5 Cabinet Refinishing Options To Choose From

Giving your kitchen a makeover is as easy as cabinet refinishing. Here are some ideas to inspire your next project.

Keyword(s): cabinet refinishing

The kitchen and living room are the two most used rooms in our homes. Americans spend 28% of their time in either room. That’s a big chunk of your time at home.

Because we spend so much time in these rooms, they should be as appealing as possible. But, even if you don’t have the money for a full kitchen renovation, you can still update your cabinets and refresh your kitchen.

These 5 refinish kitchen cabinet ideas will help you to decide how to give your kitchen a makeover for less money.

1. Painting Your Cabinets a Solid Color

One way that you can update your old kitchen is to paint your cabinets. If your kitchen feels dark and crowded because of dark cabinets, a fresh coat of light paint can brighten up the room.

If the frames and doors are in good working order, a coat of paint will add a breath of fresh air to your kitchen.

This project can take some time but can transform cheap kitchen cabinets into modern, stylish ones.

Before you start, make sure you understand the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

2. Cabinet Toning

Cabinet toning is a tinted film that you can apply to cabinets like you would apply a clear finish.

In most cases, you will apply toner to your cabinets after one coat of clear finish. Then after the toner, you’ll apply one final coat of finish.

You can get toner in aerosol cans or buy tinted waterbased or oil-based polyurethane that you can brush onto your old kitchen cabinets. We always use professional spray equipment.

The tricky thing about using toner is applying it evenly. Otherwise, you will notice darker spots of color on your cabinets.

3. Cabinet Glazing for a Distressed Look

Another great way to spruce up tired cabinets in your old kitchen is to use cabinet glaze to create a distressed look. This technique will make your kitchen cabinets one of a kind.

If you love a traditional look in your kitchen, this cabinet refinishing option is a good choice for you.

Depending on the glaze color you use and how much you apply, you can create a subtle or dramatic look on your cabinet doors.

You apply glaze to the whole cabinet door and then wipe away with a cloth to create shading.

When choosing the glaze color, try to find a hue that will complement other aspects of your kitchen. Think about the color of your appliances, countertops, floors, and backsplash.

If you have light surfaces in your kitchen such as white tile or white granite you can choose an alabaster or light grey glaze. These glaze colors work well if you have black granite in your kitchen, also.

If you have cream or brown surfaces in your kitchen, you might want to choose Sherwin Williams 7012 Creamy, or Sherwin Williams 6126 Navajo White.

How to Distress Your Cabinets

Before you start, make sure your cabinets are clean and free of dust and dirt.

Then, put a drop of glaze on a smooth, clean rag. Apply the glaze to the cabinet in a circular motion. Spread outward in growing circles until you’ve covered the whole surface.

Note that a bit of glaze will cover a large section. Start with less glaze on the cloth than you think you need.

Then, use a fresh, clean rag to wipe the excess glaze off. Wipe in one direction, either side-to-side or up-and-down. Once you have the look you want, stop there.

Next, use a small paintbrush to add a little more glaze to the doors or crevices in the cabinets for a deeper distressed look.

Again, remove the excess glaze with a cloth.

Once the glaze is dry, spray a light coat of clear sealer to protect your finished cabinets. Make sure you buy a non-yellowing sealant. Otherwise, it could turn yellow and ruin the look of your cabinets.

4. Pinstripe Glazing

Pinstripe glazing is very similar to using glaze to create a distressed look. You can use the same type of tinted glaze.

But with pinstripe glazing, you won’t apply the glaze to the entire surface of the cabinet. To achieve a pinstripe look, you will add glaze to the groves of the cabinets for a high impact and contrast.

This technique accentuates the architectural details of the cabinets. Choose a glaze color that contrasts with your cabinet color for the biggest impact.

You can choose to do a single line of glaze, a double line of glaze and up to as many lines as there are grooves.

5. Cabinet Resurfacing

Cabinet resurfacing basically means replacing the old cabinet doors and drawer fronts for new ones.

This option is good for when your old cabinet doors are severely damaged and worn out.

This process is less costly than replacing all your cabinets but it can be double or triple the price of the other options we’ve mentioned.

And, you will have to keep the same kitchen layout. Yet, you can add crown molding, modern handles and drawer pulls and glass doors to modernize your cabinets.

So if your kitchen layout works for you and you don’t think your cabinet doors can be painted, tinted, or glazed, you may need to replace them.

With this option, people typically replace the hinges and handles on the cabinets as well.

Cabinet resurfacing involves removing the existing drawers and doors in the kitchen. The frames then need to be cleaned and sanded. Next, an adhesive is added so the new veneer will stick.

Finally, you will install the new cabinet doors and drawers with the new hardware.

Final Thoughts on Cabinet Refinishing

There you have it. 5 ways that you can transform your kitchen through cabinet refinishing.

Remember, not all these options require the same amount of labor or the same cost.