Today let’s talk about a $5 way to upgrade your kitchen….one of my favorite DIY tricks…adding a glaze to your cabinets!
So back on Day 6 when we were talking about painting furniture, I promised you I would tell you a little more about adding a glaze to your wood furniture or cabinets. This is one of my favorite DIY tricks, and I have done it in the last two of three of my kitchens. But let’s backtrack a second….as some of you know, my background started as an interior designer in the remodeling world. My hubby and I still own a remodeling company here in Grand Rapids, Thompson Remodeling, and I spent over a decade designing gorgeous kitchens and baths and more. A lot of my clients liked cabinets with a rich glaze on it-it gave the cabinets a high-end custom look. It also came with a charge to do this extra layer of finish over the cabinets. If you are not sure what a glazed cabinet looks like, check out this beautiful kitchen. I wouldn’t mind doing dishes here!
So of course I came home and stared at my boring white cabinets and thought “I could do that”. Being the instant gratification girl I am, I slipped on my painting clothes, and dug around in our basement until I found some oil based brown stain. After a bit of experiementing, I found that I could simply paint on the stain into the crevices of the kitchen cabinet doors with a paintbrush. Then I wiped the majority off with a damp rag. This quick fix instantly made these cabinets look more expensive. That was nearly 10 years ago, in our first starter home. But recently I used the same trick in our existing kitchen. You can use pretty much any stain, but I used Miniwax Stain in “Walnut” (I used the smallest size, which cost less than $5).
It is a soft look, but it instantly makes your cabinets look more high end. And the best part is…if you mess up, just instantly wipe off all of your stain and start over! It isn’t meant to look perfect either, so loosen up and have some fun! It took me about 3 hours to do my entire kitchen, I also added it to my beadboard backsplash (I’ll tell you about my backsplash trick another day!)
So for all of your perfectionists out there that start to sweat at the idea of “winging it”, I will share with you a link from the good people over at Remodelaholic! I have been blessed to have some of my work featured there, and if you aren’t familiar with it…check it out….it’s a gold mine of design and DIY info! Here is a link to the best way to paint and glaze your cabinets!
Adding a Glaze to Your Cabinet Tutorial
Need to see some more before taking the plunge? Check out these beautiful rooms that all use the glazed look:
And it doesn’t have to be over white cabinets, check out these gorgeous gray cabinets with a glaze (or you can glaze over a stained wood cabinet as well!)
Want to see more pictures of my finished glazed cabinet kitchen? Check out the Portfolio section at www.postboxdesigns.com. Or check out my Pinterest boards for a lot more of this look! It doesn’t have to stay in the kitchen…try your bath vanity or a piece of furniture. Let me know how it turns out, I would love to see it!
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