What a fine job of updating your kitchen...even better that you achieved it in such a cost effective way. It looks great!

It looks terrific. I'm amazed that you were able to do such a nice job with the stain. I keep hearing that re-staining doesn't work well, but whatever you did to prep, it worked.

The kitchen looks much richer and more elegant. Congratulations!

What a great updated look. Great job on the cabinets and the paint color is very complimentary choice.

It looks great! Wonderful job.

Great job. Glad you're loving it, that's the most important thing!!

WOW! Fantastic job, congratulations! What did you do to prep your cabinets?

Amazing difference! Congrats on the remodel!

Another great remodel this week without spending gobs of money. That's always inspiring to so many people. I'd also be interested in knowing how you prepped your cabinets and what products you used. Thanks....and congratulations on your 'new' kitchen!

Your kitchen looks great. I can't wait to show it to my mother, who is thinking oa painting her cabinets again. Love the stain and countertop. Enjoy!

beautiful!! i like your faucet a lot! and it is inspiring to see those HD subway tiles on the wall. we are hoping to put those up, but the boxes are sadly still gathering dust in the corner of the kitchen. i like your range too...we have that one and are happy with it. very nice job, congratulations!! kren

WOW!
It looks so fabulous.
Do you mind telling me how you stained your cabinets.
i have wood front door that is peeling, etc.
Also, what color stain did you use?

It is such a dramatic difference and it makes the kitchen
look so rich. I cannot wait for my husband to see it this afternoon.

Well done !

Wow= just amazing really.
But to be totally honest, you need to give us the info on your sink and faucet too. (they dont look original -- and they sure do compliment the whole look)..
details details.
The countertop, cabinet, and wall colors could not be more perfect.

I especially love the choice of countertop colors, and how it complements the cabinets and gives a really welcoming feel to the room. Congrats!

Wow! thank you all so much for the wonderful words. It was so much work. My back is still feeling the pain.
I think total we spent less than $3000 including the trim for the window, paint and supplies. We also bought a rev-a-shelf, we made a knife drawer which I LOVE, and we also made a charger drawer. I got tired of having all the phone,camera,ipod chargers on the counter. So we took one of the drawers we didn't use, put a power strip in it, made a hole in the drawer, plugged it to the wall and now all the chargers are in the drawer and out of sight.

The sink is Kohler and the faucet is Delta Victorian in Venetian Bronze. I bought those last year. I love the faucet so much that I actually planned the kitchen around it. The sink strainers are also venetian bronze from Lowes to match faucet.
Our knobs (you can't really see them in the pic) are also venetian bronze.

We couldn't do new cabinets but we could update them.

Not much prepping done to cabinets other than a thorough cleaning. The cabinets are made from three different materials (builder grade from late '80s). The inset of the doors is wood, other parts are veneer and the sides are wood-looking paneling. I didn't sand because I wanted everything to take the stain the same. I really just "painted" it with the stain. I didn't wipe off.
I used Minwax gel stain in "walnut". Then polyurethane.
It took alot of time mainly because I have a DH, two boys, and a dog that got in the way. Plus we still had to use the kitchen.
It was two months from the time we ordered the countertop until the last light switch was installed.
About three solid weekends of staining.

Thanks again, and this forum was amazing. I got wonderful ideas and now I'm completely hooked.

Mariana

It's lovely and warm. Brilliant execution of cabinet re-do. Enjoy and be proud. Bev

Good job! Your hard work has really paid off. Love the paint color - well, I love all the colors. They are very complimentary to each other. Thanks for sharing. Now sit back and enjoy!

---Boxie

You did a great job. The color combination is awesome. Enjoy.

Great job! I totally am in awe by those who refinish their cabinetry themselves :)

so did the gel stain dry hard? Wasn't it a bit sticky or anything? How thick of a coat did you put on it? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just really intrigued!

Thanks,
Robin

Robin, I did a thick coat like any paint job. It dried normal. It was only sticky if it wasn't dry. By the next day it was perfectly dry. I did a light second coat.

