This week I FINALLY painted my bathroom cabinets. This was not my first go-around with painting cabinets white. About a year ago I did the kitchen cabinets with the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit.
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When I used the kit for the kitchen I was disappointed with the price, the decorative glaze, and the top coat. At $150 it was not cheap. The decorative glaze made the “pure white” look dirty rather than antiqued, and the top coat immediately began to yellow. Over the past year I have experimented on just about everything and decided for painting the bathroom cabinets I would use my “DIY Cabinet Transformations Kit”.
I am super happy with the results. Goodbye yellowed 60’s cabinets, hello fresh white and clean!
I decided to leave the doors off above the toilet and it feels SO much bigger!
I didn’t “antique” mine with the stain, but I included it in the “DIY” kit for the sake of comparison, since the Rustoleum kit comes with it. Mine actually came in much cheaper than the $85 because I keep Bulls Eye Primer on hand for EVERYTHING, and my little can of Polycrylic has gone a LONG way since I bought it for my green buffet. I also still had the white paint left from painting the hall trim and closet doors. I think my total for this project was only about $15!
After a lot of painting what I learned is that the Cabinet Transformation kit is just common painting supplies compiled into one user friendly kit. Rustoleum prides their kit on “no sanding or priming required”, but when I used their kit I had to use three coats of the bond coat. Using my DIY method there is priming involved, but that is followed by just two coats of the paint, rather than three.
So here’s what you need to build your own (cheaper & better) cabinet transformation kit:
- Scotch Brite Scrub Pads
- White knit rags
- Gel Stain
- Minwax Polycrylic
- Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer
- Klean Strip Deglosser
- Ace Alkaline Door and Trim Paint
- Stir Sticks
Here’s a few reason’s why I think the DIY kit is even better:
- You can paint your cabinets ANY shade of ANY color, rather than being limited to Rustoleum’s colors.
- You can use materials you already have on hand to save money.
- Polycrylic does not “yellow” the way the kit’s protective coat did (at least on my cabinet’s it did)
- You don’t need to purchase stain if you are not “antiqueing”.
If you are overwhelmed and want the simplicity of the Rustoleum kit they actually have their instructional video and PDF directions available for download online!
Because I had purchased the kit in “pure white” for the kitchen and I liked the color, I had Ace color match the Rustoleum paint in their cabinet and trim paint and this is the formula they came up with, it is a perfect match (I’ve even touched up the kitchen cabinets with this and you can’t see the difference).
Don’t be overwhelmed by all the cabinet painting tips and tutorials online, save yourself some money and let me know how much you love this method!
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Probably a dumb question, but were getting ready to try your DIY kit. The bathroom and kitchen cabniet kit list have different deglossers. Is there one that is better than another? We will be painting kitchen cabinets.
Awesome! I’ve used tons of different deglossers and to me they all have worked exactly the same. I don’t think any are better than the other. Good luck! I hope you love how they turn out!
Hi Jess! Thank you for sharing! I really wish I found this first! I purchased the pure white rustoleum kit, it only came in quart size, so I had to buy 2 kits! I did not use the glaze, I too wanted pure white. I did listen to all the reviews about the top coat turning yellow and purchased 3 qts of polycrylic crystal clear in semi gloss, of which I only used less than 1/2 a quart. I had to put on 4 coats of the bond coat (there is no other paint in the kit) on both sides of the doors. I did not want to see any wood through the paint. It was exhausting, and it was a very small kitchen, 17 cabinet doors and only 6 drawer fronts. In the end it turned out absolutely gorgeous. But as I complained about how long and how many coats it was taking, everyone said there must be something wrong with the paint. So to anyone reading this, trust the process BrightGreenDoor and Jess has laid out. Yes, it’s time consuming but don’t let it cost you a small fortune too. My project was a surprise rehab for my Dad, the entire transformation was amazing. I’m not a flipper or anything but pretty handy. I’m extremely pleased with the end result, wish I could share some pictures. My realtor said “It looks fabulous, you did a great job! Now let’s sell it!” Lol Mind you I just bought it 6 weeks prior.
Aw thank you so much for sharing your story with me! Thank you for your vote of confidence as well. What a sweet and loving gift for your dad. It is a long and time consuming process, but is well worth it once it’s done. Thanks so much for letting me know!