I would tell DH that the odds are very high that you will most likely outlive him. Given that, it's better to jump in and begin to learn how to do some of this while he's still around to use as a consultant than to try when no one is readily available. And the last time I checked, making mistakes is a part of learning -- so let the fun begin! I learned all of this the hard way. My DH could do anything around the house, including taught himself to build furniture. He went from healthy to severely disabled over night, and 18 months later I was a widow at 56. Starting from ground zero with home, auto, and investments was one of the most difficult aspects of widowhood. Also, your DH being overwhelmed argues strongly in favor of your "taking the bull by the horns" now. Your cabinets have already been abused. The way I see it, they're perfect for you to learn and experiment on.

What about picking up a piece of cheapy furniture from Craigslist or goodwill also of plywood construction. You can practice on that. Show him the before and after. Sell it on Craigslist in it's new, cute state, make a profit. Then you'll have had a chance to show you've been able to figure it out and he'll probably be more ready to let you have a go at the kitchen.

>>...he'll probably be more ready to let you have a go at the kitchen."Let?"
Hmm.
The dynamics we don't know but being told you'll screw up sanding? I doubt anyone's that stupid. But it IS a stupid thing to say, IMHO. If that's the way a relationship works, though, better someone else than me. BTDT and never, ever again. I'd take my chain saw to their tires, first.
And yes, it used to be too dangerous for me to use that, too.

Well, I just explained to my daughter, who has never even held a screw driver in her hands, over the phone how to paint a laminate dresser. Judging from the pictures and her description of the final product, the project has been a success.

Is your plan to paint the cabinets? If yes, get explicit step-by-step directions with materials needed from this forum, for example, and start making a list of the steps and materials.

Go to the local hardware store (Strosnider's is great) or Home Depot on weekdays and find one of the sales people who seems to know what they're doing/selling and talk to them.

Also, what are your bathroom vanities like? They might be good for a practice run.

Finally, I really don't think there's anything you can mess up with sanding.

Agreed!

A search under "Painting kitchen cabinets" will yield tons of threads all repeating the same procedures.

It's not like it hasn't been done before. :)

Swiss_Chard_Fanatic, are your big girl panties fitting any better today?

Take a look at some youtube videos. The one I attached has more than 310,000 views. There must be some good ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: youtube video

Agree that painting and fixup is totally doable, however I've recently acquired two very nice sets of kitchen cabinets for free or almost free on Craigslist. Both cases people were getting rid of high quality nice wood cabinets a few years old in order to install the latest and greatest white fashion kitchens. All we had to do was haul them away. A little fitting and trimming, a few pieces of trim and presto, like new kitchen for 5-10% of the price of new. (and a lot less work than refinishing!)

Really, what can you damage by sanding a little? Just don't inhale the dust you make, and clean up after yourself. Now, if you were trying to build new cabinet or something, that's a whole other issue... But, then again, it's your home and you'll have to figure out if the resulting fall out will be worth it. Me, cabinets driving me crazy? Weekend project time!

So.
I'm changing my kitchen cabinets around again.
I have pretty given up on getting a grayed green color that doesn't look turquoise in natural light.
So.

I've built two cabinets (doors in progress) out of maple. I've vinegar-stained them and L.O.V.E the gray grain.
It goes very well with the Reuse Center cherry, beaded inset cabinets I've stripped & bleached back to natural cherry.
So.

That means I'm stripping two of my maple base cabinets. Now it's unusual to know what you're stripping off, but I know it's STIX, a layer of Duron paint, another STIX, and a 2nd, Cabinet Coat paint. These came to me unfinished, so I know how far down I need to strip.
So.

I thought I'd show you how I'm doing this, in place, with plastic grocery bags pressed into it to hold the Citristrip against the paint. I didn't even take the crap out of the cabinet. This is one of the corners:

I was married to someone like that once. The only way I could get any project started was to wait for him to leave, then start the demo myself. I'd rip out carpet, paneling, tile, shingles, whatever I wanted gone! He'd pretty much have no choice but to continue on with whatever I had started.

DH and I bought our first home...a cute little cottage style home that needed every room remodeled. We started with buying windows for the whole house. We installed the bathroom window, kitchen windows, laundry room and master bedroom windows...and then DH went on 7 days/week, 12 hour days for about 6 months. The remaining windows for the other bedroom and living room sat against the wall in the living room that whole time. When the overtime slowed down I gave him several weeks to rest up and then I got up early one Saturday morning (he was sleeping in and sleeps like a baby) and took out the old windows in the living room. Then I went and woke him up and told him what I had done. He was mad for a bit but then he had to get busy installing the new ones so we didn't have open holes in the house. Just start, how mad can he get...and tell him my story...at least it's not open holes in his house walls!!!

