So it begins.
My sister and I have been plotting since my visit to her house last year, a kitchen transformation. We are 1+ months away from beginning our endeavor. However, we really haven't done much besides Pin things and come up with lots of ideas (and opinions about what, how and why things are done). One of the options we have been looking at for refinishing her kitchen cabinets is the Rust-oleum Furniture Transformations product line (btw, we do not represent nor or we affiliated with any of the products we mention here. We are sisters who are enthusiasts of all things related to tablescaping, couponing, tasty easy dishes and improving our homes).
I decided it would be best if I took a stab at something smaller to see:
- How it would work
- How long the steps ACTUALLY take
- Know what I would do differently the next time I used the product. Trust me, there is always something to Step #3.
Our kitchen table was a prime candidate. As you can see from the picture above, it was in desperate need of .......something. I had been considering an ax, but my DH who is Northern Minnesotan practical nixed that idea pretty quickly. Since the table was finished with a lighter color on top than the espresso color that was used on the bottom. I decided to use the Rustic color.
The first step in the process is to apply a deglosser, which is part of the kit. After waiting one hour, a bond coat is applied.
Here is a picture of how the table looked after the 1st Bond Coat:
The instructions say to wait 2-3 hours to apply the 2nd Bond Coat - waited 2.5
and it looked like this:
So, not a lot different just more orange-y. After waiting the next 3 hours, I then applied the 3rd step which is the Decorative Glaze. This step is optional but I liked the way it looked on the sample at Home Depot and the glaze in my opinion looks less "painted". This step was a little more tricky - as the glaze is pretty runny. I applied with a synthetic 1.5 inch brush, the instructions recommend a 2 inch brush, but it was late and I am lazy. This is what I had on hand. The kit comes with a small roll of gauze that you use to smear the glaze. More pressure = less glaze, less pressure = more glaze.
I ended up doing a combination of "gauzing" and dry brushing.
This is how the table looked after the Decorative Finish Step:
The decorative glaze needs to dry 8 hours, so I called it a night and went to bed.
Pretty pleased with myself, might I add (well at least pleased that the table looked better, not worse than when I had started. Admittedly, the bar was low).
This morning I got up and put on the final step in the Transformation:
The Protective Coat.
The table was in pretty bad condition when I started and should have been sanded to alleviate problems with uneven finish. I didn't really have the patience for the whole "sanding thing".... as I figured it didn't need to be perfect, any improvement to this table would be great. However, I came to regret this decision when I added Step 5. The imperfections in the table were a little more obvious - you can't tell in the picture (thanks iPhone 4). But I felt the need to add a 2nd coat to help level it out.
This was actually the trickiest part of the table reformation - it's easy to leave streaks in the finish and the instructions say to not overlap sections, which is probably easy for smaller things like - cabinet doors, but pretty horrid for large things like a kitchen table, for instance.
A light sanding in between coats should have been in order - but I didn't.
This is how the table turned out:
I'm pretty happy with the results.
It took my a day and a half to complete, most of the time involved was waiting time.
Things I would do differently next time, more variety of brushes to apply the decorative glaze and I probably would invest sometime making sure the surface of the project is even (i.e. sand it if it needs it). I think however, this is a winner for lil' sis' cabinet project due to the ease, low cost and no need to strip, prime or any of that business.
