kitchen redo | rustoleum cabinet transformation

when we moved into our house a little over a year ago, i loved everything BUT the kitchen. i have no idea why someone would choose to make the cabinets so dark when the rest of the house has an enormous amount of white crown molding. my guess is that they must have had extra supplies and wanted to use them in the kitchen. when i first brought up to josh that i wanted to eventually paint the cabinets white, he wasn't sure about it. after about a year i finally convinced him it would look better, and better yet - i would do it all by myself! i wasn't sure how i was going to do it, especially if it meant sanding everything down (no thanks, i'll stick to the ugly brown cabinets), BUT one of my college friends Jess, told me about Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations (she is planning on doing it too)! I read reviews and looked and pictures and everyone seemed to really like the result. best part? no sanding! and the kit is only $80!  

IMPORTANT NOTE: all of the extra issues i had is probably all that could go wrong, so you might have no or less problems. also,  i did this all by myself while on my holiday break (while josh was working 10+ hour days) - some were able to get this project completed in a weekend versus it taking me 3.5 days

here are a few "before" pictures"

Part 1: Deglossing

so this part wasn't so bad, the kit comes with the "deglosser" and a couple of scrub pads. i had started this project at about 4pm on day 1 and i finished by about 8 or 9 that night. 

(btw: deglossing is in lieu of having to sand down your cabinents)

living with doors on the floor and a kitchen in chaos is NOT fun

Part 2: Bond Coats

so this wasn't so bad, until i realized i actually needed THREE coats of paint (the instructions claimed that you only need two, but i guess my cabinets were too dark to go so light). ALSO three coats meant that i would need to purchase ANOTHER kit. so now my $80 kit has quickly turned into a $160 project. in hindsight, if i would have known that was going to happen i would have done a primer to save money and frustration! all in all this took days 2 and 3.

step 3:  top coat 

so this part was probably the most frustrating. i was almost done with the project and from most of the reviews, it was supposed to be the easy part. ya. right. so, just in case, anything went wrong  (i had a gut feeling) i painted the backs of a couple of doors with the top coat. and THIS happened.

it started to turn parts of the cabinet doors orange/pink. lets just say i am very upset at this point. so i google the issue and apparently this and "bubbling" tend to happen with the top coat that comes in the kit. so the solution is to get minwax polycrylic (water-based) top coat protective finish

so add in about $30 (new paint brush and top coat) and now the $80 kit has turned into almost $200.

good news though is that it didn't cause the coloring anymore. but again, i believe if i would have done a primer i would not have had any issues. also, PLEASE make sure you let this dry for about 4-6 hours (can only says 2) you wouldn't want to mess anything up and so much hard work!

step 4: painting hardware

so technically this isn't part of the kit, but since i had to spend 2x what the kit cost, i could no longer go and buy new hinges (the old ones were a brownish gold and i wanted brushed nickel to match the knobs i already had). SO, like any DIY person - i decided to paint them! i looked up reviews online and went with

rustoleum satin nickel (not gonna like, was kinda mad to give rustoleum every more business). i think the paint was only about $7 - so not so bad versus spending about $125 on new hardware.

to clean the old hardware i sprayed them with some kitchen cleaner and scrubbed them with a toothbrush and then rinsed them off and let dry.

result: i wouldn't go as far to say that it looks like satin nickel, but for $7? i'll take it1

oh, and another tip, don't let one of your doors hide somewhere and only come to find it when you have put your kitchen back together.

final result!

 i was SO glad for this project to be over with. would i do it again? yes, but only if i would have done a primer first. and yes, i LOVE it!

before and after pic:

my favorite part (besides the new kitchen)?

my new owl cookie jar that i received as a christmas present from natalie! :)

summary:

pros:

no sanding

bond coat dries fast

bond coat applies easily

new kitchen for cheap!

cons:

needed three coats

top coat was not good, had to buy different brand

time (like i said enlist help!)

tip:

PRIMER, PRIMER, PRIMER!