Frugal Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

The following is a guest post by Rebecca Brandt.

Last year we knew we needed a kitchen makeover when the veneer on our cabinets began peeling. We didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars to replace the cabinet fronts or the entire cabinets. However, we wanted to take care of our kitchen and create a warm room that our family would enjoy and would be kid friendly.

A few months ago, I walked into my neighbor’s kitchen and she had done exactly what I was thinking. So, I asked her what she did and thus began the journey of our kitchen (and bath) makeover.

I’m very pleased with the results. Above are the before and after pictures, and below is a tutorial on how to update your own kitchen (and or bathrooms) for less than $150!

The first thing you’ll want to do is look at the colors in your kitchen and identify the look you’re going for. Then buy your supplies.

Supplies Needed

Paint Brush
Sponge Brush
Gloves
Sand paper
Milk Paint (I used Antique White (bathroom), MillStone(Kitchen) and Dark Chocolate(Kitchen))
Glaze (I used Clear (Kitchen) and VanDyke Brown (Upstairs Bath))
Polyacrylic (I used flat)

Instructions

Step 1:

After you select your colors, wash down your cabinets and then remove the veneer. If it’s peeling, just begin at the peel. It took my son a total of 30 minutes to remove the veneer from the kitchen cabinets. If you have one cabinet that isn’t peeling, take a small knife and cut a little bit off a corner, and then peel the entire cabinet.

Step 2:

Paint your cabinets with two coats base color (using a bristle brush). If you want to have a really good antique look, you ca paint the antique white under the brown. Then, when you sand off the brown, the white shows through. I wanted a golden look, so I sanded to the original color that you see beneath the paint.

Step 3:

Coat with your glaze (using sponge brush). I could not find a glaze I wanted so I mixed the Millstone Milk paint with clear glaze. I used a wet towel and then a dry towel to wipe off the glaze until it was close to what I wanted. It was a little too chalk boardy for me, so used the glaze mixed with the Dark Chocolate Milk paint to get the rich, brown destressed look I was after.

Step 4:

Sand the corners and areas where you want to make your cabinets look refinished and antique.

Step 5:

Coat with at least three coats of Polyacrylic.

Bathroom Cabinet Makeover

Once I began in my kitchen, I wanted to work in my bathrooms. I used this same method for our downstairs bath so that there is consistency in cabinets downstairs.

Here’s what I did for this look:

Peeled veneer
Painted with two coats of Antique White (using a bristle brush)
Painted with VanDyke Glaze (using a sponge brush)
Wiped off glaze with a wet cloth then dry cloth until I was able to get the look I wanted
Painted with 3 coats of Polyacrylic (using sponge brush)

Rebecca is a homeschool Mom who writes/speaks to encourage women to stop living in negativity and find the joy they are meant to enjoy. She blogs at Mom’s Mustard Seeds.

Frugal Kitchen Cabinet Makeover