I'm using Minwax Mahogony gel stain on my bathroom cabinets, it's a dark brown with red undertones. It's not as easy to use as I'd hoped, you can brush it on like paint but takes much longer to dry (more like oil based paint), rubbing it on like stain allows each coat to dry faster (and it loks more like stain that way) but takes several coats to get color depth and uniformity.

I sort of wished I'd used something else (and my husband *really* wishes I'd used something else that was quicker lol). Hope someone who has used the Rustoleum posts, I want to do my builder's grade kitchen cabinets but it'd take too long with the gel stain and summer heat is almost here in Texas.

I know this is kind of an old post, but I thought I'd weigh in. For awhile I have wanted to paint my boring builder grade oak cabinets, and I just today happened upon the existence of Rustoleum's cabinet finishing system. I was hoping it would be SPRAY PAINT (for an easy, smooth finish), but I watched the little video they have on their website, and the "system" involves a deglosser, a paint, an optional glaze, and a finishing top coat. It all needs to be brushed on. Quite frankly it seems to me that Rustoleum has just finally caught on to the fact that a lot of people are painting their builder grade cabinets (with good results) and they wanted to capitalize on that fact.

If you do a search, you will find TONS of very good blog entries with step-by-step instructions and before and after shots. Some bloggers used brushes, some invested in paint sprayers, some used oil-based paints, and some used latex. Those who had problems make pretty clear exactly what mistakes they made so that anyone else trying the same thing can avoid those mistakes. I'm thinking now of doing a "test run" on my (yup, builder grade oak) bathroom vanity. Any of the techniques discovered by these bloggers seem no more difficult than, and often easier than, Rustoleum's system.

I know you really want to refinish your cabinets, and I do believe that with the right materials and a careful technique, it can be done well (though it will be a TON of work.) But, maybe you can be persuaded to try something else. My husband purchased our current house (new) about 8 years ago, before he met me. So, I got no say in what was in the house. (He really didn't, either, as it was a spec home and almost complete when he bought it.) Unfortunately, much in the house is boring, cheapy builder grade, from the glossy brass doorknobs to the hollow panelled doors to the vinyl flooring, and I am slowly changing out small things to make the house look better and less generic. It seems everywhere, the builders opted for the cheapest items, and where there was a choice in color (say, white or black exterior light fixtures) they went with the "wrong" choice. (White wrought iron-style lanterns flanking the front door of a traditional white house with black shutters? Why not black, which costs the same, and seems the most obvious choice?!) For several years I have HATED the kitchen cabinets and have, as I mentioned, wanted to paint them (white, in my case.) My husband is really against this, as he thinks it would be terrible to cover up the "beautiful" wood grain. I might agree with him if these were handmade custom cabinets, but the sides of the cabinet itself aren't even wood at all! It's a laminate picture of wood on top of fiber board. The doors and fronts of the cabinets are real wood, but obviously, nothing special. Still... I have not convinced him yet. And, I'm actually coming around to the idea of leaving them wood grain.

I have found that with the right wall color and some nice hardware, these cabinets don't look bad at all. Fortunately, my kitchen is bright and sunny, with a patio door, another exterior door, and a window. I painted the walls Glidden's "Uplifting" which is a buttery yellow. If you do a search online the "swatches" will look very peachy, but this is not peachy at all on the walls. It's a cheery yellow, but not overly bright, and not too cool or lemony. I chose it from a paint chip and was amazed how well it went with the oak tone. I absolutely love it. (I'll just add that one of my two majors in college was art so I am sort of obsessive about getting color and color combinations right.) I also added new door knobs and drawer pulls in sort of a wrought iron look. I loved them in the store but wasn't sure if they'd seem too dark against the oak, but they look fantastic and weren't that expensive (I got them at Lowe's... if I could find a link to them I'd post it.) Between a good paint color and new hardware (and hardware is a MUST on boring oak cabinets) it really looks pretty good. The current countertops are a very boring grey granite-look laminate, which is not what I would have picked, but the color is okay for now and actually looks much nicer now that the walls are no longer white. My top choice for countertops is soapstone, which is very expensive, but we have a relatively small counter area. My second choice would be black granite or some sort of dark Corian. I also want to get a new faucet and at some point, a new farmer's sink (right now we have a typical double stainless steel sink.) Another long-range goal (long-range more because we're kind of lazy and less because of the cost) is to add a simple crown moulding to the top of the cabinets. But right now, with some plants and nice accessories topping the cabinets, and some nice little rugs on the floor, these cabinets look pretty good. The key to making them look good, I think, is to use contrast. I've got a nice 12-pane divided light window over my sink (and between two cabinets) and on one side of the sill I have a bright blue glazed flower pot and dish with a plant which is primarily green foliage, and on the other side of the sill are two 6" standard terra cotta pots and saucers, with herbs growing in them. I have a small oak (or maple?) table with oak (or maple?)windsor chairs on one side of my kitchen and on top of it is a second (matching) blue flower pot/dish with a green plant. I've got a small hooked rug in front of the sink which pulls together almost the exact shades of the yellow walls, blue pot, and green plants, along with a bit of red. I have some plants, cookbooks, and baskets above the cabinets... but the key is to keep it clean. This might sound like a lot of clutter, but it doesn't look that way. These are carefully-selected items and what I have come up with is sort of a warm country look that is still clean and manages to avoid the typical tacky dried flowers/wicker baskets/knick knacks of some country looks. An upscale look, it is not, but it is a warm and comfortable look.

Basically... if you're like me... you probably want - fiercely! - to refinish your kitchen cabinets. But, if you play around with accessories and wall color, you might find that you can make the oak either recede and no longer be a dominant feature in your kitchen, or you can actually accentuate it and make it look like nice wood and an integral part of the kitchen, rather than like the cheap default choice. I guess it depends on what look you're going for. You're never going to get a truly "luxury" look with these cabinets, even if you do custom crown moulding, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances. But there are other looks you can do, and they don't have to be all-out country, although the oak cabinets do lend themselves well to a country look. You can get a pretty sophisticated look if you use the right colors for the wall and the right accessories. You could go Tuscan, for example. Play around!