This week, while working onsite styling this home, we decided to tackle the kitchen cabinets the owner hated.
They had oak cabinets and an oak floor, and if you don't like oak, this was not a desirable look. The countertops were a solid white Corian in great condition. The owner originally wanted the cabinets to be a glazed white or cream, but with the white countertop and back splash, the cabinets could have looked dirty.
Because I had been wanting to try the RustOleum Cabinet Transformations product, I decided we would use that to change the cabinets. The product boasts of no sanding or stripping needed, just clean, paint, glaze, and seal.
This product review is NOT sponsored by RustOleum- just my honest experience working with this product for the first time.
After watching the instructional DVD, we took the doors off the cabinets and removed the drawers. (Cumbersome, but definitely necessary!!!)We removed the decorative valance from over the sink and replaced it with a piece of wood trim. Removing the trim piece took hammering from the back side since it was installed with finish nails.
Step 1 - you apply the deglosser with the provided scrubby pad on all surfaces. This product did not have a very harsh smell (maybe about the level of nail polish remover) and seemed to work like a cleanser, removing grime, but not much of the gloss.
The next step was to add the Bond Coat, which is the paint color you have mixed at the hardware store.
We selected Seaside which was a light blue gray.
The first coat did not cover well, so it needs at least two coats.
After two coats.
The next morning, we were able to apply the second coat and let it dry for 3 hours.
Although the home owner helped me paint the cabinets, he was uncomfortable with the glazing step. His wife did not want the heavy, even glaze displayed on the box. She wanted a more high end look with most of the glaze in the corners and in the panel detail.
Following the instructions on the DVD, I applied the glaze (which was really thin and watery) with a brush and wiped gently with the cloth provided.
And TA DA..... it wiped the paint right off! WHAT!?!
So...I decided to throw the instructions out the window and use my distressed faux finishing technique I have talked about before (and clean up most of the glaze with a moist paper towel). You get 1 very, very gentle wipe with the provided cheese cloth before the paint comes off and if it doesn't look like you desire - too bad, I guess. I ended up only glazing the panel detail.
The cabinets ended up looking GREAT. However, I am not a first time DIYer, so I feel like I may have had an advantage over the beginner DIYer. This process may look easy, but it was not. This is a product that should only be used by serious DIYers OR if you hate your cabinets so much that anything would be better than what you have - AND you have a lot of time to start over until you get it right.
I,will not be using this product again. I think it would have been more effective to tint a can of Latex Kilz and then glaze with 3 parts acrylic medium (a paint extender) and 1 part paint/stain/glaze.
Although the box boasted of 24 hours to complete, it took two of us almost 72 hours.
Glazing definitely took more than "paint on and wipe off," as the instructions indicated. I recommend using
my paint distressing technique . We did not use any glaze on the cabinet boxes/frames for the look above. I applied glaze only in the carved part of the doors and distress painted the edges of the doors and drawers.
**Kudos to RustOleum, who refunded our money since we were not 100% satisfied!**
