Glazing existing cabinets

17 years ago

We can't afford new cabinets but we can afford to keep our existing ones and get new countertops, appliances, etc.

My cabinets are pickled/white-washed maple and they almost look pink to me. We considered painting them but I don't like the colors and I didn't want bright white. We also considered restaining them a darke color but was told by several painters that it wouldn't look right without A LOT of work and money.

So I was wondering how it would look at add a darker glaze over our existing finish? I would like to darken the cabinets up a bit anyway.

Here's the kitchen with a closeup of the cabinets.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

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Comments (5)

jeff8407
17 years ago
After looking at your pics and your nice window casings, how about painting the maple white to match? I think it would look very, very nice and is not much more work than staining, but you would have to mask off the house to spray.

Regarding adding a glaze, I have done exactly what you are contemplating in a former rental we had. It had white-washed oak cabinets that were also turning a pinkish color. We used a cafe brown all over the cabinets (oak has quite a bit of grain) then did it again over the seams only on the raised panels with a dark brown. We finished it off with a water-based poly (it has a bit of a blue hue when dried). It looked very nice when done, I'm sorry I don't have pictures, but we have since sold the rental. Like any painting job the job was prepwork (sanding, sanding, and masking).
forensicmom
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks. Too bad about not having any pictures. My cabinets are maple, so the grain is not as strong as the oak.

The good thing for me is that we have professional painters that will be doing it. The perks of having DH build custom homes. He knows people.

I was just trying to get some ideas so I know what to tell them I want done. I prefer NOT to have white cabinets b/c I have 4 children and I know hard they are to keep clean. My mom had them installed about 20 years ago and they were constantly dirty.
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User
17 years ago
First of all you have a very pretty kitchen- I know nothing about glazes or stains, but I wonder if staining the cabinets darker might be what you are looking for? I am talking about some of those rub on stains ( I dont know if I am using the right terminology but some folks here have darkened their cabs- it is less heavy than paint, but still changes the tones).
User
17 years ago
I was curious as to what other feedback you had gotten and in the interim, remembered that the posts/threads were about min wax and or general stain or something like that. Hopefully someone will jump in who can remember better than I can.:)
forensicmom
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks. We were told that putting a darker stain over the existing finishing )after snading, of course) would be difficult to achieve b/c of the wood grain. Also, there's also some veneer instead of solid wood. The real wood is very thin and it would be hard to sand exactly where we need without sanding too much.

That's the way it was explained to me by several people in the paint business.