Revamp your kitchen

Revamping kitchen cabinets is a major project. Take time to consider all the options before you jump in.

Replace or remodel

This is the most expensive option and depends on what you want to achieve with your kitchen. To remodel a small kitchen can vary between  $5000 and $10000. A full scale remodeling of a modern kitchen and replacement of appliances, lighting, floors etc can go up to $50 000.Apart from that it is not a job that the homeowner should tackle on his own. Professionals and sub-contractors such as a plumber, electrician etc will be involved.

European style kitchen

A less expensive option is where you decide to replace the doors and drawer fronts and have them made by a cabinet maker. The boxes and other fixed units are kept intact and the painting or refinishing can be done by yourself.

Restore

Restoration is an option when the cabinets have an acceptable color but need some cleaning and some light repairs such as replacing worn hinges or door handles, knobs etc. This is a quick and cheap option but can make a difference in the style of the kitchen.

Refinish

If you like the original wood look and you feel that the existing finish is acceptable but need a new coat to brighten it up, you can always apply a fresh coat of varnish or polyurethane sealer. This can be a risky option especially if you do not know what type of finish was previously applied – varnish, lacquer, shellac etc. It is always best to first test the new finish on the inside of a door  where it will be less visible. A less risky option is to use a furniture wax to brighten up the old finish.

Paint

Painting is the only option that will transform your kitchen into something totally new. The main advantage is that you can do it yourself and if you follow the basic principles the end result will be professional and pleasing. A painted finish will cover up most of the imperfections of the old finish and if done properly will stay beautiful for many years – and if do not like it you can always repaint it.

Dry Brush Paint Technique

Dry brush painting is a technique where the brush has virtually no paint and you are actually painting with a “dry” brush. It is an excellent technique to distress furniture and has the benefit that you can more acurately control the degree of distressing. The technique can be used with or without layering. If you want the natural wood grain to show through, the paint is brushed with a dry brush directly onto the bare wood. Altenatively, you can put on a base coat first and when it is completely dry use the technique with another paint colour to dry brush on top of the base colour. In both cases it should be sealed with a furniture wax or a glaze coat or a polyurithane sealer.

Dry brush paint technique on old buro

How to Dry Brush

There are two key elements to achieve a good dry brush finish – the amount of paint on your brush and the speed with which you go through the process.  To dry brush on a bare piece of wood the following steps can be followed:

• 1.       Drabble a little paint on the underside of the lid or on a paper plate.

• 2.       Take your brush and lightly dip it in the paint.

• 3.       Dab the brush on a piece of cloth or a paper towel to remove excess paint. The tip of the brush must be “dry” with only a hint of paint on it.

• 4.       Apply the paint along the grain of the wood.

• 5.       Repeat the process but the wood must noyt be completely covered so that the grain shows through.

• 6.       When the paint is dry you can sand with a fine sand paper (360 grit) to distress rounded edges and areas you want it to look distressed.

• 7.       Finally seal the paint with wax or polyurithane sealer.

• Dry brushing pdifferent paint layers can give a nice distressed look. The procedure is much then same as described but the base colour should of course be painted first. The paint must be completely dry before the dry brush technique is applied. Always seal the paint.

Best paint to use

Milk paint and chalk paint are particularly suited for dry brushing. When layering two or more colours my preference is to paint the base coat in a good Latex paint. The top colours can be layered in chalk or milk paint. 

Which colour you use to paint the base coat is a matter of personal choice but for distressing I prefer to paint the darker colour first and then to dry brush the lighter colour(s). What you are trying to achieve is the look of old paint showing through a newer coat of paint. It is for this reason that I use two dry brushes. The first is to apply the paint and the second is to blend in the top coat. 

Best brushes to use

Any good quality brush will do. For applying the paint I prefer a brush with short, stiff bristels. The reason is that you dont want an even spread of paint but rather to get a streaky effect. I take one of my older brushes and then I cut the bristles with a scicors to get an uneven brush tip. The second dry brush should have regular soft bristles so that you can lightly even out and blend in the strokes of paint. The trick is to apply the paint and immediately go over the paint with the second brush to blend in the paint while it is still wet.

