DIY Cabinet Painting

I love to redo things in my home, but finding the time and frankly the money, can be a little difficult. With The Cowboy gone Monday through Thursday almost every week, sometimes it’s all I can do to get everyone fed. Forget about dressed and bathed! So, when I get the opportunity to make some changes around the house it’s usually only a day here and there when I have a babysitter. Luckily Ma and Pa come and visit the Cowkids and Cowbaby every three months. When they come, chances are I have a big project around the house that I want to tackle. And my 24 hour babysitters are usually gracious enough to keep the Cowkids and Cowbaby out of my hair.

Last time Ma and Pa came to visit I had two big projects in mind, redoing Cowgirl G’s bathroom and the laundry room. Over the summer I had spent weeks perusing Pinterest (say that three times fast lol) finding just the right inspiration photos. As I looked at the pictures I noticed one common theme, all the bathrooms and laundry rooms had painted cabinets. Our house came with the same golden oak cabinets in the kitchen, laundry room, and in every bathroom.

I knew that this was going to be the biggest part of the project and headed to Home Depot to talk to my local expert. I knew that it would be out of my budget to replace the cabinets and was interested in simply painting the cabinets (maybe even spray paint). My friendly Home Depot Man recommended Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Cabinet Coating System. I had him tint it in Linen and headed home with hopes of finishing the project before the Cowkids headed back to school. I mentioned to TallGirlJ my intentions and she bought the Cabinet Coating System for her own bathroom redo. She painted a cabinet in her bathroom and gave me a few pointers. Summer went by as quickly as ever, and I never got to my project. Luckily Ma and Pa flew out later in the fall and I got my chance to paint the cabinets.

The process was really as easy as my friendly Home Depot man said, and TallGirlJ’s pointers ensured that my cabinets looked amazing when they were done. Set aside a whole day and a half for this project, simply for drying times. I didn’t bother watching the DVD that came with the Cabinet Coating System, the paper instructions were clear enough for me. I chose to paint my laundry cabinets straight Linen, while I used the antiquing glaze included over the Linen color, for Cowgirl G’s bathroom. You can see in the pictures that there is quite a difference between the two.

When painting, pay close attention to the corners and trim to make sure there are no drips or spots where the paint or glaze has settled. Thin coats really are the way to go, and I skipped painting all three layers on the inside of the doors. If I had been painting kitchen cabinets that are often left open (in my house), I would have taken the time to make the inside of the doors as nice as the outside. The paint dried fairly quickly in Wyoming, but I am sure it would take longer in a more humid climate. I have wiped off several toothpaste spills off the doors, they came off nicely with no damage to the paint. I recommend the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Cabinet Coating System as a fairly easy (and quick other than drying time) way to transform the cabinets in your house.  I’ll be posting more tips and tricks I used when redoing my laundry room soon!

What DIY projects are you planning to tackle this year?