Nice...love the contemporary vibe and it looks elegant. What was your process for the gel-stain?

Terrific update - love the contrast of the cabinet colors and your granite.

It looks great! Love the espresso color on the cabinets with that beautiful granite!

Wow - talk about bang for your buck! And I bet you weren't displaced for weeks on end either! Congrats on a great improvement!

What a difference! Great job!

LOVE the cab re-do and the granite looks great with them!

That is one great cosmetic transformation. Your cabs don't even look the same. It's amazing what a great granite and some elbow grease can do for you. Enjoy your great and inviting space!

It looks great and definitely not builder. Kudos to you! Enjoy!

Wow -- great job!!! You must be so pleased with the result.

Nice job...a huge improvement!

Hi khills...

Wow! What an awesome updated kitchen you have....Love it! Those cabinets look sooooo good... Like dark chocolate..

KA:)

Very nice! That is great you were able to keep your cabs and layout and end up with such a nice outcome ;)

What a difference it made to simply flip your lights and darks. Much more modern and very nice. Yeah for you.

You did such a fantastic job! And you probably appreciate the results more since you did the cabinet work yourself! Enjoy it!

Khills, what a striking difference for so little! I predict a lot of newly inspired viewers.

WOW! Thank you all so much for the nice comments!

@ dar5 - the process we used for the cabinets was very easy (tedious, but easy!). Here are the steps-
- remove doors, drawers, & hardware
- lightly clean gunk off with soap & water, dry well.
- do minimal sanding just to roughen a bit (maybe 30 seconds per door)
- use tack cloth to get the dust off
- last cleaning with mineral spirits
- 1st coat of gel stain. I used a foam brush to apply. Do NOT wipe off. You're basically using it like normal paint. Let dry.
- 2nd coat of gel stain, let dry
- I put all the doors back on and then applied a coat of poly for protection.

And thats it!

Khills, It looks so fantastically refreshed. I like the darkness of the cabinets with the Giallo Ornamental. Light stone and dark cabinets looks so good. Good job well done.

Wow! I can't believe it's the same kitchen. I really admire those homeowners who can take a builders special oak cabinet kitchen, look beyond it and see the possibilities. I was admiring your counter until I realized it was what I have but mine is paired with cream cabinets. The whole thing looks great. Well done.

Beautiful transformation! I can hardly believe those are the same cabs! They look great with your granite, appliances, and hardware. Definitely a successful update!

Thanks khills...I might have to try it on my small bathroom. It truly looks amazing.

Hooray Hooray! Love gel stain!!! I just talked a friend into doing this to her kitchen in Nov. Because I have used gel stain, somehow her project ended up being OUR project-lol. We got it done in the short course of one week. Really a Friday night, Sunday afternoon, and a few hours here or there during the week to poly. In fact,the next Saturday she also added in vinyl tile floors and new track lighting. They just built a beautiful addition onto their house and she wanted something to tie her over until they could re-do the kitchen down the road.! I'll have to show her. Again it looks fabulous-HOORAY!

Couldn't agree more about gel stain! I am love-struck by it!! It's so stinking easy, and for about $40, I have "new" cabinets. And I have to admit, I am NOT one of those crafty, DIY people. That side of my brain just doesn't work so great. But if you can follow directions and have a little patience, this is a super easy project.

It's a good thing you didn't have the money for a complete makeover because you ended up with a beautiful and sophisticated look for a fraction of the price! Not only did you save money but saved on the lack of disruption to your daily life. Enjoy!!!

Great job - really nice update! You must be thrilled.

Happy cooking,
Eliz

Wow, it looks amazing!!! I'm a white cab fan but when I see gorgeous kitchens like this it makes me change my tune towards dark cabs. You did a fabulous job!

Quick question - can you tell me what, if any, seams you have on the counter on the sink run? We have an angled counter run like that with our sink and are adding a bar behind the sink and are concerned about what seams we will have when we redo the counters so I'm curious about yours.

Just lovely!! You should be so proud!

@ regina - Our granite installer/fabricator did an AMAZING job on the seams. Most people don't notice unless you point them out. I believe (terrible, but I don't know for sure!) that there are 2 seams on the sink run, and 1 on the bar top. I'll take some close-ups of them tonight and post the pics to show you where they are.

That's great to hear! Thanks for offering to take pics :).

What a great job! Love the color on the cabinets and the granite. Enjoy.

beautiful kitchen! You did an amazing job...I love these kinds of makeovers!

It's beautiful! I love the dark stain with the Giallo Ornamental!

Wow, those don't even look like the same cabinets ... and I can't believe you did it yourself!! Fabulous job, and a great looking kitchen!

It looks fantastic! I love that yummy rich cabinet color with light counters!

Congrats on a spectacular makeover!

You must be so proud! Great job done!! What a transformation... Enjoy!!

@ regina - Took some pics last night of the seams. There are 2 on the sink run, 1 on the BS, and 1 on the bartop. As I was uploading the pics, I think I notcied another one of the bartop, but I'm really not sure! Thats how hard they are to see in person. But, regardless, this should give you a good idea of how they look. I think the busy pattern of the granite helps them blend in more.

All Seams

Close-up of sink run (no flash)

Close-up of sink run (with flash)

Both seams on sink run

Bar top (look to the left side of the pic, I think thats another seam I missed last night!!)

Hope that helps!

Ok, I'm getting a little dizzy from scrolling up and down, up and down, between your before and after photos...but I can't stop, because it's hard to believe it's the same set of cabs! The flip from light cabs to dark and dark countertops to light is just stunning. With the new appliances on top of that, it's just gorgeous! You must be really happy about it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to take photos of the seams. The seams look so good!!!! They aren't noticeable at all. This is so helpful :).