Good Times: Oak Cabinet Update

What you'll need for this project:
-dark walnut stain
-white paint
-faux glaze can
-gloves for staining/glazing
-paint brush
-power drill
-drill bit for hardware
-hardware
-stainable wood putty
-wood putty
-crown moulding
-3 corbels
-bead board
-corner moulding for lower cabinets
-3 base corner moulding pieces
-accent wood piece
-base board (i chose the small 1/4 circle look)
-8' of pine wood board (1" thick)
-4' worth of 5" wide and 1" thick board
-a beveled piece of wood 12"x width between cabinets above your sink (I got mine at my local home improvement restore)
-post for banister cut into two pieces (also found mine pre-cut at the restore)
-nail gun & 1.5", 3/4" nails
-miter saw
-jig saw
-circular saw
-level
-power sander
-degreaser/cleaner for cabinets
-tape measure

This is how my cabinets looked when we moved into our house...pay no attention to the dirty dishes :)

I'm not a huge fan of the lighter stain pine look so I took it upon myself to redo them:)

I've been looking at ideas on the internet and decided I really liked the two tone color cabinets. I'm going to stain my upper cabinets a dark walnut color and paint/glaze my lower cabinets. I'm also going to add an insert above my sink and a few corbels here and there. Also, I need to install some hardware.

Step 1:

Clean and degrease all of your cabinets. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. I would go over everything a couple times with your degreaser. It's a bummer when you're painting and run into a greasy spot.

Step 2:

Add the banister pole (which has been down the middle) to both sides of the bottom cabinets below the sink.

Step 3:

Create your middle insert above your sink. I drew out the dimensions and plans for this exactly how I wanted it. You may want to make a few changes to it depending on what the area looks like above your sink. Take your 8' pine board and cut it into three pieces; the front, and both sides. Make sure you cut 45 degree angles on both sides of the front piece and one side on each of my side pieces. My front was 43"x12", and each side was 17"x12". The bottom piece to these three sides is 43"x5". Attach the four pieces together with your nail gun. Now attach this whole piece to your cupboards on the left and right sides. Use your 1.5" nails.

Next, add the beveled piece at the bottom of the insert piece as you can see in the picture below. To do this you need something to nail it to because it's flush with the cabinets in the front. Measure how thick your board is and mark a line with a pencil. Cut two 2" thick board as tall as your beveled piece from the left over pine board. Line them up to your lines you drew. Use your nail gun and attach these two pieces to your cabinets. Now attach your beveled piece to these two pieces to secure them to your cabinets. I bought three 2"x5"x6"corbels. They were around $10.00 each at Home Depot. Use your nail gun and nail two of the corbels into place like my picture below.

Now add your choice of crown moulding. I put two different types because I wanted designs with dimensions so that when I glaze this center piece it will stand out. Also add your accent wood piece and do your best to center it. I put wood glue behind it and a couple of smaller nails.

Now you'll want to use your wood putty (if you're glazing this like I am you can just use regular wood putty). Make sure to use your putty knife to get as even as possible so it looks smooth and normal when you sand it down. Putty all of your cracks, nail holes, and the areas you pieced together.

Step 4:

Rip off your existing corner moulding to the lower cabinets where you will be installing your bead board. If you can, be as nice as possible to your moulding while pulling it off so you can reuse it. I got my bead board at home depot in an 8'x4' piece. It's cheaper that way. Measure your bead board areas and cut it down to size. I used my circular saw to do this. Make sure you cut it slow and as straight as possible. Nail the bead board into place with your shorter nails. Cut your base board with your miter saw to fit along the bottom of the cabinets as they wrap around your kitchen. I was able to reuse my corner molding but I had to cut it a bit to fit with my base board and base corner mouldings. The base corner mouldings definitely added to the look of the update, but you don't have to do them. You could just add your base board and cut 45 degree angles to align your corner pieces. The jig saw is handy with this next part. Measure how far out you want your base corner moulding to go and mark it. Now take your jig saw and cut it so you have a 90 degree angle out of one of the four corners on each piece which will custom fit to the corner it will go to. I used my larger nails to attach the base board, corner moulding, and base corner moulding.

Step 5:

Use your power drill and drill bit to pre-drill the hole for your hardware.

Step 6:

Add your wood putty to any nail holes, crevices, etc... Let it dry. Once dried, sand it really well so it's smooth. Make sure that all your piece smooth right to one another. When you glaze it will pick up any funny marks or pieces that stand out. Run your hand over the areas you putty. This helps better than looking at it.

When you have sanded everything very well wipe it off with a damp cloth or one of those static cling cloths to get all the saw dust off to prepare the wood to paint. I like the look of white paint under my glaze so it gives it that rustic charm look. Paint everything that will be glazed white. This project took 3 coats. Make sure you cannot see the color underneath. Let this dry overnight. Make sure to take all your cabinet doors off to paint and glaze. When you take them off don't forget to draw a map of your kitchen with numbers on each cabinet. And also draw on your cabinets the same numbers so you know exactly where they go again. I wrote on mine with permanent marker in the hole where the hinges go on the inside and covered it with painters tape.

Step 7:

Here comes the fun part!! Glazing!! Follow my Glazing 101 tutorial on how to glaze and what materials you'll need. Make sure you let this dry for a week before you put your sealant on. I would put polycrylic on this because it's white. Polycrylic doesn't yellow over time but polyurethane does.

Step 8:

Add the crown moulding to your upper cabinets. Crown moulding is not fun to do on your own if you're new at it! I think it's a two person job. Check out a few tutorials on how to do crown moulding before you attempt it or get someone who knows how. I had my brother help me:). You'll use your miter saw for this. Cut your correct angles and dimensions. Use your level to make sure you have it straight before you start nailing. This is why I think it's easier with two people. One person on each end of the moulding. This also ensures that your corners meet up cleaner. Wood putty the nail holes and corners. Sand, and wipe down to get them ready to stain.

Step 9:

Use your power drill and drill bit to pre-drill the holes for your hardware. Sand down the holes.

Step 10:

Take all your doors off the upper cabinets to prep them to stain. I used the dark walnut stain from my Glazing 101 tutorial. Make sure to go crazy sanding these babies!!!!!! I used liquid sander on mine...not a good idea! Where these cabinets are over 10 years old..they've been sitting a while and had a lot of grease, etc.. baked onto them over time, the liquid sander does didly squat! I had to go back and sand everything with my power sander. Go over the cabinets you're staining a few times. In the end it's worth it!!! You want your stain to suck into these old cabinets, not dry on top of them.