Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations {apartment progress}

I am no stranger to painting cabinets (painted kitchen cabinets). I get a lot of questions about Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations and I love that I had the opportunity to test the product for myself. My honest opinion? I seriously LOVED the kit. Reason #1 – no sanding! That step is my least favorite (and most time consuming and messy) part of re-doing kitchen cabinets.

The apartment kitchen before was looking outdated and sad…(and super dirty!)

apartment kitchen makeover before

and after some clean up and the Rustoleum Countertop Transformations {review} definitely made even the cabinets look better…

Rustoleum Countertops

but with such a small space, I really wanted to lighten things up.

I chose “pure white”. This kitchen is super tiny but I used Rustoleum’s how to measure guide to confirm that one kit would cover our space. It turned out to be more than enough.

painting kitchen cabinets prep work

I removed the doors and hardware. I used FrogTape to label my doors

prep for painting kitchen cabinets

and to prepare my space for painting (where cabinets met the wall and floor in certain areas).

paint prep using FrogTape

 Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations

The first step in the kit is ‘deglossing’. Simply generously apply the declosser to the wood (or laminate or even metal!) with the provided green scrubby. Rinse with a wet rag and let dry. This removed a lot of the dirt, grease and the “shine”.

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations

The next step is applying the bonding coat (or … white paint provided by the kit).  I started with the front side of the doors and while they were drying, moved to the cabinet frames.

Elevating doors made them easier to paint.

When painting doors, I find that after painting the edges, that running my finger along the underside helps prevent ‘drips’. This means painted fingers and old paint pants come in handy but if you skip this, you will definitely have drips/extra paint on the other side!

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations

I gave everything 2 coats. I decided not to use the glaze which was provided in the kit since I wanted a clean white look. I think that if you’re not doing the glaze, that two coats is enough (because it will help achieve an awesome glazed look) but if going for the pure white, I recommend using a primer first (not provided) or giving everything 3 coats of paint if you have enough (which I did). I gave the outside of the doors (the most viewed area) 3 coats. The sides of cabinets, which are not seen, got two coats.

painting kitchen cabinets

I removed my FrogTape as soon as I applied the last round of the bonding coat. I felt confident applying the clear protective coat without the FrogTape using an angled brush and didn’t want to pull off any of the bonding coat which can easily happen once paint dries.

removing FrogTape

Once the last bonding coat was dry, it was time to apply the protective coat. Only ONE coat is recommended. I brushed it on in the direction of the wood grain (do the same with the paint). It goes on shiny (wet) but has a beautiful, durable matte finish.

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations

Once the protective coat is dry, re-attach doors and hardware.

attach cabinet doors

I was going to just re-use the old hardware but I found an awesome deal at a yard sale with a bit of a prettier look. So new knobs for $2.00!

thrifted cabinet knobs

I think the result is beautiful. Painting cabinets is always time consuming but I found that the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit is a great easy way to give old cabinets a new durable look!

This is not recommended by Rustoleum but using the same steps, I even gave the dingy scratched fridge the same treatment. Time will tell if it will hold up but since it works on laminate and metal…I felt it was a safe option. I gave it a ‘light’ brushing of the bonding coat and a layer of protective coat. The fridge looked extra yellow and dirty next to the new cabinets. Who wants that? Now it looks brand new!

Once again, before: {I know – I keep sharing this before but with each new project, I want you to see the progress and what we started with.}

apartment kitchen before

After:

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations pure white

a close up…

pure white

Yes! Time to move onto some decorative details in the kitchen! Wahooooooo! More to come!

kitchen makeover

I can’t wait for this clutter to be gone and for the decorating to begin!

painted white kitchen cabinets

It’s getting there!

More helpful links:

Rustoleum Countertop Transformations tutorial and review.

countertop before and after feature

·         Rust-Oleum has an appliance epoxy for painting appliances: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=391

·         Rust-Oleum also has a product called Furniture Transformations http://rustoleumtransformations.com/furniture/

Sharing here: Home Stories A2Z
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*I share my experience in this post and it is not meant as a full tutorial. Rustoleum includes detailed written instructions and an instructional DVD tutorial with each kit with additional help at Rustoleum Transformations website. I received product in exchange for my review.

