So, I did a thing. A very big thing that I’ve been procrastinating for a long time. And now that I’m finished I’m wondering why I waited so long. What is it I did you ask? Well, I finally freshened up our kitchen cabinets and they look amazing. The difference is crazy good and I’m excited to share the changes with you. First, let me say that the condition they were actually in is embarrassing and I had no idea they were so bad. Here are the steps to refresh painted cabinets.

When we moved in about 3 1/2 years ago, we had a lot of work ahead of us. The entire home was basically an orange oak and needed to be painted. To save a very long story, we had limited time to complete it all. So needless to say I did not research or do the proper prep work when painting the kitchen cabinets. I thought the process we did would be fine and technically it was for a short time period.

After all this time, they really have not held up well and a refresh was definitely needed. In fact, I did not realize how bad they really were until I started studying them closely and after I painted the fits one.

Operation Cabinet Refresh…

I decided to try a product I had heard so many wonderful things about and they were very happy to collaborate. Schnubs  https://schnubs.com/ paint has had such great reviews I couldn’t’ wait to try it. I ordered the premium kit and it came with everything needed to complete the project. They have several options for shades of white and I really wanted a crisp, fresh, true white so I selected Delicate White.

 

 

First they had a great list of instructions to follow with tips to help along the way. A great, clear cut step by step pamphlet came with the supplies.

Step 1

Degrease/ degloss the cabinets first. I added the required amount of water to the degreaser product included in the kit and applied it to the cabinet with the scrub sponge provided. Then you wipe off the excess and wait about 10 minutes.

 

 

What’s great about this product is that you get to a clean surface and get all the grime and dirt off the surface area. After waiting 10 minutes I scrubbed a little more then moved to the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2

Scrap off the gunk and crud. Ewww y’all it was so bad I couldn’t believe how much build up there was. I used the razor provided and at a 45 degree angle I scraped off all the yucky stuff. Luckily not every cabinet was this bad.

 

 

 

 

Step 3 

Next it’s time to sand the cabinets and clean them off. Once you have them cleaned up it’s time to paint.

 

Step 4

Now it’s time to paint. This paint is definitely thinner than regular paint. They suggest to really saturate the roller and roll an even layer on first. Let it completely dry then sand again between the layers. Two things I loved about this product is that it dries very quickly and has a low odor. I only waited about 30 minutes in between layers and I did about 3 layers on each cabinet. Because I wanted a clean slick look, it took 3 to achieve the look I wanted.

 

 

Can you believe the difference from the old cabinet to the new one? I couldn’t believe not only how much grime that had bulit up but how much they had yellowed.

 

 

Another thing I did to change things up is to spray paint the hardware black. Once I removed the hardware, I lightly sanded them and spray painted with Rustoluem 2x in black satin. I love how they pop against the white and go much better with the black faucet and newly painted black windows. To read about how I painted my windows you can go here How To Paint Windows DIY And Tips

 

 

 

 

It took me about a week to complete the project because I didn’t want to rush through the process. It was definitely worth the work and I’m very happy with the final results. The kitchen feels so fresh and new, happy dancin’ over here.

 

 

So what projects are you putting off? I think my list is pretty long but completing a project like this is so motivating to do more (after I take a little break of course) 

Final Thoughts

I hope this was helpful especially if you have a cabinet project. Let me just say again, the prep work is key and so important. Do our research and give ourself time to do it correctly so you don’t have to repeat again like I did. Let me know if you have any questions and be sure you’re subscribed to my weekly newsletter. I share updates and the latest news here and you also get access to my free printable page when you subscribe.

 

 

 

STEPS TO REFRESH PAINTED CABINETS