My house was built in the 90s and by the builder grade cabinets, you can tell. If money was no object, we would hire professionals to rip out the oak and replace them with taller, shinier, and less oakier (real word?) cabinets.
But money is an object.
My husband has been out of work for nearly 6 months now. The only reason we are even tackling home projects is because you can only job search so many hours in a day before the need to DO something bubbles over. With the hubs home all day long and paint being rather affordable, we are getting things done around the house.
Therefore, I decided to transform the family bathroom without ripping anything out. I might update a light fixture, frame the stuck to the wall mirror, and paint things. But we aren't scraping out tile or smashing cabinets to bits.
I have been reading a lot about this miracle product that is gel stain. Java Gel stain by General Finishes to be exact. The product actually doesn't penetrate the wood, which suits us because these old cabinets need a bit of coverage on the damaged areas without trying to get the perfect painted finish that latex paint provides. Our cabinets were crap-tastic enough to go for a slightly 'rustic' look. If we put a few silver handles on them, we can even call it 'Industrial'?
Anyway, General Finishes had Brown Mahogany on Amazon.com. I preferred the look of it to Java Gel Stain. I could also get the Gel Topcoat in Satin from Amazon. Great! That will do. If it looks awful, then I am no worse off.
Check out the before. One big plus with these 90s cabinets is I was able to flip them over so that the water warped top of the left drawer would become the hidden bottom of the right drawer. Yippeeeee!
After scrubbing them clean, sanding with extra fine sandpaper, wiping the dust off, and 1 coat of gel stain. Terrible picture, I know. Didn't realize that at the time.
1 week later, I got to do the second coat of gel stain. I did sand between coats. Another week later, there was time to put on the gel topcoat in Satin. Here are the drawers drying in the garage, propped up on painters pyramids.
Here is the final product (2 coats of gel stain and 2 coats of gel topcoat later).
I do hope to put on some satin finish handles. Like the inflatable bathtub?
Don't worry about the other hideous aspects of this bathroom- the tan colored vanity counters are going to be resurfaced, the wooden trim painted white, the walls painted blue or gray, and the grout painted and sealed.
The cabinets took about 4 weeks. We have an infant, a preschooler, and no family around to watch the kids while we get a project done. I did this project in stages, each stage being complete after the kids were in bed. It took me 2 weeks to getting around to putting the first clear gel topcoat on. We had the doors in the garage and simply walked around them every day. The bathroom was closed off for 4 weeks and the kids used our master bath. That sort of long time between steps works well for busy families and for the gel stain. The gel needs a long time to fully harden. Don't rush it. If you are like me, you won't have a choice.
My thoughts on this product?
It's great. The product is like pudding, but you will still get drips. Nail polish remover helped me tidy up drips that got on the bathroom tile. Otherwise, fully cover adjacent surfaces and wear clothes you don't mind ruining.
Oh yes, and don't skimp on the prep. WASH, WIPE, EXTRA FINE SAND, WIPE AGAIN! Anywhere I didn't fully clean the surface shows when you put the stain on. Just check out my blog about the mantel piece to see what happens. Please note I did not write this as a detailed how to. I did what you are probably doing right now. I read a ton of other posts that had the list of supplies and went from there. If you really want more information from me, just ask. I am happy to respond.
I look forward to sharing more d.i.y. projects with you. We plan on completely refinishing this bathroom without ripping anything out so stay tuned. Not sure how it will all look when it's done, but will have to give it a go.
But money is an object.
My husband has been out of work for nearly 6 months now. The only reason we are even tackling home projects is because you can only job search so many hours in a day before the need to DO something bubbles over. With the hubs home all day long and paint being rather affordable, we are getting things done around the house.
Therefore, I decided to transform the family bathroom without ripping anything out. I might update a light fixture, frame the stuck to the wall mirror, and paint things. But we aren't scraping out tile or smashing cabinets to bits.
I have been reading a lot about this miracle product that is gel stain. Java Gel stain by General Finishes to be exact. The product actually doesn't penetrate the wood, which suits us because these old cabinets need a bit of coverage on the damaged areas without trying to get the perfect painted finish that latex paint provides. Our cabinets were crap-tastic enough to go for a slightly 'rustic' look. If we put a few silver handles on them, we can even call it 'Industrial'?
Anyway, General Finishes had Brown Mahogany on Amazon.com. I preferred the look of it to Java Gel Stain. I could also get the Gel Topcoat in Satin from Amazon. Great! That will do. If it looks awful, then I am no worse off.
Check out the before. One big plus with these 90s cabinets is I was able to flip them over so that the water warped top of the left drawer would become the hidden bottom of the right drawer. Yippeeeee!
After scrubbing them clean, sanding with extra fine sandpaper, wiping the dust off, and 1 coat of gel stain. Terrible picture, I know. Didn't realize that at the time.
1 week later, I got to do the second coat of gel stain. I did sand between coats. Another week later, there was time to put on the gel topcoat in Satin. Here are the drawers drying in the garage, propped up on painters pyramids.
I do hope to put on some satin finish handles. Like the inflatable bathtub?
Don't worry about the other hideous aspects of this bathroom- the tan colored vanity counters are going to be resurfaced, the wooden trim painted white, the walls painted blue or gray, and the grout painted and sealed.
The cabinets took about 4 weeks. We have an infant, a preschooler, and no family around to watch the kids while we get a project done. I did this project in stages, each stage being complete after the kids were in bed. It took me 2 weeks to getting around to putting the first clear gel topcoat on. We had the doors in the garage and simply walked around them every day. The bathroom was closed off for 4 weeks and the kids used our master bath. That sort of long time between steps works well for busy families and for the gel stain. The gel needs a long time to fully harden. Don't rush it. If you are like me, you won't have a choice.
My thoughts on this product?
It's great. The product is like pudding, but you will still get drips. Nail polish remover helped me tidy up drips that got on the bathroom tile. Otherwise, fully cover adjacent surfaces and wear clothes you don't mind ruining.
Oh yes, and don't skimp on the prep. WASH, WIPE, EXTRA FINE SAND, WIPE AGAIN! Anywhere I didn't fully clean the surface shows when you put the stain on. Just check out my blog about the mantel piece to see what happens. Please note I did not write this as a detailed how to. I did what you are probably doing right now. I read a ton of other posts that had the list of supplies and went from there. If you really want more information from me, just ask. I am happy to respond.
I look forward to sharing more d.i.y. projects with you. We plan on completely refinishing this bathroom without ripping anything out so stay tuned. Not sure how it will all look when it's done, but will have to give it a go.
Have you ever wished you could see exactly what your project would look like when finished. Enter this post. I wanted to gel stain our vanity with General Finishes Brown Mahogany. This is our vanity, with that counter top and those exact faucets. Only the tile and the baby toys are different. Actually, slightly creepy.... Thanks for showing me the finished look. Off to order gel stain!!
ReplyDeleteawesome. Glad this was useful for you!
Delete