How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinets

Refinishing your kitchen cabinets can give your whole kitchen a face lift and a new look for a very inexpensive price. Refinishing your cabinets is a time-consuming procedure, but in the end is well worth the effort.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• New door handles
• Paint brush
• Drop cloth
• Masking tape
• Sand paper or sand block
• Paint
• New hinges
• Paint roller

1. Remove everything from the cabinets and drawers.

2. Check the cabinets for signs of damage, wear and rot. If anything needs to be replaced, it's best to do it before you refinish them.

3. Remove the shelving from the cabinets.

4. Cover the counters and floor with a drop cloth.

5. Take the handles and hinges off the cabinet doors.

6. Wash down the cabinets, doors and drawers with a solution of household cleaner.

7. Rinse the cleaner off with cool water.

8. Fill any holes, including the old hinge holes, with wood putty, or wood dowels and wood glue.

9. Lightly sand your cabinet doors, drawers and faces and frames of the cabinets to remove gloss and irregularities.

10. Vacuum up the dust from sanding.

11. Apply your paint or varnish to the doors, drawers and frame of the cabinets. Paint the cabinet doors first, from top to bottom, then the drawers and finally the frame.

12. When first coat of paint is dry, apply another coat of paint.

13. Let the paint dry.

14. Replace the handles on the doors, or for more of an effect, put on new handles.

15. Replace the doors, ensuring they are level with the cabinet frame and with each other. It's a good idea to also use new hinges.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that before you paint the cabinet doors are free of dust and debris. You can use tack cloth to make sure the area is clean.

• Always paint from top to bottom to avoid dripping.