$125.00 Kitchen Makeover

Carol Marszalek
by Carol Marszalek
6 Materials
$125
5 Days
Medium

Since moving into our home here in Northwest Florida, I have wanted to redo my kitchen cabinets. They were basic builder grade oak cabinets. Nothing really wrong, just lacked "pizzazz". After four and half years and the recent passing of husband, I needed a project to throw myself into. It was time, so I purchased Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations kit, (about $75.00) combined with what was left over from redoing my Craft-room cabinets and got to work. The kit was the winter white as I needed to lighten up the kitchen and to really make a statement I purchased a single 1 qt. can of Varathane (another Rustoleum product) One Step Wood Stain, which is really a paint, in the color; Vintage Aqua. It was only $9.00. As you will see, it has really brightened up the kitchen! I love it, what do you think?


All that is left is to replace the tile countertops and back splash with quartz, but that is down the road after I save up enough to afford it!

Great bones, but....blah......

This is the kitchen as I viewed it before we purchased the home. Good bones, but well, blah......

Builder grade, unfinished cabinetry

Unfinished, builder basic with tiled counter tops and backsplash.

Bottom Cabinets done!

So the first step was to paint the bottom cabinets in the Vintage Aqua. In this picture the color is a little subdued, but one coat was all it took. Because it is a kitchen, I decided to go ahead and put a coat of Polyurethane on for extra durability. The paint already had it in the mix, but I chose the Varathane Poly to top it off.

Painting the "bonding coat" I did 2

The next step was to remove all the cabinet doors and drawers. I numbered them with a piece of masking tape from left to right, and put the hardware in baggies, stored in the cabinet it was removed from. You then clean all the cabinet with the "deglazer" provided in the kit. Once dry, paint with the base "bonding" coat from the kit. This, depending on your color selection, (mine was Winter White) has to be tinted at the paint store. This is one of the reasons I love this project is because it has many different color options available. Let the bond coat dry, I let mine dry about a half a day, tho it said 2 hours was sufficient and I did two coats to get a really good solid coverage due to the light color over darker wood.

Assembly line painting

I laid some out on some 1 X 4's on saw horses in the garage for an "assembly" line process. Once the backs were dry, flip them and paint the fronts and sides. Watch for drips!!! I learned the hard way, lighting can make a big difference in detecting drips.....

Glazing - before and after

Next comes the glaze. It can be as heavy or as light as you desire. You paint it on with a sponge brush. I bought a bag at Walmart that had about 20 brushes and I think I paid about $3. for it. That way I didn't have to worry with washing it out, just tossed after each batch of backs and fronts. You coat and then use the cheese cloth to wipe off. Be sure to have a box of plastic cloves. We happen to have a box that came home from one of my husbands hospital stays, but they are relatively inexpensive at the grocery store or Walmart.

A cute idea for my interior cabinet

I found this on Pinterest and decided to incorporate on the inside of the cabinet in which I keep my measuring cups, spoons, and baking goods. I took to Office Depot and had them copy onto an adhesive label sheet. Cut them out and then peeled the backing off to adhere to the cabinet.

Mermaid Magic!!

The last little touch to be done is to remove the blah bar supports, can you see the one on the far side? I found these mermaids to use as the supports, they are just the right color. The fronts are just a 1/4" to deep, so I'm cutting, painting, and putting on some wood trim to go over the front of the bar that will even out the mermaid. Living in Northwest Florida, I think they will be a cute bit of whimsy.


So, as mentioned before, all that is left now is to change out the counter tops and the back splashes down the road. Let me know what you think. I love it, and needed a splash of color in my home kitchen.

Finished Kitchen

As you can see here, the upper cabinets turned out great, Winter White with Glazing for depth and texture, bottom cabinetry in Varathane One Step Wood Stain "Vintage Aqua". I love the brightness, color, and updated look. When counter tops are redone, I think I will make the island one level by removing the bar top. I believe it will open up the space and make it feel larger. But I'm very happy with the results. What do you think?

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  • Carolyn Charz Carolyn Charz on Dec 28, 2019

    Didn't see the mermaid bar supports in the finished picture. Did you use them or not? If not, are they for sale?

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  • Melody Melody on Jan 20, 2020

    we had out white washed pine cabinets redone, that’s a horrible mistake we made but that’s a longer story! Anyway we had our high low bar lowered and granite placed and I love the open look it gave me!! I’m looking for another redo on my upper cabinets and I WILL DO THEM ! Thanks for sharing your project!!

  • Lucy Lucy on Jan 27, 2020

    They turned out BEAUTIFUL!!

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