Here are my steps: (I typed them up once and saved them)

I used Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut and semi-gloss Polyurethane.

First you have to remove the doors. DonÂt fight it just take them off. Clean them really well. Years of grease and dust.
I didnÂt sand. If I had to do it again I would consider applying a dark primer (maybe black since my stain is so dark).
I used a sponge brush to apply and a regular brush to spread. It worked better for me. If you have real wood, apply the stain heavily with the sponge, wait a few minutes, then wipe off with a rag. The more coats you do the darker it gets.
If you have wood/plastic or whatever it is that they make cheap builder cabinets from then:
Apply the stain heavily and as even as possible with the sponge brush. Wait probably about 5-6 minutes. Then using a dry brush, make even straight strokes. This will even out the stain. You can keep brushing until it looks good to you. Sometimes I needed a second coat but not heavy just really a light coat with the sponge.
Then I applied two coats of polyurethane. This was the fun part because you canÂt mess it up. ItÂs clear!
I highly recommend that you practice somewhere. The more you practice the better you get.
I did my master bath. then started on my kitchen and didnÂt get my technique down until halfway thru my cabs.
I just hope it lasts and doesnÂt chip. Some ladies here told me that the poly takes about a month to cure (to make it strong). So be careful with them.
Also be careful when you tape your walls. As I removed the tape, it pulled some of the stain from the cabs. I have to retouch. DonÂt use tape or come up with a different plan.
Mariana

Thanks for the info mlraff53. Now I'm torn between painting my old oak bathroom vanity (like holly13 did in her kitchen on another current thread) or staining it like you did. I guess it comes down to whether I want to go light or dark....decisions, decisions..... :)

I was actually going to paint the cabinets white and get dark countertops, but DH liked the wood and I love stained wood. So we decided on the gel stain instead. Since I was going dark, I didn't want them to look like they are just painted brown so I didn't cover up the wood grain.
I did my vanity in mahogany (reddish tone). Also looks nice but I'll be painting the vanity white in the guest bath(right off the kitchen) . The walls there are dark brown. We'll see how I do with the paint.

Great job!

Now makes me think we should have (easy for me to say, cuz I don't have to do the work), a category in the FKB for reusing same cupboards.

Very rich looking!

Wow! I love what you did with the cupboards -- and I'm partial to subway tile. A lovely job -- enjoy it!

What an amazing difference! Congrats on a job well done!

Everything looks great! That's the prettiest Silestone color I've ever seen. You did a wonderful job.

Wow what a difference the colors and countertop have made. You should be proud of all your hard work! Love it.

It's amazing what a little gel will do :) (Well that and a BUNCH of hard work). I love the change and that counter is really pretty with the walnut cabinets!

WoW! That is wonderful!

Loving your kitchen.....Priceless!

I agree!

You did a great job. I love your color choices.
The silestone is beautiful!

Can I ask, was your backsplash DIY? We planned on doing a subway tile backsplash, too. And when we priced the tile at 19 cents, I never dreamed it could be THAT much, yikes. I know there's grout, tile cutter renting, etc. We may rethink our backsplash, cause our budget is TINY.

momto4boys, no the backsplash was not diy. I had both the backsplash and counter installed by HD. the tiles I think were $14 sf ($0.11 each) plus supplies. I believe I paid a little over $7 sf for installation.

Thanks so much for the info. I'm sure I'll be wishing we'd had the backsplash installed after we're done making a mess of it :) We've never tackled such a project, but I'm looking forward to it.
Dh is really loving your counters, too. I wish they were in our (did I mention TINY? lol) budget.

Thanks again!

LOOKS GREAT!! EXCELLENT WORK!! You have just inspired me to stain my bedroom set. I think when the weather gets nicer I going to give it a try..

Wow, it's looks like a different kitchen! The After is very fresh and classy looking. Congrats on a great job!!