The Kitchen Cabinet Remodel

When we purchased the home it was last remodeled in the 1980's and it showed.  The worst being the yellow oak cabinets.  But of course it being real wood my husband absolutely would NOT let me paint them.  What it is it with men and not being able to paint wood??!  Well I had to figure something out.  I was never going to get my dream white kitchen. But as I learned with this house remodel, sometimes you just have to pick your battles.  And this was one of them. This leads me to my next DIY.  How to turn your yellow oak cabinets into something beautiful!

Here is just before we started.  (Sorry for the mess, I am terrible about doing good before photos- I just wanted it done!)

Where to begin..  Lucky for me my dad is very handy and knowledgeable about wood working and led the way.  I was nervous how they would turn out, but I learned you have lots of control with staining.  First off, the old finish needs to be removed.  Not stripped, just scuffed up enough for the new stain to penetrate the wood.  

To do this, the first step is to take 220 sand paper and lightly sand the cabinets.  Remember with sandpaper also to go WITH the grain.  Next we took a Scotch Brite scouring pad to further scuff up the old finish.  These come in packs and are less than 5$ at the store.  I used a Heavy Duty Scotch Brite.  After a few hours of scrubbing each door and cabinet, a rag was used to clean off leftover dust and dirt.  With a clean and dry surface, we were ready to stain!! 

Now here can be the tricky part.  I did not strip the cabinets so whatever stain picked the cabinets will not be that exact color.   Also to note, depending on the stain and how long you let the stain sit will ultimately affect the finish look.  I recommend practicing on a place that won't be easily seen as a test area. I ended up choosing a Dark Walnut Minwax stain.  As I said earlier, the longer you let it sit the darker the finish. After applying the stain with either a rag or a sponge brush, use a clean rag to rub off the stain.

 

I added this last picture to show what the cabinets looked like after just applying the stain before wiping.  Don't let this dark look scare you if this is your first time staining.  Most of it wipes off and the grain in the wood turns darker.

Well, I am not the best picture taker.  But hopefully you can see the difference!  Oil based Polyurethane as it ages tends to turn wood a yellowish color.  Because of this most choose to go with a water base poly, BUT I will say from my experience water base polyurethane does not hold up as well, and in time and requires more maintenance. For this reason, and being that the kitchen cabinets take a great deal of abuse, I chose again to apply the finish coat with an oil based polyurethane satin finish.  I believe the oil base polyurethane brings out the grains of the wood.  Yes, there is much debate on what to use and which one is better, but ultimately it is a personal preference. For why I chose a satin finish, mostly I didn't want shiny 1980's cabinets. Yuck.

How it all Began

When we purchased the home, I knew it had some flaws.  I knew we needed to remodel.  But when and where to begin was the hardest.

I have to start by saying, poor Doug.  I will admit, I was one of those nagging housewives, begging him to start on a few house projects.  I didn't like anything.  From the vinyl floors to the cheap wood paneling and wallpaper.  It was a constant battle trying to make your new home "your own," all while fighting the ugly blue wallpaper that made decorating for Christmas a nightmare.  Well, after a little too much DIY telvesion and Nichole Curtis on Rehab Addict, I think he had enough.  If you have ever watch Rehab Addict you would know at the beginning of each show, they show her uncovering brick behind a wall saying, "I just want brick!"  Doug had always known we had brick hidden behind our cupboards, yet I was oblivious of this the entire time.  He had watched a few of her shows unwillingly to say the least and after he spilled the beans to me that we ourselves had brick hidden, I wouldn't let it go!  Every day I would chant, "I just want brick!!!"  Then finally he had it.  While eating steak dinner I made for us in our simple old farmhouse he got up and at that moment decided he would show me.  With the cupboards full of baking supplies he unloaded the shelves on the floor and said, "Well here you go!! There is no turning back now!" 

Sadly to my disappointment, the brick was nothing like what I had seen on Rehad Addict or any Pinterest photo I had seen.  The brick had pink plaster stuck to it and the mortar was corroded.  Even the bricks themselves weren't the pretty red I had imagined.  They were orange and brown and stacked crooked.   Doug named it, "The Leaning Tower of Pisa," and he too wanted to remove it.  

This photo is a few days later after much more mess and demolition.

Now that you have seen the before photos and a long and probably boring story, here is my first

How To:

We used wire brushes and muriatic acid to clean the brick.  I think I've heard the saying, "a little bit of elbow grease goes a long ways."  Well that may be true.  But with this mess it was most like A LOT of elbow grease.  After hours of using scrapers, flat blade screw drives and wire brushes it finally was starting to look better.  Next, it had to be re-grouted.  To do this Doug had to purchase a tool called a "Tuck Pointer."  He then spent hours removing the old grout and then re-grouting.  He told me he lost his finger prints with this job and was now somehow "unidentifiable." (My husband thinks he's funny.)  After the new grout and another good cleaning, the brick was finally looking better. Lastly, he used an oil base cement sealer and it was finally finished!