This post was edited by dcward89 on Thu, Apr 17, 14 at 16:34

Go to Home Depot, buy a chunk of wood (like a piece of pine that you can fit in your car, and while you're in the lumber section, notice how intoxicating the smell of fresh cut wood is?), bring it home, get out the sander or sandpaper, whichever you want to start with, and start sanding on it. It doesn't take long to get comfortable with the tools you'll be using, it just takes practice.

Make sure the piece has a few knots in it so you can practice working on and over those like in your pic of the door above. Buy a little tub of wood putty (in the stain aisle), practice putting that in the knots and sanding it smooth.

Buy a pint of stain and practice staining that sanded wood in small patches so you can see how stain behaves and the way to get a good look. All woods handle stain differently but the practice in application is what you want now.

Surely your hub realizes you can't learn how to do something if you're always prevented from doing it. And if you don't have turpentine (or the green equiavlent) vegetable oil will take stain off your hands, just slather it on like lotion and rub for a bit and then wash off with soap.

Oh, and listen to CEFreeman, she rocks the reno. :)

Swiss_Chard, sometimes you just gotta give it a try. I refaced our awful cabinets 10 years ago when we first moved in. I had a 6m old baby and had never held a drill before. Even more astounding, there was no Gardenweb to walk me through it. Somehow I figured out what to order and how to install it all. White melamine doors and drawers, some cover panels and some paint - for $500 the kitchen looked totally different. It still wasn't GW-worthy, but it got us through a decade. BTW my husband just watched and rolled his eyes. And I'm pretty sure I drank a glass or two of wine while I did it.

I have ZERO DIY ability but I notice that it all seems worse in the thinking/planning/considering phase. And as someone with no technical skills, it's really easy to psych yourself out: what if I screw up? I used to do a new project every weekend while my husband took kiddo #1 out to the park with his friends. Nothing wild, just a lot of painting, installing a faux tin backsplash, new house numbers etc. Then #2 came, things got busy, and a few years have passed. Now I get anxious about trying stuff. The only cure for that is just to dive right in. Good luck!

Ah... I was hoping CEFree would chime in... she is the queen of putting her foot down & getting it done - or at least started ;)

If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or similar, in your area, you can likely find some used plywood doors to practice on for very little $.

Good luck & keep us posted!

In case you haven't started yet, let me share something that worked for me in a house I own that is now a rental. The cabinets were so ugly I almost cried just looking at them, but I didn't have much money. I decided to try putting moulding around the edges (like a picture frame) and then cut some wainscoting to fit in the middle. (Actually, the guy I hired to do it thought I was out of my mind.). My ugly cabinets now look like custom Shaker - I painted them bright White. I used a granite remnant for countertops and it is absolutely gorgeous. The guy who did it for me asked if he could steal my idea since the kitchen did not look the same!

I just lurked on this thread since I have not refinished cabinets...but I was very interested in the transformation. Hopefully you were able to jump in beautify your kitchen!

Any updates Swiss_Chard?

I had those type of cabinets in one house. In addition to ugly doors, the frames/drawers weren't that great, so I definitely would NOT pay for a commercial refacing. Is there any way you could afford IKEA and DIY? Seems like it would be a lot better result, for maybe not a lot more $$/effort than all of the above ideas.

BTW, Irmaly, your kitchen transformation is amazing! Kudos!

I agree with practicing on a piece of furniture that you can pick up on Craigslist or at Goodwill. I've refinished so many pieces of wood furniture and it's really not that hard, just tedious with the prep work involved. Getting started might motivate DH to join in!

irmaly - what an amazing transformation! I love your counters too. Are they soapstone or granite?

Irmaly, you are a total inspiration!

For refacing, it can be reasonably priced. My mom had a great experience with the Drawer Depot, and one of the cool things about them is that you place the order yourself online and it updates the price so that you can see to the penny what it will cost before you order. (Or before you decide not to order, if you think it's too much!).

Here is a link that might be useful: The Drawer Depot

Thanks! The countertop is Soapstone (Julia). We absolutely love it. I can't imagine ever having anything else.

irmaly, thanks for posting the counter top info. Yours are gorgeous! I've been looking at granite alternatives to soapstone to save money but haven't found any yet that I like as much.

