The Easy Way to Refinish Cabinets
, by Gene Howard, 6 min reading time
Your kitchen is the heart of your home. If you dislike your kitchen’s current look, you may be daydreaming about renovating… but maybe you don’t have the money to hire someone to do it. On today’s Finish Friday, Amy is showing you how to refinish kitchen cabinets without spending a small fortune, or even a lot of time. It’s amazing how this simple weekend DIY project can transform your kitchen!
Your kitchen is the heart of your home. If you dislike your kitchen’s current look, you may be daydreaming about renovating… but maybe you don’t have the money to hire someone to do it. On today’s Finish Friday, Amy is showing you how to refinish kitchen cabinets without spending a small fortune, or even a lot of time. It’s amazing how this simple weekend DIY project can transform your kitchen!
If you want to get all the products you need to follow along with Amy in this video, make sure to check out the Kitchen Makeover Prep Bundle.
What You Get in the Kitchen Makeover Prep Bundle
When you order the Kitchen Makeover Prep Bundle, you get:
- Clean Slate (8oz)
- Vintage Affliction One Step Paint (8oz)
- Bauhaus Buff One Step Paint (8oz)
- Good Man is Hard to Find One Step Paint (8oz)
- Mind Your Own Beeswax (4oz)
- Cerusing Wax (4oz)
- Nylon tapered brush
All of these products together will help you test out the One Step Paint colors and waxes that we think are just perfect for cabinetry. After making your final selections, you can create a beautiful new finish for your kitchen cabinets — without sanding, stripping or priming! Of course, if you want an in-depth tutorial, check out the Finish Friday video. Gene Howard, Amy’s husband, makes a special guest appearance to help walk you through this important refinishing project.
How to Rescue & Restore Your Kitchen Cabinets
In this video, Amy and Gene walk DIYers through a kitchen cabinet project from start to finish. The first step, they tell us, is to remove hardware and doors, including the hinges. To make putting your cabinets back together easy, Gene shows you how to mark each hinge with its matching door. (If you want to update your hardware after your refinishing project, make sure to check out the video, as Gene has another recommendation for you!)
From there, it’s time to clean and prep your cabinet doors. If you have large knots or holes in your cabinets, you may need to sand it and fill them with wood putty so that your surfaces are as smooth as possible. Then, it’s time to clean everything with the Clean Slate and lint-free rags. Once you’re confident that each surface is ready, it’s time to start painting.
To figure out how much paint you, need Gene shares a simple formula: the height of your cabinets multiplied by the width = square footage. Each can of One Step Paint™ can cover over 100 square feet, but you may need to buy extra if you have a lot of cabinet space to paint.
Now, it’s time to paint. But Amy and Gene remind everyone to thoroughly shake Amy Howard at Home© One Step Paint™ for at least 1-2 minutes before opening. Then, follow it up by stirring with a clean wooden stir stick until all ingredients are mixed to an even creamy texture. Dip your brush into your paint and, following the grain, start coating your cabinet doors with your choice of One Step Paint™. Watch the video and pay close attention to see how Gene starts painting the cabinet (hint: sides first).
Once your paint has dried (you may need two coats), it’s time to wax it for a perfect seal and easy cleaning. Of course, if you want matte surfaces, you can leave the wax out! But for those who are especially worried about how they’ll clean their painted cabinets, this waxing step is essential. The beeswax is clear, but our cerusing wax has some calcium bicarbonate, which gives it a chalkier, white finish that looks amazing on Amy Howard at Home’s darker colors of One Step Paint. For even more fun, Amy shows you how to mix One Step Paint with our liquid waxes so you can get a beautiful, tinted finish. Make sure to into the video to see how Amy and Gene apply wax to their cabinets — they know the technique well!
Amy has one final tip for you: Put your cabinets back together before waxing them. Why? So you can see the entire kitchen in one view, and so you can consistently apply wax without overdoing it.
Ready to give it a try? Don’t forget to buy the Kitchen Makeover Prep Bundle! With this great bundle, you can experiment with a whole bunch of cabinets — just find your local ReStore for cheap “trial” cabinets before moving on to your real cabinets.
Follow Amy on Finish Fridays for More Easy DIY Projects
This kitchen cabinet refinishing project is just one of the many projects Amy (and Gene) take on every Friday. If you want to learn from the best and take your DIY skills to the next level, tune in next Friday and every Friday at 12 noon Central time. Simply follow and “Like” us on Facebook to turn on notifications when we go live. You can also enter a giveaway each week to see if you win the bundle that goes with the new project!Tags
Comments
-
I’ve been studying your paints and your videos. Then got your book!. Today I’m buying your One Step paint and Mind Your Beeswax for large round 2 shelved cocktail table with four large rectangles embracing two shelves. It was in our childhood living room. Thanks for yr inspiration and wonderful videos.