How to Paint Cast Iron Furniture

Cast iron and wrought iron furniture will lose its lustre over time and rust starts eating away on the exposed steel.  When it is time to refinish steel furniture, the best option is to paint it but care must be taken to use the correct procedure to get a durable finish. The following steps can be followed:

1. Clean the furniture

Painted cast iron chair

Use a cleaning agent such as sugar soap to wash away dirt and grime. Apply a solution of water and sugar soap with a brush and scrub to properly clean the surface. After cleaning the sugar soap must be neutralized with clean water. Leave the furniture to dry completely before starting with the next step.

2.  Remove old flaking finish and rust

Remove loose paint with a wire brush or use a drill with a wire brush bit to strip away loose paint. When you have a powder coated finish, use a sander to scuff the surface. Rust can also be treated with a rust inhibitive primer. Wipe away the rust with a tack cloth.

3. Apply a rust inhibitive primer

Apply two coats of metal primer with a paint sprayer or aerosol can. Another option is to use a good quality Direct to Metal (DTM) acrylic paint that dries to a hard durable finish.

4. Paint the furniture

Apply at least to top coats of paint. The best is to use oil based paint or alternatively DTM paint. Cast iron and wrought iron furniture should preferably be spray painted. Use a compressed air spray gun or a DIY turbo driven electric sprayer or a good quality aerosol spray can.

If you want more information on how to spray paint furniture, you will find everything you need to know in “How to Spray Paint Furniture”. Questions like what type of spray equipment can be used, what type of paint is best for spraying and how to mix paint and apply paint with a sprayer are covered in this 56 page e-book

How To Use Milk Paint

Milk paint has been around for a very long time. In fact it was the first type of paint to be used on furniture in the early 1800's. Ancient people in Southern Africa thousands of years ago used red ocher mixed with bovid milk (milk paint) as a body paint. The San people of South Africa used it for rock paintings.

Rock painting - taken from ancient-origins.net

Today the Himba in Namibia still uses a red ocher milk paint to decorate the body. Like chalk paint it has become fashionable to use milk paint, especially when distressing furniture. It comes in a powder form and must first be mixed with water before it can be used. Depending on whether it is new wood or previously finished wood, preparation will be needed on old paint and varnished surfaces. A bonding agent must be applied to the first coat to ensure proper adhesion. If you’re not going for a distressed look or you are happy with the current colour of the surface that you will see when distressing then skip this step.

The mixture for stain is made by mixing three parts of water to one part of Milk Paint powder (any color powder can be used). Stir the mixture well. A thin watery mixture is required and it is applied in even strokes in the direction of the grain. It dries quickly and the next coat can then be applied. The surface can now be painted with the desired top coat.

Milk Paint is mixed as follows:

One part Milk Paint is added to one part water. Add more water if the paint is too thick or more powder if too thin. Stir thoroughly until all the powder is dissolved. Apply the paint evenly and allow 20 to 30 minutes between coats for the paint to dry. At least three coats are required.

When you are satisfied with the coverage, it can be finished by sanding with a fine grit sandpaper. Now apply antique wax or a matt liquid sealer to seal the paint.

Tip:

Make your own Milk Paint.

 Here is what you will need:

• ½ Cup of lemon juice or 1 oz of hydrated lime (get from hardware stores)

• 1 quart skimmed milk

•  Sieve
• Dry color pigment or matt acrylic paint of the desired colour.

To prepare the paint the following steps should be followed:

• Mix the lemon juice with the skimmed milk and leave overnight at room temperature to induce curdling

• Pour it through a sieve to separate the liquid from the solids

• Add 4 tablespoons of dry color pigment or 4 tablespoons of acrylic paint very slowly to the curd. Stir until the pigment has dispersed throughout the mixture and the desired color is obtained.

 Milk paint must be used immediately and just enough must be mixed for use over a short period. When more paint is needed, mix again.

Tip:

Use chalk paint and milk paint for distressing on smaller projects but avoid on bigger projects and hard working surfaces. Do not skip wood preparation on previously finished surfaces. Where sanding does not seem to be required, sand only lightly and seal with a water based sealer before painting.

As an alternative, use ordinary ultra matt acrylic paint (the type used for

painting ceilings) to get the same matt finish. It must be sealed.

Spray Painting Furniture - the basics

Applying paint or other finish such as varnish, takes some practice to achieve a professional result. The best method of applying paint is the use of a spray gun. The spray technique can easily be mastered, provided that the right procedures are followed.

 How to spray paint.

Proper spraying techniques are very logical. Some of the basic principles for quality spraying are the following: 

Plan a systematic spraying routine that will reduce waste and overspray.  I start on the underside of a piece of furniture. On a chair for instance, tip it over and start with the legs and the bottom. Then turn it over and start from the top by spraying the back, armrests etc. Lastly spray the seat. Always work from top to bottom and the inside to the outside. Work from the less visible to the more visible areas. 

Make sure that you have adequate light. Keep the spray gun pointed perpendicular to the surface of the wood.  Avoid movements of the wrist. Move the whole arm from left to right.Set your gun to a fan pattern that covers the surface with the fewest passes and the least overspray.  Use a small fan pattern on edges, rails, turnings, and other narrow surfaces.  Use a wide fan pattern on large, wide surfaces.  

Start spraying about 4 -6 inches from the side of the wood, and move the spray onto the wood.  Keep moving at a uniform speed.

Keep the gun a uniform distance from the surface of the wood between 6 and 10 inches.  If you move it too close, you will make runs; move it too far away, and you will have dry spray.  You usually have to hold an HVLP gun several inches closer to the wood than you do a conventional gun. 

Finish your stroke several inches past the edge of the wood.  Make it a habit to release the trigger of the gun at the end of each stroke.  

Make sure that the strokes overlap to ensure even thickness. Also spray each stroke at least two times - one stroke to the edge and back on the same stroke. Overlap each previous stroke by half.  This will give an even thickness overall. 

Avoid spraying to much the first time around. Running of the paint may occur and then you will have to redo the whole process. Rather spray several coats to make sure you have adequate coverage.

Remember, practice makes perfect. Don’t expect to be an expert spray painter after the first couple of efforts.

First spray a test stroke on a piece of scrap to make sure the spray pattern is correct and the volume of air and material is adequate. After spraying a few strokes, stop spraying and stand away and have a look against the light to see if the painted surface is shiny and that it does not appear like a matt finish. If the latter is the case, not enough paint is deposited and it must be corrected by doing one of the following:

Make sure the paint is not too thick and the volume of air and paint release is sufficient.

Make sure the paint nozzle on the gun is open and not blocked by impuities.

Close the paint volume knob and spray to remove impurities. If this does not help, the cup must be emptied and the gun taken apart and cleaned.

 How to mix the paint

Another important skill that is required for proper spraying is the ability to properly mix the paint. In most cases the commercial paints are thick (especially water based paint) and need to be thinned to achieve a good flow of paint through the gun. Mixing takes a bit of practice. Water based paint can be thinned up to 10% or even more. A paint measuring cup clearly indicates the 10% scale and should preferably be used. A spray painter’s ruler can also be used. Always spray a test stroke to make sure that the right amount of paint is deposited.

Paint measuring cup

Most Acrylic paints must be thinned down to get the right consistency (thickness). Depending on the brand of paint you might have to do some experimenting to achieve the right consistency.

After thinning, the paint must be filtered through a paint strainer to remove impurities. There are different types of strainers but the most popular are nylon mesh or paper funnel strainers. 

Tip:

You can make your own reusable paint strainer from the same strainer material that can be bought from a paint dealer. Here is what you will need:

Fine mesh material (obtainable from paint dealers for 20 liter containers)

       Two empty 1 kg yogurt cups

       Utility knife

Take one yogurt cup and cut off the top part about 5 cm from the top.

Take the mesh material and cut out a circle of 20 cm diameter.

Place the mesh over the first cup and insert the cut-off top to hold the mesh firm.

The mesh is totally washable with water mineral spirits or thinners and can be used repeatedly.

As an alternative you can simply take a piece of elastic and secure the mesh over the empty cup.

  DIY paint strainer cup with mesh

DIY paint straining cup

I have been spray paintnig furniture for many years and in my book "How to spray paint furniture" I give details of issues such as the right spray tools to use, the best primers and paints to spray paint furniture, how to spray diferent types of wood and much more. You will also find many handy tips to
make spraying easier.