How to Stain Kitchen Cabinets

If your kitchen cabinets need a facelift, you may want to consider staining them. Updating your kitchen can add value to your home and does not have to cost a fortune. I recently decided to stain my cabinets and was amazed to find the wonderful selection of stains available at the national home improvement retailers. Before you decide to stain your cabinets, make sure they are wood and not particle board. If you are not sure, bring the door to your local home improvement center and they will be able to help you. If you are as lucky as me in that your kitchen cabinets are wood, then follow the following steps for a beautiful kitchen.

1. Remove all doors and hardware. If you are changing your hardware, ensure the newly selected hardware fits the current drilled out holes. If not, you can fill them up with wood glue. Let the wood putty dry until completely solid.

2. Use a sander to remove any old stain or paint and grease from the doors. Once you are down to the bare wood, you want to sand the doors with a medium grit sand paper and then move on to a fine grit paper. Ensure that the surface is extremely smooth for best results. Always sand with the grain of the wood.

3. Using a tack cloth, wipe off all the dust so the cabinets are clean once again.

4. Now it is time to select your stain. You can choose from an oil based stain which penetrates deeper into the wood giving you great wood graining detail. However, the downside is that if you do not work quick and evenly, the stain may appear blotchy. I like this stain best when going for an antique finish. If you are considering something that is more uniform and does not emphasize the wood grain, I would choose a gel stain.

5. Apply the stain and let it thoroughly dry. Both the oil and gel stains have polyurethane included in the stain so you do not have to apply a separate coat.

6. Once the doors are dry, install them back on to the cabinets. If using your old hardware, simply screw the hinges and door knobs, if you are applying new knobs or hinges, then drill the appropriate holes and install.

I created a white wash on my cabinets by applying a darker stain over the lighter one and then taking steel wool and roughing the cabinets up to remove sections of stain. In order for the finish to appear natural, remove more stain on the edges and areas near the door knob as that gets the most wear.

It does take a bit of patience as it is a multiple step process, but the effort pays off in the end.