I wanted to share how I stained my cabinets and banister. We had just bought this house and the cabinets were fine as is, although in my dream home I wanted dark espresso cabinets. Obviously we didn't have the money to get new cabinets. Plus the cabinets were in really good shape so I started searching the web for some DIY ideas.
At first I was going to use one of the kits that they sell and Lowes but after reading some reviews I got nervous. Then I came across gel stain. I was excited about how forgiving everyone said it was (because I was sure I would mess up) but also the price. I believe I paid $22 for the can and that lasted forever! I was able to do my whole kitchen, banister and one bathroom each having 3 coats. Amazing!
When I was reading and watching videos on how to do it a lot of people were using a sock to apply. I decided to go with a foam brush. It was easier for me to use and to get in the tight spots. I also used a new brush for every coat because they were a pain to clean. So here are the supplies I used.
- General Finishes Gel Stain in the color Java
- General Finishes Arm- R-Seal in Satin
- Foam brushes
- Gloves
- Butcher paper
- Clorox wipes
- Sander
Here is a picture of our kitchen before:
The first thing I did was take all of the doors off. Make sure you label where they go! I took the doors off and sanded them very quickly! You really don't need to sand much. I didn't spend more than 1 min per door. You just want to rough it up a little bit. Once they are sanded I cleaned them real well with some clorox wipes. Make sure you get all the grease and dirt off. Luckily this was a newer home and they kept them pretty clean. It was also nice that we were working on so much of the house that i didn't have to be too careful of spilling.
All prepped! Now make sure that you wear gloves because I forgot once and it was all over my hands and hard to get off!
After the first coat it looked like this:
If I hadn't read so many blogs I would have freaked out when I saw this! Seeing the brush strokes are 100 percent normal on the first and even second coats. The gel stain is thick and you do not want to apply it too thick. You want really thin even coats. The hardest part about this was waiting for it to dry. I believe it recommends 12 hours but because I was living 45 min away I would just come back the next day.
Here is what the second coat looked like:
And the third coat:
They turned out exactly how I was hoping they would! Now it was time to seal. I used a foam brush for this as well, although if I could go back I think I would use a sock for this. The foam brush left some tiny bubbles and drips that I think could have been avoided. Again use thin coats and allow it to dry. I did 3 coats of this as well. Also it recommended after the last coat to let dry for 5 days before putting the doors back on, which we did. We also added hardware and here is how it looks now! I love my kitchen!
As I mentioned earlier I also did the banister and bathrooms with this stain. We had them put the banister in with the same knotty alder as the cabinets so that I could stain it to match. Here is what it looks like.
Stay tuned for the bathroom reveal! I'm loving all the things we have done/are doing to out first home!
