How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinets in Antique White Distressed Glaze

Call it country French, country or Tuscan, glazed and distressed antique-white painted wood cabinets are charming and add character to run-of-the-mill kitchens. This is a good do-it-yourself project, plus doing the work yourself will save beaucoup bucks. This is also a good cure for old cabinets that need refreshing or for newer, but character-free tract house cabinets.

Things You'll Need

• Antique white latex or alkyd (oil-based) paint
• Prime
• Antiquing gel or glaze
• Cleaning solution
• Paint brush--synthetic for latex; natural bristle for alkyd
• Turpentine (only if using alkyd paint)
• Lint-free rags
• Screwdriver
• Sandpaper--120 to 150 grit
• Non-shrinking wood putty (optional)
• One finishing nail
• Hammer

Instructions

1. Go to a kitchen cabinet display and look closely at the finish you want. Notice how heavily--or lightly--smudged the crevices are. Look at the distressing. Are there sharp corners and sharp edges on raised areas? Or do they look worn? Do you see pitting, dents or worm holes in the finish? Also, look at the finish. Is it a gloss? Semi-gloss? Satin? Make notes, and if the store personnel will let you, snap a close-up or two.

2. Remove the hardware from the cabinets. Remove the doors, marking them inconspicuously as you go so that you'll know which one goes where when you re-mount them. Screw holes aren't always interchangeable.

3. Clean all the surfaces to be painted. A good household cleaner will do. Trisodium phosphate (TSP), available at paint and hardware stores, works well if they are really bad. Rinse well.

   Do not use ammonia. It may cause the finish to yellow later on.

4. Fill big dents or chips that you do not want to remain with non-shrinking wood putty. Leave any that you think will contribute to the distressed look you hope to achieve. Make sure to let it set up.

5. Lightly sand all the surfaces with 150 to 180 grit sandpaper. Stripping the finish off is not necessary if you properly prepare the surface by cleaning and sanding it.

   If you want slightly softened edges rather than sharply defined edges, lightly sand them. Be careful. You can always sand down a bit more, but you can't replace what you sand away.

6. Prime the cabinets and let them dry for the recommended amount of time. Keep track of which door is which.

7. Distress the cabinets, if you desire, by lightly tapping the surface here and there with a hammer to create small dents or by tapping a small finishing nail or brad into the surface to create "worm holes".

   Don't go crazy. Less is more. Consider putting one or two tiny dents on one cabinet door and none on others. Worm holes might be a little more numerous.

8. Begin painting. If you chose latex paint, it will dry quickly but take weeks to cure. Oil-based (alkyd) paint dries more slowly (12 to 24 hours) but cures quickly. It also flows into itself, so brush marks are less likely. Clean up is also a bit more trouble with alkyd paints and because of dry time, you will have to wait a day to apply each successive coat.

   Do not use a roller or foam rubber brush.

   You can use a paint sprayer, but it may not be worth it, given that you will have to shield everything in sight, including the floor.

9. Apply successive coats. One may be enough if you've primed first, but you may need to do two to get good rich color. Use your judgment.

   Remember to re-mark the door numbers between coats. Re-hanging them will be a bear if you don't.

10. Apply a small amount of antiquing gel or glaze with a dust-free cloth (cheesecloth is good). Lighten the amount of glaze on the cloth by daubing it on something before applying to your surface. Let the glaze gather in the crevices; if it's too heavy here and there, wipe it out quickly and it will look fine. Stand back and take a gander. If the overall look is too light, apply another coat.

    Try to avoid streak marks by working the gel onto the surface. No one painted old cabinetry to look the way it does; it develops a patina, which is probably the look you are trying to achieve.

11. Mount some nifty new hardware, re-hang the doors, stand back and enjoy the new look.

Tips & Warnings

• Have someone from the paint department accompany you to the cabinet display. He can help you judge which finish to choose.

• Buy or salvage a wood cabinet door; you can experiment on it.

• Good results are all in the prep work.

References

• Refinish Furniture.com; Refinish Kitchen Cabinets, Reface Kitchen Cupboards, Repaint Kitchen Cabinets
• The Old house; Painting Kitchen Cabinets