How to Strip and Refinish Your Kitchen Cabinets

So you want to take on the challenge of stripping and refinishing your kitchen cabinets? I watched my husband go through this step by step process and minimally helped. His advice was "It's a lot of work, hire someone!" Joking aside, I told him I am very proud he accomplished this task and he saved us a tremendous amount of money. He lost his job and for two months he leisurely worked on our kitchen cabinets. Our cabinets were a very dark and ugly color with areas that the stain had worn off. I wanted to brighten up our kitchen and so my husband was hired! I know, lucky guy!

Detach All Cabinets:
Take a screwdriver and detach your kitchen cabinets. Save the screw and attachments (and handles if you like them). You will find they are quite expensive to replace. We bought new kitchen cabinet handles in shiny gold for a finishing touch to our bright new cabinets. We bought our handles at Menards. Home Depot has a nice selection, too.

The money adds up quick for such a small handle! Thankfully my husband saved the attachments that screw onto the wood and hold the cabinet on just in case. He took the attachments and spray painted them gold. A can of spray paint from Wal-Mart is much cheaper than replacing all of the attachments. The attachments look good as new! He did this ten years ago and they still look great.

Find a Place in Your House or Garage:
Find a good place in your house to keep your cabinets that you are working on. A place where children or pets cannot bother the cabinet doors. Lay down a sheet, tarp or something to protect the area you are working at. Also, a well ventilated area as you will be working with strong smelling chemicals.

Clean Cabinets:
Wipe down all cabinets and wood with a degreaser. My husband used Clorox Formula 409 cleaner/degreaser. This degreaser is nice as it comes with a spray handle.

Take Finish Off of Cabinets:
Use a stripper to take the finish off of your kitchen cabinets. You can follow the manufactures instructions on the label. Always be safe with rubber gloves and an eye mask. You do have to spread the stripper to take the stain off and let it sit for an amount of time. You will probably only want to do a few cabinets at a time as this is time consuming and full of strong smelling fumes.

When allotted time is up, take a putty knife to get the paint or stained varnish off.

Sand Cabinets Smooth:
Next sand your cabinets so they have a nice smooth texture all over. Thankfully my husband borrowed his father's sander so he did not have to do this by hand. We highly recommending borrowing a sander if you can or do not own one.

Clean:
Clean all dust particles off of the cabinet with a dry cloth.

Apply Stain or Use Original Varnish:
You are almost to the end of the process! Good for you!

You can apply a stain of your choice. Buy a black sponge tool with a handle (used for stenciling, too.) to apply or any easy stain tool at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Menards or your local hardware store.

With our kitchen cabinets there was an original oak look to the cabinet once the dark stain was taken off.

Final Step; Varnish:
Once stain is dry use varnish for the finishing touch. You can find varnish at discount stores such as Wal-Mart. Also, Home Depot , Menards, and your local hardware store. Before applying make sure there is no dust or sand particles as this is the final sealer.

Our kitten walked across one of the cabinets. We still have cute little kitten paw prints on one of the cabinets. You can only see them if you are looking for them and in the right light. To us it's cute; to others it may not be!

So be sure to keep cabinets in a safe area for a finished professional look.

Attach Hardware:
After cleaning (Soak in water and dish soap for about 30 to 45 minutes. If really dirty scrub with a tooth brush to get into grooves; dry) and spray painting screw hardware and buying new handles (unless you like your handles and are able to gold spray paint them, too) attach hardware back on when dry.

Celebrate:
Congratulations! All of your hard work has paid off! My husband took longer on this project than normal. Depending on how many cabinets you have, I would think a person who worked solely on this project could finish it in five days. Remember my husband did this project leisurely. It sure was nice to have all of the doors back on and back to normal!

We both are very happy with the kitchen cabinet results and money saved.