Steps To Distress Wood Cabinets
Distress refers to giving the wood cabinets an aged or antique look. The user can distress the wood cabinets by following the below-given steps;
- Remove Doors, Drawers & Hardware: The first step will be to remove all the doors, drawers, and hardware from the wood cabinets by using a screwdriver or any other suitable tool. The user needs to put all the screws and hinges in a bag or tape them together for future use.
- Clean All Surfaces: The next step will be to wipe down all the wood cabinet surfaces with a rag dampened with a diluted solution containing water and grease-cutting dish detergent. After that, the user needs to let the wood cabinets dry completely before proceeding to the next step.
- Sand Wood Cabinets: Once the wood cabinets are dry, the user needs to sand all the surfaces lightly using fine-grit sandpaper. After sanding, it is necessary to wipe down the sanding dust with a tack cloth or a clean rag.
- Cover Surrounding Areas: After that, the user needs to cover the surrounding areas with a plastic sheet. The user can also tape around the cabinets in order to protect the areas from primer and paint spills.
- Apply Primer: The next step will be to apply a primer coat over the wood cabinet surfaces using a roller or a paintbrush. It has been recommended by the experts to use a primer that is suited to the type of wood used in the cabinets. The user needs to let the primer dry completely before sanding the surface lightly with a fine-grit sandpaper. The sanding dust should be wiped down using a tack cloth or a clean rag.
- Apply Paint: After that, the user needs to apply two coats of white latex paint over the primed surfaces. It is necessary to let the first coat of paint dry completely before applying the second coat of paint. It has been recommended by the experts to apply paint with a rag instead of a paintbrush in order to give wood cabinets a distressed look. The paint should be applied with a rag in circular motions and allowed to dry completely before proceeding forward. The paint color can be switched as per user preference.
- Distress Wood Cabinets: The next step will be to remove the paint from the grooves, corners, and edges of the wood cabinets using a sanding block. The user can further distress the wood cabinets by denting the wood randomly using a hammer and by chiseling off small pieces of wood from the corners. The step will give the wood cabinets a permanent distressed look.
- Prepare Glaze: After that, the user needs to prepare the glaze by mixing base paint color into the glaze in 1 tablespoon per pint ratio. For warm yellow look, the user needs to mix ochre pigment into the glaze as per directions and in order to give wood cabinets a grey cast, the user needs to add umber into the glaze. Besides that, the user can also prepare his own glaze shade to give the wood cabinets a unique distressed look.
- Apply Glaze: The next step will be to apply the glaze over the wood cabinets one by one with a rag focusing more on the areas that have been distressed. It is necessary to wipe away the glaze from one cabinet using rag before proceeding to the next cabinet. The step will give the wood cabinets a slightly worn & streaky look. Once all the cabinets are glazed, the user needs to wait for 10 minutes before rubbing the glaze with steel wool in order to create a heavy distressed look. The glaze should be allowed to dry completely before proceeding to the next step.
- Finish With Polyurethane: After that, the user needs to finish the distressed wood cabinets with a coat or two of polyurethane and allow it to dry completely overnight.
- Re-install Doors, Drawers & Hardware: The last step in the process will be to reinstall doors, drawers, and hardware back to the wood cabinets in the order of removal. The old hardware can also be replaced with new hardware in order to match them with the distressed look of wood cabinets. Apart from that, the user needs to remove the tape and plastic sheet covering from the surrounding areas of the wood cabinets.