Refinishing kitchen cabinets can provide your whole kitchen a face lift and a new look for a very inexpensive price. Kitchen cabinet refinishing is achieved by either painting or streak the cabinetry and cabinet doors. This is very inexpensive compared to cabinet replacement and can mend with dramatic cause the look of your kitchen. For the best outcome, a professional should paint or shame the cabinets. Great results can be achieved by an educated refinishing professional, inexpensively. However a DIY job is feasible, if you have the time and tools you can clearly refinish your own kitchen cabinets and stop even more, all that is required is some time and a couple of good tools.

For the best results, a professional should paint or stain the cabinets. Not to mention that a professional job will last for many years, probably longer than the finish you currently have. Of course, this will depend on the amount of traffic that goes through the kitchen. Just as the painted wood work and doors in your home need periodic painting, so the kitchen cabinets will also need maintenance. An advantage to painted cabinets is that any nicks or worn areas can easily be touched-up, thereby extending the life of the paint job.

Materials and Tools

When you start to refinish and you don’t have the complete plan thought out you may find that you have a mess on your hands.  So it is best to make sure that you know exactly what you want and also determine how much you are going to need. Don’t forget the simple supplies that you need.

• Phillips- and flat-head screwdrivers
• Drill, with drill bits
• New hinges and handles
• Random-orbit sander and 100-grit sandpaper
• Vibrating sander and fine-grit sandpaper
• Sanding block and 60-grit sandpaper
• Large plastic sheet
• Paintbrush
• Oil-based primer
• Oil-based paint
• Wood putty
• Safety glasses
• Dust mask

Refinishing your cabinets is a time-consuming procedure, but in the end is well worth the effort.

1. Before starting the project, you need to remove everything stored in the shelves of the cabinet.
2. Now, dismantle the cabinet. Remove the doors first, and then the hinges and handles. Next, remove the drawer fronts by removing the screws located inside the drawer. You may unscrew the doors in order to take them out.
3. Now, lay the dismantled cabinet on a flat surface, say, the floor.
4. Cover the floors with a drop cloth.
5. Clean all the wooden parts of the cabinet, including door and frame, using a sponge dipped in a wood cleaner.
6. Allow the parts of the cabinet to dry completely, before sanding them.
7. Check for any holes or damages in the cabinet. If yes, then fix them well before refinishing the cabinet. You may use wood putty or wood glue for the purpose.
8. Now, lightly sand the parts of the cabinet and then wipe off the dust, using a clean cloth. A medium to fine grit sandpaper will be apt for the purpose.
9. Soften the surface once again, using a deglosser.
10. It is the time to stain the doors and the frames of the cabinet. Find a stain color matching to the grain of the wood. With the help of a clean dry cloth, wipe down the stain onto all the surfaces of the parts of the cabinet. The raised panels of the door and the wooden frames shall be stained using a paint brush.
11. Remove the excess wood stain, by using a clean, dry rug.
12. Allow the wood stain to dry completely. This may take about 16 hours.
13. It is the time to refinish the cabinet. You may use a varnish for the purpose.
14. Apply two coats of varnish, with two hours of gap between each coat, using a paint brush or a spray gun. Either ways, the varnish will provide a good finish to your kitchen cabinets, if the coats are applied in the direction of the wood grain.
15. After the coats of varnish are dried completely, replace the hardware and the door. 

Cabinet Refinishing Tips

• If a new look is what you are after, look at magazines and the local home improvement center for ideas. A blueprint of ideas is needed before you start. 
• Clean, clean and clean some more. This is very crucial for the best results. Kitchens and bathrooms are difficult areas to keep clean. All soap and chemical residues or grease must be completely removed. 
• Try to have all the materials purchased before starting. This way you won't run out in the middle of something. 
• If you are re-varnishing kitchen or bathroom cabinets, consider a marine varnish which is more water repellent. 
• There is a wipe-on varnish on the maket that is great for the novice woodfinisher. By following directions you can get professional results with little effort. It comes in a satin finish. 
• If the kitchen cabinet hardware is not hurt it can be cleaned and re-installed. Nevertheless, this is a great time to select new cabinet hardware, liability so will let you genuinely add your personality to the kitchen and undivided the stunning transformation of your new look, refaced or refinished kitchen cabinets, on the miserly.
• Kitchen cabinet refinishing can be a large project that will take time and effort. Try to set up a temporary kitchen to minimize any interference with the refinishing process.