A kitchen goes from shabby to chic!

Lisa of Recaptured Charm shows how easy it is to transform a kitchen without spending a fortune. In this feature we show how she gave her kitchen doors a makeover for a kitchen that went from shabby to chic!

 

There are more than a few homeowners out there who are stuck with a kitchen that does little to inspire. Plain blank-fronted and melamine cabinet doors were fitted as standard in many off-plan and townhouse developments, and still are. But you don't have to live with boring kitchen cabinet doors.

Making your own replacement kitchen doors is pretty simple. You need SupaWood and can have everything cut to size at your local Builders Warehouse. Once cut, all you have to do is glue the frames onto the backing panel.

GOOD TO KNOW
Before painting SupaWood, use 240-grit sandpaper to 'polish' all cut edges. If you feel these edges that are fluffy to touch, but after sanding they become smooth. By sanding you reduce the absorbency of the cut edges and make painting easier.

After gluing together, apply two coats of universal primer to the doors and frames.

For kitchen doors you need a quality paint that offers scrubbability. Prominent Paints UltraMatt is a water-based gloss paint that is hard wearing and scrubbable. Apply two coats with a foam roller, using a paint brush to get into corners. If you don't want to glaze the cabinet doors, apply Prominent Paints UltraSheen or UltraGlossSheen as the top coat.

Use 120-grit sandpaper to sand around the edges of the door. This will allow more glaze to be pulled into the board and the shabby chic or distressed effect. For a light distressed finish only sand away a small amount, but for a medium or rough distressed finish - sand away as much as you like.

Mix up a glaze with 1 part dark brown paint and 3 parts scumble glaze. The scumble glaze allows you more time to work with the paint by reducing the drying time, which means you add as little or as much as you like until you are satisfied with the effect.

Brush on and wipe off with a cloth.

This is what the finished doors look like once hung and fitted with their new handles. Absolutely gorgeous! If you want the kitchen cabinet doors in another colour, use the colour as the top coat and proceed to distress and glaze in the same way.