This post was edited by juddgirl2 on Sun, Apr 27, 14 at 22:01

Thanks again everyone for all the advice and tips. DH and I have had quite a bit of strain/disagreements over the remodeling but I've gained a better insight into why he thinks the way he does.

I've decided to just push the boundaries and go ahead and do things on my own a bit. First, I went out and bought a hand sander and some 220 sandpaper and some wood putty. Then I went to work. It amazes me how quickly sandpaper gets used up. He was right about that part.

I went to work on a door frame and a door that were both in need of repairs. Filled in the dents with wood putty, then sanded, repeated a few times, then painted. And let me tell you--that hand sanding (not electric, I mean by hand, literally) is a pain. I am hurting. Haha. I seriously doubt I will be able to make much progress with a hand sander on the kitchen cabinets. But I'll give it a try.

DH does have an electric sander but he claims that the sand paper for it is too expensive. I believe he purchased the more expensive sandpaper though. The ones I bought for the hand sander came out to about $0.19/ea. The ones he bought were like $1/ea. I can probably do better than that. Oh and 1 piece of sandpaper is only good for 1 small cabinet face. We have I think 12 cabinets and most of them are medium-sized, so there's the front, back, sides, and then sanding after the wood putty, so it could take 5 sheets or so per cabinet, which would put it at $60 worst case scenario just for the sandpaper. We'll see. I will be working on things some more today.

Really proud of myself regarding that door I fixed up, gosh it was so ugly before. It took 3 coats of paint and much sanding but you'd never know, looking at it now, it looks almost new!

Way to go!

I have a palm sander, and I buy regular sheets of sandpaper and cut it to fit. I'm afraid I can't speak to the exact price difference, but it's worth considering.

Swiss_Chard_Fanatic, I am proud of you! I know you can do this! I can't wait to see your finished product! I was thinking of painting my cabinets but mine are veneered with the thinnest piece in the middle that may crack if sanded and I have a soffit and large stiles in the of each cabinets partially overly builder grade cabinets. I also have wallpapered sides. My cabinets are not as ugly as they sound but I dislike them. I wish they were solid wood with no soffit and full overlay, since then I would paint them.

Please share pictures!

How awesome! And kudos to the hand sanding. That takes moxie, I tell ya! Yep, like annkh I just use regular sandpaper cut into quarters for my palm sander.

First, I must congratulate you on how you're rockin' those big girl panties! I knew 'ya had it in ya!

Second, 220 grit is more for polishing. I strongly suggest 80 or 120. You smooth the wood after using those grits with the 220 before painting. You'll use a ton less sand paper.

Make certain every so often to knock it on the edge of something and a lot of dust comes out. Another trick is to take an old fashioned (artist's) gum eraser and erase the sandpaper. It takes the dust out of the sand paper. It's worth the coupla bucks if you're going to do a lot.

Lynn2006, I'm sure this must have been discussed here, but if you wash your cabinets down really well, then use a BIN or STIX adhesive primer, you don't need to sand that flimsy panel.

Swiss_Chard, I warned you 'bout that arm thing, didn't I! ROTFL! I learned that myself after trying to manually sand 16' of lowers and uppers. Thought I was gonna die -- but then, it's always great to work your arm "wings!"

I'm looking forward to pictures.

Good for you, we're all rooting for you!

"Second, 220 grit is more for polishing. I strongly suggest 80 or 120. You smooth the wood after using those grits with the 220 before painting. You'll use a ton less sand paper."

Just wanted to re-emphasize this. CEFreeman is very right, using a little bit coarser sand paper will save you some time and work.

Here's the simple type of electric sander I use (mine is older and a different brand but just like it.) This one is about $40 at Lowes, and you just cut a regular sheet of sandpaper in quarters, and the paper slips under little clamps at both ends of the pad. I've worn out a number of these little guys over the years, they are easy to use and less work than doing all that sanding completely by hand.
Porter Cable palm sander

Good for you. As romy718 said, we are all rooting for you!

way back in the dark ages, I had a sander that was both an orbital and straight line sander. It was really convenient. After stripping a piece of furniture, you used the orbital to get all the remaining paints off and then you would switch it to straight line (with 220 grit sandpaper) to smooth the item for staining. I would actually go over the whole thing before staining the cabinets with really fine steel wool (which closes off the pores of the wood to give you a more even finish) but since you are painting, you really don't have to do more than the 220 grit sandpaper. I think the sander may have been a Black and Decker.

CEFreeman! Thank you. I am still trying to figure out my options as I do all these extensions as I really need to finish my kitchen and the downstairs floor soon.

