Bob: These kitchen cabinets were headed for the junkpile long ago, when an ingenious previous owner decided to install them here. They're transplants, and the cabinet-grafting was less than stellar. See the kitchen process for details. We were going to replace them anyway, when we got the idea to try to clean up/patch up these, paint them white, and put them in various rooms around the castle. That would have been fine, but when we went to clean them up, we discovered something awesome.
Nan: I look at these cabinets and wonder how I ever thought we could live with them until we got the house finished. Yes, I tried to talk Bob into moving in before we did the kitchen.
Boy, am I glad he didn't listen to me on that one!
Bob: That aforementioned owner attemped to improve these cabinets by rubbing them with a semi-transparent wash of some kind, undoubtedly over dirt and grease, and certainly over damage. Well, lo and behold, when Nan started cleaning them, she found that the added finish could be washed off, leaving most of the original finish and stain intact.
Nan: I remember, when preparing these cabinets for painting, I accidentally discovered the pine cleaner and water I was using to wash them began to remove the antiqued finish. It was a revelation! And we ended up able to refinish them and use them in three different rooms in the house.
They are really pretty now, too.
Bob: These are particle board cabinets, but the facades are solid oak. Here you see a number of them cleaned and sanded, awaiting final preparations before staining.
Nan: I don't know if other folk would think of these as salvagable, but we did it
anyhow. Just think of the storage we have saved.
Bob: The old knocked-around kitchen cabinets needed a few repairs. Some had side joints coming apart. All the existing toekicks were ruined, so the base cabinets all got new ones, one of which you see being glued here. Our neighbors at Little House just happened to throw out some perfectly good white laminated particle board strips that were suitable for the cause.
Nan: I defy you to find any of the repairs we did on these. Bob did them so well that
the repairs do not show anywhere.
Bob: We used Olympic and Minwax Special Walnut penetrating oil stains to return some life and color to the beautiful red oak boards. These are the drawer fronts and doors.
Nan: Bob says we, but trust me, I didn't have do any of the staining. Bob did it all,
and I think they are gorgeous. It sure saved us a lot of cash, because we didn't have to purchase
cabinets for the pantry, utility room, and upstairs linen storage. That's great in my book; especially
ye olde checkbook.
Bob: We used Minwax satin polyurethane as a finish, applied by brush. These doors and drawer fronts have the first coat. Polyurethane can be tough to work with, but this project seemed charmed from the beginning; we had no problems dealing with it here.
Nan: I sat at Little House and played on the internet while Bob did all the work.
Bob: Satin finish dries to a semi-glossy shine, and hides plenty of surface imperfections, but to make these look extra-nice, we rubbed the first coat with 4/0 steel wool and applied a second coat. The result was a super-smooth finished product with high durability.
Nan: I really do think Bob has a mouse in his back pocket; he keeps saying we, we, we. Well, you know how that goes. :)
Bob: All the way home, right Nan? ;-}~
Nan: Now that these are up, and useful, I think we can find something that will fill them.
Bob: This is a shot of two of the finished cabinets in the utility room. We are
quite pleased with the results, and all the old cabinets will serve us well in the
future. Of the eleven original kitchen cabinets, five will go the the utility room,
three to the pantry and two to the sewing room. The old sink cabinet (what a sad
lot THAT was) will have to be rebuilt next summer. We figure we'll just jack the
facade up, cut it in half, and build new cabinets behind the two halves,
as that's all that's left.
Bob: The first round consisted of the five cabinets for the utility room and one to go in the sewing room upstairs. Of course, one good round deserves another. After completing the first batch, we immediately started on the second, consisting of the remaining seven cabinets.
Nan: Next winter, this cabinet shop will be but a dim memory in my wonderful new living room.
Dim memory, dim memory...did someone say Cabinet Shop in my Living Room? I didn't think so.
Bob: If anything, these were better than the first batch...
Nan: Can you believe these are the same black doors?
Bob: I love this picture.
Nan: This shows the new dark oak finish on the once-black doors, and the two at the top
of the picture are the light oak doors that go to the cabinet in my (the downstairs) bathroom.
Bob: Second coat, wet. I caught it just right ;-}~
Nan: Isn't this just the most gorgeous picture? It looks like a pool of water!
Bob: This is the second batch of cabinets, complete. The light oak cabinet on the right is the wall vanity for Nan's downstairs bathroom. Note that the two facades in front are from the original sink cabinet, already sawn in half, and turned upside down. We are going to do something really special with them. Stay tuned for further details...;-}~
Nan: These are so delicious looking; they look good enough to eat!
Bob: The insides are just as they were, except cleaned.
Nan: I can only imagine the things that will reside in these beautiful homes.
Bob: I love these cabinets!
Nan: I can't even rememeber how awful these looked with that black paint on them.
Bob: Go to the top of the page, Nan, if you can stand it. ;-}~
Bob: One more time...
Nan: ...and we actually considered painting these white.