Even though I painted them once, it was time to paint them again and paint them right. I used the Rustoleum Cabinet Refinishing Kit. Mine was $80, but I've seen them on sale for less. Though it contained the products you needed, it did not have the accessories. I bought gloves, scrubbing pads, and some drop cloths to work on and got down to it (
"it" meaning business).
First step was to take off the cabinet doors. Seeing them all open lead me to reorganize my cabinets.
I numbered them to be thorough, but they are all different sizes. I soon disregarded the numbers.You can see how uneven the paint was in these pictures as well, but I did do all the cabinets in only a day. It took a solid week the second time to do them right.
I don't think I took any pictures of step one, which was the de-glossing step. You have to pour a solution onto a scrubbing pad, then wipe down everything you are going to paint. Since I already had paint on the cabinets, the de-glosser made some of the paint come off. This helped me discern whether or not I was scrubbing enough. It's harder to tell on unpainted, glossy cabinets. However, as soon as you start painting you can immediately tell if you missed a spot. If that happens, stop painting and scrub that spot again.
I did this in January, so working outside or in the garage was not an option. I used a tip mentioned in the instruction book to create a work surface while painting the cabinets. I bought four long 1x4s and drove in screws less than cabinet door width apart. The screws floated the cabinet doors above the floor, allowing me to paint the edges effectively.
Continue reading about painting the cabinets and applying the glaze in
Part Two.