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice, everyone! Well I finished that experimental door project and there was one complication. I used "Elmer's 32-oz Putty Wood Patching Compound" and it tends to form air bubbles no matter how well it is pre-mixed or applied, in some cases. It occurred in about a third of the places I used it.

I noticed the resulting grooves and pock marks in some places on the door but they weren't terrible so I decided to go ahead and paint the door anyway. The door looks a million times better than it did before. But I'm wondering now if I should go back over those areas with the wood putty again and try to cover those grooves and pock marks, then repaint.

Once I get this wood putty thing figured out, and once I buy some 80 and 120 grit paper, I'll feel more confident and ready to begin on the kitchen cabinet doors. Wish me luck! I have 2 more doors as practice projects that need wood filler and sanding and painting before I begin on those kitchen cabinets. Here we go!

This post was edited by Swiss_Chard_Fanatic on Tue, May 13, 14 at 12:50

Hmm.

Just for experiment's sake, yes, I'd sand with your 120 grit and go over it again. I live in the house of Good Enough For Now and I'm beggin' ya, don't settle. Do it as right as you can!

I use Elmer's Stainable Wood Filler. Stainable, simply because sometimes I need to stain and no matter what they tell you (for future reference) Minwax does NOT take stain. The 'putty' thing is throwing me off. I'm wondering if that's the stuff that never actually dries.

Anyway. Try filling in the holes in layers, vs. clumps. As it dries, it has to get all the way down to the bottom, which takes a while. It'll shrink some. If you do some, let it dry, then patch the rest, it'll dry more solidly. Seems like a small thing, but it makes a difference. Particularly when sanding. If it's not completely dry, your sandpaper can pull off bits and look pitted. It'll also make grooves with the bits it pulls off, as it drags through the not-quite-dry putty.

Another thing is to fill it so the filler is slightly above the flatness of the piece. That way, when it dries, shrinks and is sanded, it'll actually be smooth.

Swiss_Chard, in the scope of life, sandpaper is cheap. Tell your DH you're both not to drink a can of pop or two. You'll have the results of the sandpaper a heck of a lot longer than it takes someone to pee out a can of pop. Graphic? Yes. Point made? Probably.

I'll bet you're eyeing those cabinet doors with a whole new attitude, aren'tcha?

Point made, lol! Woman, you crack me up!

Swiss_Chard, you are learning so much and gaining confidence even when you make mistakes. Keep learning and keep plugging away!

But I'm wondering now if I should go back over those areas with the wood putty again and try to cover those grooves and pock marks, then repaint.

I am obsessive so I probably wouldn't be able to sleep until those grooves and pock marks were gone!

Love that OP is moving forward with this project.

Thanks to GW self empowering therapy sessions.

Between the money saved on a new kitchen and therapist, you can buy yourself a massage for those strong shoulders when you're done.

I can't wait to see pictures, good luck, and keep going...

Keep on working hard and smart, girl. All of those hours will build confidence. Work can be hard and fun. One foot in front of the other and keep on. It will look awesome and feel better. Don't stop, yeah.

You're only stuck if you allow yourself to be. Your husband is looking for any excuse to set up obstacles for you. I've done what errant has, just proceed with the demo and either finish it up myself or my hubby has to help. If I didn't start, it would never have been done.
Good for you for taking the initiative and doing some sanding. It's not hard, doesn't take a rocket scientist and the results are very motivating! Once you start you can't wait to do more. My sisters and I recently flipped a 50 year old home with impressive results...no men allowed. It gave us confidence to do things on our own and not depend upon the men in our lives to do everything! CEFreeman has some great advice, check out youtube,pinterest all have great tutorials for some guidance on just about anything....and really? Sandpaper for the belt sander is too expensive? NOT! Don't let your husband discourage you. It's your home too and doing it yourself is much more economical then any other option and you'll never gain experience if you don't start somewhere!

This post was edited by khinmn92 on Tue, May 13, 14 at 20:06

I would plan on doing at least two applications of any filler larger than a brad or tiny nail hole, and sometime even then. It does tend to shrink a bit, but you don't want to overfill because that stuff is usually a lot harder to sand down than the main piece itself -- like a nasty paint drip. Like CEF said, just a tiny bit will give you some leeway, but you can also get air pockets, cracks, etc as it shrinks. The larger the area you are working on, the more coats I would plan on. You could need 3 or 4 in some of your larger areas, but shallower fills will dry faster and the little bubbles or pocks won't take much time at all. When you get going on several doors, the first are likely to be dry by the time you get to the last one.

