Paint your cabinets to look vintage

Painted wood is the trend right now in both furniture and cabinets. In fact, chalk paint has become very popular. There are many websites that provide instructions and even instructional videos on how to paint a piece of furniture with chalk paint. The look goes especially well with cottage or shabby chic décor.

My kitchen cabinets are the old oak cabinets you see in almost every home built in the 1960s and 1970s.

They are also starting to look pretty shabby. I decided that I am ready for a change so I will paint my cabinets to make them look vintage.

With kitchen cabinets, they have likely already been varnished or otherwise coated to give them a glossy look, so before you do anything else, you need to rough them up so the paint will stick. This can be done in two ways: by sanding them very thoroughly or by treating them with a chemical, such as Krud Kutter Gloss-Off, which is a great all-in-one cleaner and degreaser. It will remove all excess “dirt” from your cabinets. Sometimes you need to sand down and use something like Krud Kutter to get the job done right.

Once you have prepared the surface, you are ready to begin painting. But first remove the closet doors. In the end, it will look much more professional if you remove the hardware and maybe even upgrade it. Another very important point is to use high-quality paint, either oil-based or something like Benjamin Moore’s Advance, which has the qualities of an oil-based product (like sticking well to the surface being painted) though it’s basically still a latex. .

You’ll want to do a primer coat and a top coat in acrylic or semi-gloss. It’s also a good idea to paint the inside of the cabinets first. That way, you get used to the character of the paint, and if it’s a paint gun, you can fix the kinks in the part of the door that you can’t see.

After all of your cabinets have dried, it’s time to do the antiques. Wrap a sanding block with 80-grit sandpaper and sand the corners and edges, allowing the bare wood to be exposed in spots. Some put some petroleum jelly on the edges and corners before the last coat of paint. This makes it easier to remove that last layer, giving it an older, worn look. Do not be afraid. Just look at it to decide when it looks worn enough. You can always repaint and start over.

Next, rub or paint an old-fashioned polish. Let it sit for about five minutes, then rub it in with gauze. Again, this will call out to your artistic eye to determine if you have the right look. Lastly, dip a brush into a stain; squeeze out most of the moisture and then splash onto the surface. This will give it the appearance of aging. A good whip with a heavy chain and a nail hole or two and voila, you’ve got some new “aged” wood cabinets.

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