When we purchased our house 7 years ago, the cherry colored cabinets through out the house were just OK to me. The cherry color wasn’t something I was crazy about, but I didn’t hate it either. However, through the years and with the addition of kids, the cabinets have taken a beating and the cherry color was getting “old”. I needed to makeover the cabinets in a bad way. So, I found a product and started with a test in one of the bathrooms. This is how the bathroom vanity makeover came about and turned out!
I began exploring replacing the cabinets, but that was just expensive! I searched on painting them and was planning on doing that when I discovered a product at our local Home Depot. It is called Cabinet Transformations and is put out by Rust-oleum. The premise is that you can re-finish the cabinets in easy steps and either make them darker or lighter. I decided I would give it a try and I wanted the cabinet to go to a darker color, so I picked “expresso”. I am testing this in the bathroom before doing it to my kitchen cabinets to make sure it will hold up to the kids and that I like the color.
With this product, the first thing you do is to “wash” the cabinets with their special formula and a scouring pad. This was easy and didn’t take much time at all. I let it dry the required time and then moved on to putting on the base coat. I applied 2 coats of the base coat on the cabinet as well as the doors.
After the base coat is dry, you can then apply the decorative glaze. I did this to see if I could get a deeper color. After the decorative glaze dries, you can then put the protective top coat on. I put on 2 coats of the protective top coat since this vanity is in the kids bathroom.
Overall, I am very pleased with the how the cabinet turned out. So far, it is holding up very well!
I am hoping to re-do all my kitchen cabinets the same way in the near future. I did learn a few things along the way with this product.
- Make sure you get the cleaning wash on every piece of the cabinet WELL. I noticed when I put on the base coat, some of it would rub off when I got to the glaze step. This happened especially in the crevices of the door panel where it indents. I concluded it was because the first step didn’t get in those crevices enough. This kept the base coat from adhering as it should have.
- Patience is necessary. You have to let all the different stages dry and staging this around the house to keep the doors and drawers from being touched, was a challenge!
Also keep in mind, the cabinet will not look like it was “stained”. It will look more “painted” than anything. It’s a great alternative to making over cabinets when you are on a budget and you were leaning towards painting the cabinets. This kit makes the process so much easier to go through then if you purchased all the items separately.
While I was making over the vanity, I decided to make over the entire bathroom. I painted the walls a nice soothing green and then added some additional storage in areas where it was needed. I took inexpensive wooden craft crates and painted them the same color as the trim in the room. I hung one above the toilet to hold extras and one in another part of the bathroom to hold towels. The crates were 7 dollars a piece and I already had the trim paint as I am changing the trim color in the entire house.
The total to paint the room and re-do the vanity breaks down below:
Paint for the room – 35 dollars
Cabinet Transformation kit – 78 dollars (have enough left over to start the kitchen or do the other bathroom)
2 Craft Crates – 14 dollars (7 dollars a piece)
Total= $127
This bathroom makeover was less than $150! You can’t beat that!
Have you thought about re-doing your cabinets in the bathroom or kitchen? What method are you considering or have you done and how did it turn out?
I was not compensated by Rust-oleum in any way – I discovered this product on my own and decided to use it and share my experience with others.