Definitely cut sheets for your sander and use coarser paper for heavier sanding and the finer grit (220 or higher) for the lighter sanding -- just before painting or between coats.

Glad you went for it. It just takes some time and patience, but can really pay off in both money saved and satisfaction.

I was just smoothing two of the antique doors I've been refinishing. (God bless Citristrip: no sanding other than this throughout the entire pricess!)
But as I was doing this, I realized no one had ever suggested the sanding sponge blocks.

There are areas you can't get into with a sander. Plus, whether or not we realize it, using fingertips as the pressure behind sand paper not only exhausts you more quickly, but it also makes uneven pressure.

I STRONGLY suggest picking up at least an 80 and a 220 sanding sponge. Get the kind that can be rinsed (i.e. the dust rinses out of the grit) and the kind that have a slanted edge. That edge will save you hours of trying to get into tight spaces.

Plus, did anyone mention always moving with the grain, or if you have to cross it, do it on a loooooonnnnng diagonal?

I don't even buy plain sand paper anymore. I either use my oscillating (round) sander because it lets you be less careful with the grain, or sanding blocks. Even my mouse sander and vibrating sander (square) are gathering moss in the garage. I never use my belt sander because it's just far too aggressive and can get away from me pretty quickly.

Anyway, when you go to the store, get a couple of these. Just drink a few less pops, right?

Ok guys! The summer heat has finally gone away (mostly)! This is the month that I get this project done! I stopped working on the project in May because the heat arrived and it was just too much. We don't have an air conditioned workspace for sanding and painting. And I tend to be quite messy with those things. I'll get paint on the walls, ceiling, etc.

BUT, now that the cool is arriving, I'm gearing up for the projects again. I'll be clearing space and setting up in our backyard work shed.

By the way, I have come to hate matte paint; I realize what a mistake it was to ever use it. We painted our home with matte paint because we were told that matte paint would cover up and hide imperfections. BUT it will accumulate marks and scuffs and imperfections faster than a lighting bolt hits a tree. So we will have to repaint the entire house with a satin finish paint. And we were told to use a high gloss paint on the trim.

Now, this is where the door project comes in. I was working on that bedroom door. I used white matte paint. I have to redo it now because you would not believe how bad it looks already. The amount of scuffs and black marks on the darned thing. Just waiting for hubby to get some paint.

Do I go with high gloss or satin finish for the door? What about the cabinets? High gloss?

Soon, my dear cabinets...soon...and pictures as I go too.

Swiss_chard - I bet you're happy to get started on projects again! You might consider a semi-gloss on your trim instead of high gloss. High gloss will highlight every flaw just as matte paint hides flaws (i.e. brush strokes, nail holes, etc). Also, it can cause a glare sometime depending on the lighting in your house.

And I would use satin on the cabinets :)

I agree, satin for the cabinets. Gloss will be too shiny, I think.Sorry the matte paint didn't work out for you, on doors, I agree its not the best choice for scrubbing them.

Where'd you go? We need updates!!! :)

Well, the weather has been sooooooo cold that we haven't been able to make any progress on this! Ugh! And the shed isn't ready yet as a work space; I did some cleaning and organization in there a few weeks ago but I need hubby to help me finish cleaning it up because there are some things that literally need to be CUT on to get them out of the way, and if I do that on my own I think he'll get mad. I will definitely be posting more updates when they finally start happening!

How do you remove the ugly '70s raised trim on the cabinet door (looks like one that Irmaly posted above)? A chisel? I don't know if I have it in me to do this big job, but the kitchen cabinets I have are hideous. They look just like some of the examples shown, including that skinny trim, so I'm considering taking on the project. The insides are awful and feel like rough plywood. Anyone have any suggestions on freshening up the insides without sanding and doing multiple coats of paint? Thank you! -Ruth

Wew, I can't believe this post got bumped! I STILLLLLLLL haven't made any progress yet on my cabinets because hubby and I made an agreement to postpone the project for a whole year while we focus our money and time on other projects that are more important. But I'll be back with updates when we fiiiiiinally get to this!

debookman, you should start a new thread with lots of pics of your cabinets.

debookman the trim on our doors was nailed on. A quick push under with a small screwdriver took the trim off easily.

Thank you, irmaly. Sounds easy enough. Swiss_chard_fanatic: I'll try to get some pictures downloaded. -Ruth (earlier signed in on my husband's account, debookman)

I would measure your kitchen very carefully and start looking on craigslist for people selling used kitchens. You can do amazingly well that way.