A few days ago I purchased Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations kit to revamp the cabinetry in my bathrooms. The kit comes in dark base and light base which is tinted to match the color of your choice. Including glazed and unglazed finishes there are 48 color variations on the dark base. (Actually, the kit is tinted in 24 colors, but the glaze changes the basic color when applied to double the number of options.) The light colored kit (which I'll be using in the kitchen this week) comes in another set of variations ultimately providing a color for just about every decor.
Before purchasing the kit, I did some homework by reading quite a few reviews both on the Rustoleum website and by independent writers. The consensus was the process and directions were easy to follow, though time consuming. I agree with this assessment, but the large amount of time required is not because it takes forever to apply the product, but because each coat must dry before moving on to the next step. This isn't so bad when painting the cabinet frames, but the doors and drawer fronts have to be painted on the back (dry), front (dry), back (dry), front (dry) before glazing or applying the top coat (which dries for 12 hours before putting the cabinet back together.) That said, this is a simple process that yields excellent results.
In addition, the $80 kits goes pretty far. I completed a double sink cabinet in the master bathroom and am about to do a single cabinet in the guest bathroom without even using half of the materials. At this rate, I should be able to refinish my kitchen cabinets with only a couple of kits and have some left to work on my china cabinet, too. The finish looks smooth and professional, though I was worried after the first coat of paint/bonding agent. The coverage didn't look even and I was afraid I had ruined by cabinets, but once the second coat went on the color evened out completely.
The hardest part of the entire project was taking the cabinetry apart and putting it back together because the hardware fought me (and I couldn't get enough torque with the electric screwdriver). In addition, crawling around on the floor to paint the frame wasn't fun, but it wasn't really difficult, either. One lesson I learned is to be very careful on the edges of the doors and drawer fronts. The directions suggest putting the pieces on racks to make the edges easier to deal with and this helped a lot. However, since the racks take up space it limited the number of doors I could paint at one time (which isn't a big deal on the smaller bathroom cabinets but which will mean I'll have to do the doors in segments when I get to the kitchen). Also, be especially careful applying the top coat. It goes milky white and dries to a glossy clear coat, but if it pools in the corners it remains whitish instead of turning clear. In the end, if a mistake happens I think you could just sand it out and refinish that portion of the project.
Overall, I would recommend this product without reservation. It did a great job of making my cabinets look totally different at a reasonable price.
Before purchasing the kit, I did some homework by reading quite a few reviews both on the Rustoleum website and by independent writers. The consensus was the process and directions were easy to follow, though time consuming. I agree with this assessment, but the large amount of time required is not because it takes forever to apply the product, but because each coat must dry before moving on to the next step. This isn't so bad when painting the cabinet frames, but the doors and drawer fronts have to be painted on the back (dry), front (dry), back (dry), front (dry) before glazing or applying the top coat (which dries for 12 hours before putting the cabinet back together.) That said, this is a simple process that yields excellent results.
In addition, the $80 kits goes pretty far. I completed a double sink cabinet in the master bathroom and am about to do a single cabinet in the guest bathroom without even using half of the materials. At this rate, I should be able to refinish my kitchen cabinets with only a couple of kits and have some left to work on my china cabinet, too. The finish looks smooth and professional, though I was worried after the first coat of paint/bonding agent. The coverage didn't look even and I was afraid I had ruined by cabinets, but once the second coat went on the color evened out completely.
The hardest part of the entire project was taking the cabinetry apart and putting it back together because the hardware fought me (and I couldn't get enough torque with the electric screwdriver). In addition, crawling around on the floor to paint the frame wasn't fun, but it wasn't really difficult, either. One lesson I learned is to be very careful on the edges of the doors and drawer fronts. The directions suggest putting the pieces on racks to make the edges easier to deal with and this helped a lot. However, since the racks take up space it limited the number of doors I could paint at one time (which isn't a big deal on the smaller bathroom cabinets but which will mean I'll have to do the doors in segments when I get to the kitchen). Also, be especially careful applying the top coat. It goes milky white and dries to a glossy clear coat, but if it pools in the corners it remains whitish instead of turning clear. In the end, if a mistake happens I think you could just sand it out and refinish that portion of the project.
Overall, I would recommend this product without reservation. It did a great job of making my cabinets look totally different at a reasonable price.
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