Sabtu, 04 November 2017

Give Your Ugly Kitchen Cabinets and Easy and Beautiful Make Over With Antiquing

The economy is tight, yet you've been dying to replace those old, worn kitchen cabinets and now know you can't for at least a little while. But what do you do if you just can't stand them a day longer? Give them a new antique finish!

A girlfriend of mine recently moved in to a 1920's farm house in a small town in Washington State. The elderly lady who sold it to her hadn't updated the cabinets since they were new in 1960.

Being an artful faux finish artist, she set out to change them immediately. But she didn't do it by replacing them or even re-facing them. She did it with a simple technique of adding ornamental plaster pieces from a mold and antiquing them with a simple painting process.

I LOVE the look of painted, antiqued cabinets. I love the look of ornamental plaster. What the two together creates, is a very lovely make over of your dull, drab cabinets. They add such character to the kitchen, bath (or even a piece of furniture!). Here's how to easily get that elegant look:

Firstly, find a mold design that you really love. Craft stores carry a few in the soap or candle aisle but you can find many on sites on the internet. Simply search "Ornamental Plaster Mold" and these sites will come up. Choose a design that is sized to fit in the center of your cabinet door without being overwhelming.

The thing that is most exciting about adding plaster pieces to your cabinet doors is that they make the doors appear to have hand carved raised designs in them. Yet each piece literally costs pennies to produce.

"Glaze over paint" finishes are so cool. The technique can turn the most plain and ordinary cabinetry in to something much more interesting and beautiful. I love how this finish gives the cabinets real dimension and presence!

It can be done with any of colors, typically using a darker tone of the same or coordinating color over a lighter tone. But my favorite is cream colored paint as the base, with a light to medium brown color wash. It's soothing and inviting and doesn't detract from other decorating you might have going on in the room.

How easy is it? Ultra!

1. Simply use the mold and a bag of plaster of paris (found at your local home store) to cast enough pieces of the design for the number of cabinet doors in your kitchen. Follow the manufacturer's easy directions.

The pieces must be bone dry and light in weight before applying to the cabinets. This can take anywhere from 2 days to one week so make your pieces in advance to save time. Trust me, if you can mix up cake batter and pour it in a bowl, you can cast plaster with a mold. It's truly a cinch.

2. Wash your cabinets to remove dirt and oils then apply two coats of primer.

3. Using joint compound mixed with a little white glue as your adhesive by spreading the mixture over the back of the plaster piece, holding it to the center of the cabinet door for one minute. It will stick perfectly! Allow to dry for 48 hours before proceeding with paint.

4. Simply paint your cabinet or furniture piece with the lighter version of the color you have chosen. Allow it to dry overnight.

5. Mix the deeper shade of the color you chose craft with translucent wall glaze at a ratio of 4 parts glaze to one part paint (pretty easy, hey?).

Mix well.

6. Brush liberally on to the surface of the cabinet, paying close attention to the ornamental plaster piece, then immediately wipe off with a dry terry towel, allowing the mixture to stay in any recesses, cracks or corners of the piece to create a darker finish in those areas.

7. Once dry, seal with two coats of non-yellowing polyurethane to protect your new finish.

It's fast, it's simple and it's gorgeous!

This technique can be done on just about anything and if there is any ornamental detail to the piece at all, you will find that the glaze simply brings it out even more! To make the cabinets really feel new, give the inside of the cabinets a coat of paint or new shelf liner as well.

So jump in and give those ugly cabinets an ornamental face lift. You'll find you just might like them much more than if you actually replaced them!


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