Three Secrets to Faux Painting for Cabinet Refacing Success

Refacing your kitchen cabinets is a great way to get a new look for your kitchen at a price that is often half or less of what it would cost to remodel. But let's say you're interested in refacing because of its money-saving and environmentally-friendly aspects and you want to change your kitchen's style while keeping the cabinet boxes, doors, and drawer fronts that you already have. Furthermore, what if the rest of your house has a comfortable, time-worn, down-home feel, and a new shiny kitchen would just seem out of place?

If this is the case with your kitchen, why not consider painting your kitchen cabinets using a faux finish that creates a purposefully well-worn look? It's a refacing job that saves money, and if you plan it out right, you could end up with something very different from your previous kitchen. Consider the following faux finish painting options.

Faux Finishes: New Styles for Kitchen Cabinet Refacing

• One great faux finish look is the antique painted cabinet. This look highlights various architectural features of your cabinets by making the paint look worn in just the right places. If you're interested in achieving this look, paint your cabinet doors with a glaze that is slightly darker than your paint, then use a rag to wipe off the excess in any place where you prefer the lighter color. This not only gives the cabinet a shabby chic look, but also reveals the craft of the cabinetry.
• Another faux finish is the cracked paint look. There is special cracking glaze at paint stores that you can apply to a base coat, then painted on top of the glaze. As the paint dries, the glaze helps it crack, revealing a slightly darker surface beneath. This aged, old-world faux finish is great for adding color, texture, and interest to your cabinet doors.
• To create a country kitchen contrast, paint your kitchen cabinets with one color, then paint another color over the top once it's dry. Later, sand away areas of the top coat of the paint to reveal the coat underneath. This technique makes your kitchen cabinets look distressed, weathered, and two-toned in just the right places.

Regardless of the look you're trying to achieve by refacing your kitchen cabinets, there are a variety of paint types, colors, and faux finish painting techniques that can either completely change your kitchen's personality or freshen it up just a bit.