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience. 

FrogTape Blog Squad

Kitchen Remodel ~ It’s Overflowing {OPC Before & After Project Winner}

I browsed through 158 remodeling projects at

Supporting Habitat for Humanity
When Ethan from One Project Closer asked if I’d like to participate, I was thrilled. Ethan was one of the very first bloggers I met last year (here) and OPC started their before/after series contest 5 years ago to raise awareness which is something I support too! You can get more details by clicking the button above because there is still time to enter to win!
It’s always so hard to choose just winner from so many amazing DIY projects…I’m just a fan of DIY. Period. And throw in some pretty amazing spaces competing and I want to choose them all. But narrow it down, I did.

And now, {drumroll please}, the winner is…

Kitchen Remodel ~ It’s Overflowing

This is Aimee’s kitchen when they moved in. Outdated, for sure! But look at all of those cabinets and all of that space. Lots of potential!

kitchen before

kitchen before

This is Aimee’s kitchen now:

kitchen after

kitchen after

Wow, right?

The sunny yellow accents with all of the fresh white make this one happy space to prepare meals and gather…

kitchen corner sink and window

Love how everything looks so clean and bright…

subway tile

There is so much to see! Even a DIY cabinet housing the microwave and adding additional storage!

20 tips to a dream kitchen

I love beautiful materials Aimee chose and her DIY work in this kitchen:

  • white granite
  • subway tile backsplash
  • painting and framing the kitchen cabinets
You can see ALL of the details, more pictures and links to her DIY projects at Aimee’s Kitchen Remodel Steps post.
It's Overflowing
Congratulations, Aimee!
Now pop over to enter your DIY makeover for a chance to win!

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Kitchen Before and After

My kitchen reveal in reverse!

I just found some pictures from when we bought our house. I know you’ve seen the after shots but I thought you’d enjoy seeing a few before and ‘now’ pictures for comparison. This is one of the reasons I started blogging – watching the transformation of this old house and while I tend to see all that we have yet to do, these pictures are a reminder that we’ve come a long way, baby! Of course a really ugly before makes anything look like an improvement. So, even though our kitchen isn’t quite done, I have shared these after photos (there aren’t any super new ones) but it’s a reveal in reverse…before pictures to prove that we’ve made some changes. 🙂

Warning: The before photos are very scary and a lot of ‘yuck’ from neglect/previous owners. Our home sat empty for awhile. A year or two maybe? I don’t remember. But it’s the location and size and character of this old house that won my heart…not the dirt and outdated/cheap finishes. I saw past the grime. I had a vision.

Kitchen before – it’s love at first sight, right? ha! love the Mr. Yuck stickers on the bottom cabinets, don’t you?

farmhouse kitchen before

kitchen now

farmhouse kitchen

Kitchen before: that’s a ceiling fan pull cord hanging down.

kitchen before

Kitchen after…

farmhouse kitchen

Kitchen before – what is that on the wall? I’m guessing the location of the previous owner’s kitchen garbage can? We don’t really want to know, do we?

kitchen before

kitchen now

Kitchen before…I’m amazed how much smaller this door makes that wall look!

farmhouse kitchen before

See the ugly sidewalk and rusty grape arbor in the background below? French door installation in progress:

kitchen French door installation

Kitchen now…let there be light!

I know…these aren’t really “now” pictures as in “today”. They are at least six months ago before the move to WordPress as you can tell by the watermark. But, I did just return from Haven so you know my kitchen isn’t photography-worthy but thanks for looking – I was happy to find the before pictures!

{patio & grape arbor after too}

So, what do you think? A better idea of where we started and our home is a fixer upper for sure! If you haven’t already, you can see more in our home tour. 🙂

Now if only the upstairs bathrooms still didn’t look like the before pictures. I’m doubting it, but was your house move-in ready or did you have to work at cleaning some filth?
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My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia