Jel Stained Cabinets

01/24/2015

I redid my cabinets MONTHS ago, and totally spaced blogging about it. I really want to do a blog entry about this because I started out with HORRID cabinets. My cabinets were worn in places, and just BAD. Here is a before shot of the cabinets, and my kitchen:

If you look at the drawers you will notice there is a LIGHT spot, it is REALLY evident in the before and after pictures. That spot is just worn out, which means if I had used regular stain it wouldn't absorb into the wood at that spot the same as it would in the rest of the wood.

I really didn't want to paint the cupboards, but staining with regular stain wasn't an option. When I was reading blogs I found out about jel stain. It is almost a cross between a paint and a stain! I read online from a couple of DIY blogs that the best jel stain is from general finishes, so I bought it online and had a shipped! I used the color java and for my kitchen it only took 1/2 of a quart! I bought two quarts originally, just needed one!

To redo the cabinets I started off by removing the pulls and sanding everything down! I removed the cabinet doors, but opted not to do the back of them, a choice I regret. If you decide to jel stain cabinets do the inside of your doors too, trust me... in fact spray the inside of the cabinets so everything is one color when you open the door, and nice and fresh!

After sanding everything down I started applying the jel stain. I used my husbands old socks to apply the stain. When I first started applying the stain I didn't wear gloves under the socks, BIG MISTAKE! You want to apply the stain evenly and lightly! You can always do more coats once your current coat dries!

After I did enough coats to make it look how I liked I let it dry and sealed it. You want to do a couple of coats of sealer, I only did one so I really need to do more! If you have children than you ESPECIALLY want plenty of sealer! You apply the sealer the same way you apply the jel stain!

Here is my finished product:

As you can see I also got new hardware, which I spent about $1 each on through Ebay

I went with this style and did the top options. On the drawers I did the option on the top right, than for the cabinet doors I did the knob option in the middle at the top, the third from the left! Since I did dark cabinets I chose to go with a silver look!

Here is some Before/After Combo pictures, and some closer up pictures of my hardware, cabinets, and countertops, you can check out my countertop redo here.