Adding a finish to the wood, while time consuming, can offer a good opportunity to personalize the cabinet.
Unfinished kitchen cabinets often offer a significant discount to the homeowner. For a homeowner with good staining or painting skills, adding a finish to the wood, while time consuming, can offer a good opportunity to personalize the cabinet or to give the cabinet a higher grade of finish at a lower price. Select the type of unfinished cabinet that works with the style of your kitchen and choose quality paints and stains for the best finish. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove the doors from the unfinished cabinet. Use a screwdriver and save the hinges and hardware to re-use later. Place your cabinet, doors and drawers in a secure location with good ventilation and low dust. If you use your garage, keep the large door closed to prevent dirt blowing in on your freshly stained or painted wood.
2. Position both cabinets, doors and drawers on drop cloths. If you are finishing many cabinets at once, arrange your cabinets and doors in rows so you can easily paint or stain all sides without having to move your cabinets around. Cabinets only need to be painted on the front face and any exterior side. Many cabinets mount between other cabinets.
3. Stain the inside as well as the outside of all doors to prevent the door from warping later. Apply gel stain with the grain of the door or cabinet and wipe off the excess with rags. Allow the gel stain to dry 12 hours before applying a finish or sealer coat. Use a finish or sealer designed to work with the type of stain that you are using. Allow 24 hours for your finish coat to dry completely.
4. Apply primer with a foam roller and paint brush if your cabinet finish will be painted. Roll the primer or paint on first and lightly drag the brush through the paint to remove any bubbles. Primer allows the paint to adhere more tightly to the porous wood surface. Use an alkyd (oil) or epoxy-type paint for the most hardy finish. This type of finish requires good ventilation and each coat may take 48 hours to dry. Latex paints will dry faster and with less of an odor. Use a satin, semi-gloss or gloss finish to make the painted cabinet easier to clean during use.
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