The finish has become quite brassy over the yellow pine, but I suppose it could be worse - they could be knotty pine.
We'd like to remove this piece, but need to figure out how to do it without damaging the existing cabinets too much.
I once saw an episode of "Designed to Sell" in which the illustrious Lisa LaPorta used Howard Restor-A-Finish to refresh some kitchen cabinets. Since Craig and I harbor a soft spot for HGTV's Design Bulldog, we decided to give it a try.
Before:
After: A TSP scrubbing and the Restor-A-Finish definitely cleaned up the finish, but didn't go far enough. The most amazing thing is the feel of the wood after using the Restor-A-Finish - it's silky smooth. Fear not, though, fans of LaPorta. The Restor-A-Finish will be put to good use on our doors and woodwork. But not until summer when we can open the windows - that's some stinky stuff.
We're left with two options to make the cabinets look nice. New hardware is a given. I waffle on this every day. In an effort to get it out on virtual paper, here are the options.
Strip, Sand, Stain, & Polyurethane
Pros
1. Craig likes the look of wood.
2. A medium tone would look nice with the beige appliances.
3. I can practice my staining skills with my mom, who has graciously agreed to come up for a weekend in March and help with the project.
Cons
1. This is a lot of work.
2. In light of #1, these are not particularly nice cabinets. If we had the cash, we'd happily rip them out and start anew.
3. I don't really like pine - the yellow tones look brassy to me, even when they haven't seen fifty years of use.
4. There's a veneer, and I'm a little scared of having the veneer buckle while stripping.
Paint
Pros
1. The workload is considerably less than with stripping, sanding, and refinishing.
2. Painting would allow us to sand down the cupboards, fill old nail holes with spackle or skim coat, and have a nice, clean result. Because of this, could use cabinet knobs without having a noticable hole from the existing hardware.
Cons
1. Craig likes the look of wood better.
2. I might have trouble finding a paint color that would match the appliances.
3. We'd need to touch up more often than with a wood finish.
Have I mentioned that I'm an obsessive planner? And self-doubter? Yes? Carry on, then.
6 comments:
Yeah, so we too are planning on redoing our kitchen too....good luck with the decision on the cabinets and everything else. The kitchen is the hardest because its not just a coat of paint and a little time.....it's a lot of time and a lot of detail and everything (paint, floor, cabinets, countertops, backsplash, applicances,etc) you do has to cordinate. Ahh the stress of it. It will be worth it when it's done. Right? Good luck.
P.S. After weighing out pros and cons of our own we have decided to paint.
Yeah, the worst part is that we just want to make it look a little nicer, so we aren't changing everything. I just can't justify doing the appliances. It still requires a lot of coordination, though.
If I had my way I'd rip it all out, make it bigger, add a family room and a deck in back... But by the time we do all that, I might as well buy a new house.
I think your kitchen will look really nice painted. I'll file away tips for you.
Sorry, yeah, we are not replacing all of our appliances, I just meant, we are trying to make them match the paint. We have to replace the stove before we move out though....we've taken a lot of rap for that. A girl at work said, and I quote, "yeah, I thought I needed a new stove, but then I saw Tenley's and realized mine was actually in pretty good shape."
I love the colors you showed me last night. It will look great with your newly painted walls.
By the way, I can use all the tips I can get. You can be our crash test dummies. I know that I am forsure using flowtron (I may have to double check on the name) with cabinets. Have you used it before? We have some if you want to try it (a little goes a long way). You mix it with your paint and it helps put the paint on smooth so you don't see brush marks... it works especially good when painting on wood. My friend Meg used it on her kitchen cabinets, she did one with Flowtron and one without and said she could definately tell the difference.
I know nothing else.
Sorry. I was cleaning the basement last night and noticed that it's called, Floetrol.
We had a great time with you yesterday!! Thanks!
A&G have been updating their blog on the honeymoon (we have it linked on our site if you want to check it out). The updates are cool but what are they doing on the internet?? It's their honeymoon!!! They are so darn cute.
I vote for the possibility of birch wood cabinets. They were popular in the 50's. They should refinish nicely as birch has a finer grain than pine. Keep on using the 3M blue tape for paining, keeps Bear's grandda and ma employed! I love your other blog with Phoebe and the Harry Potter costume.
I enjoyed reading your blog ~ thanks for posting such useful content./Nice article and great photos. Very nicely done!
Kitchen Cupboards
Post a Comment