Glazing Kitchen Cabinets - Pros and Cons of the Popular Painting Technique

Do you have an older kitchen with drab cabinets? Or a newly remodeled kitchen with matte colored new cabinets? Either way you may be considering glazing your kitchen cabinets. This is a process that is used and recommended by many interior decorators and home improvement specialists. As with any home improvement or decorating project there are pros and cons involved with glazing your kitchen cabinets.

The first thing you probably want to know is what exactly glazing is. Glazing for cabinets is a technique in which the paint is mixed with a glazing compound and applied over solid painted cabinets or stained cabinets. This allows the paint to be thin and to appear older and antiqued once it dries. One option is to stencil the glazing area, so that it leaves a design. Another option is to glaze select areas of the kitchen cabinet door to highlight features of the woodwork on the cabinet. Glazing a kitchen cabinet is an easy way to change the entire look of the kitchen.

The idea of glazing is to give an old tired looking kitchen cabinet an interesting patina, or pattern that will make it look old (in a good way) and a quaint look is achieved..

With a new cabinet, glazing gives the cabinet depth and an antique look. After all, while we all want new items we don't want them to look brand spanking new.

One great thing about glazing is the ability to create cabinets with a color scheme. For example in a country style kitchen white cabinets can be glazed with a light country blue. Glazing gives you the freedom to integrate patterns and colors into an item of décor that is usually either solid in color, or even just plain stained wood. This can really emphasize the decorating scheme in your kitchen.

Glazing kitchen cabinets is a task that even the most unhandy person can accomplish. There are many websites which offer helpful hints, and even step by step instructions. To view a helpful step by step video go to: http://www.askthedecorator.com/Glazing_Kitchen_Cabinets_Video.shtml

While glazing may seem like a wonderful idea, there are some potential drawbacks to glazing your kitchen cabinets.

If you prefer to see the grain of the wood, and have that as the eye catcher on your kitchen cabinets, you will not want to glaze. If your kitchen cabinets are already glazed you will have a hard time restoring them to their original stained state when you decide you no longer like the glaze.

Over time if you change the color scheme and glazing on your cabinets the paint will build up and can ruin the effect.

Another thing that could be considered bad about glazing is the cleaning factor. This is pretty much the same as any painted cabinet, water and cleansers can damage and remove paint. So glazing may not be a good idea on the cabinet where you keep the kids snacks.

Glazing is a great decorating tool that if done well will look great and can last for several years with proper care. Before glazing your kitchen cabinets make sure that you evaluate the pros and cons as well as your kitchen, cabinets and color schemes to make sure that you are choosing an option that will work for you in the long run.

For more information on glazing kitchen cabinets visit:

http://cabinets-n-storage.com/glazing_kitchen_cabinets.html

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_kitchens/article/0,,DIY_13925_2480370,00.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Glazing-Kitchen-Cabinets---Is-Glazing-a-Good-Choice-for-Your-Cabinets?&id=971355