give off that warm relaxing feeling.

There no way I am dropping $3k + for all new appliances. Our oven and micro are old but in great shape, the fridge and dishwasher are both only about a year old. Changing them out is not going to happen, also, my wife and I love the white look.

Replacing the counter top is an option as it's not too expensive and I can DIY it. We will look into that when the cabinets are 100% complete.

Made some good progress today. By end of day tomorrow all the kitchen will need is it's couple coats of varnish.

del44

Sounds like everything is moving right along. What type of top coat are you going to be using? If you can, spray the doors and brush the stiles. And don't forget to run the material through a good type of cone strainer. Nothing worse than a bunch of bugers on newly finished doors.:D

Midnite Mick

I think finding something for the countertop may just do the trick in easing the contrast between the dark cabinets and white appliances. Some dark and light tiled backsplash could help in tieing it all together as well. That way it won't look like two extremes and may flow better. Just my thoughts.

Mike

Ron-P

Nothing worse than a bunch of bugers on newly finished doors.

Excellent tip, thanks. I didn't even think about that.

I think finding something for the countertop may just do the trick in easing the contrast between the dark cabinets and white appliances.

That is our next step, flooring and in the same process looking at tops. We may even just find tile and tile over the current white top.

Early B.

Ron --

Don't you just love how everyone (including me) is giving you interior decorating advice that you never asked for?

It's OK -- just tell us to keep our big mouths shut and let you and your wife do as you please, dammit!:eek:

disneyjoe7

I for one can't wait for the final project to be complete, love to see the pictures.

faster100

like they (we ) say, ya bring it to the public ya get the publics opinion I'm sure it will work out the way Ron and his wife want and in the end they will do it the way they like.. It's not like he's gonna do what everyoen says just for our sake.

Ron-P

I am always open to opinions and appreciate each and every one, even if I don't agree.

Last couple of days I stained the undersides of the framework above the kitchen counter, I ragged on the second coat of stain and stained some trim pieces. I reskinned the side areas of the pantry, oven cabinet and the small cabinet above the fridge, stained and installed those. I'll finish with everything by tomorrow and will varnish on Thursday. Then, it'll be time to start the doors.

What type of top coat are you going to be using?

I'll be using a Zars Semi-Gloss varnish.

Early B.

Uh, where's the latest pics?...

By the way, Ron, what kind of painting and staining experience do you have? I guess I'm wondering if a newbie should tackle this kind of project?

Ron-P

I'll get new pics up Early.

As for experience (staining), nearly zero, other then the odds and ends type stuff. I built and stained a side table and a sleigh bench, I'll post pics of those tomorrow as well. But, this is a first for us. It's not hard just time consuming.

Ron-P

Not much to post today. The side panels along the pantry cabinet, the cabinet above the fridge and the one next to the stove / microwave have been reskinned and stained. Also some small pieces have been stained and placed between the kitchen walls and cabinets.

Today I cut and stained all the skins for the under side of the cabinets above the counter top. I'll hang those tomorrow.

Here's a few updated pics.







Here's a couple small furniture pieces I built; a small end table and sleigh bench. I did these about a year ago.






Tomorrow we are going back to the store to exchange our Semi-gloss clear coat and going with a Satin. We much prefer the matte look over the glossy look. Then, we'll start clear coating and hopefully by tomorrow night be 100% done with the kitchen and start cleaning and reloading all the cabinets.

Ron-P

Smallish update. Today we applied our first coat of satin varnish, it looks outstanding. A few spots are messy as this stuff is tough to work with. Thursday we will sand with 320 grit and apply a second coat and then the blue tape comes off and we can start using the kitchen again.

wallstreet

Look into the spray on varnish. Alot easier to work with and looks professionally done. I had the redo a cabinet door a few months ago and it looks great.

Ron-P

Good idea wallstreet, I did see the same stuff in the spray can. We may do this for the front side of the doors and brush the backsides.

Today we sanded down the first coat of varnish and did some touch up staining. In a few hours we'll apply the second coat of varnish and be done. I'll get some pics up tonight.

disneyjoe7

Way to go, I think we all are learning from this. Looking forward to some pictures....

GO GO GO RON

faster100

minwax makes a great spray clear coat in gloss and satin.. It does work and look great.. I made a coffee table and cleared the sides and it looks nice. and also cleared the teak on my boat.. doesnt hold up to weather to well though

MrNightly

Just an idea I don't think we've thrown around yet. Have you considered removing the Wallpaper boarder from above the countertop and replacing it with a nice stone/tile to compliment both the countertop and new dark stain? If you got rid of the fluffy tree's and went with a nice tumbled stone, I think you'd be really impressed with the results. Look for a lighter tile/stone and darker grout to pull in the cabinets. Maybe a tile that has veins in it of dark that the grout will match, and enhance the deep new stain.

Just an thought that I think you'd enjoy and make the end all results much better and professional. Paper went out a while ago in kitchens it seems, IMO.

EDIT: Looking again at the pics, even a super nice tile/stone around 5-6 dollars a square foot, to tile your entire backsplash would probably only run ya 100-150 dollars, if you DIY. I've tiled for years, and could walk you through the entire process.

Ron-P

We may do that Nightly, but before we do, the counter top needs to be replaced and then we can match a tile to that. We are also throwing around the idea of DIY'ing an all tile counter top.

As this always happens, one project leads into another and then another and so on and so on. Right now I just want to get the kitchen cabinets done and then take a break. We'll start looking into counter tops later this year.

Our biggest goal in all this was to do away with the golden oak color of the cabinets, the smaller detail stuff will come later.