So we bought this house about 6 years ago, it was built in '84 and the kitchen cabs (oak I think) are original. They're in good shape for the most part but much lighter than I'd prefer and two areas had damage, the false drawers at the sink and the cab by the fridge that apparently the P.O.s spilled coffee or something down it and it stained the top of the inset panel. I bleached it twice and got a good deal out but it still looked like heck and I planned to do something to refresh them since my hub doesn't want a kitchen overhaul - not even to replace the counters, he likes them. While I prefer formica, I don't like the pattern of these much but oh well for now.

Anyways, he took a 16 day trip so while he was out of the house I got to work on the cabinets, Couldn't really sand and stain/poly in the amount of time I had, and he didn't want paint, so after long deliberation I settled on glazing and using a water-based poly on top.

Took me 12 days altogether to get them done after a thorough cleaning and light sanding, very little smell or duration between poly coats (I let the glaze sit for 5 days for fear the poly could pull it and wanted some amount of curing) and clean up was easy with everything water-based. For the glaze I did two very light coats, almost dry-brushing, the second a little darker than the first as I didn't want anything close to java but deeper than the first coat, I used a paint sample from Lowes and the Valspar glaze, and Minwax Polycrylic, plus some burnt umber acrylic paint mixed in for tone.

I'm quite happy with how they turned out, they look almost new and the glaze looks much more like stain than paint, I do wish I could have gotten that damaged cab door to have come out more uniform, if anyone has any suggestions for touching it up it would be very welcome.

Sink run before:

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After:

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