Painting Cabinets (or Furniture) Without Sanding

Boy, do I have a lot going on right now.  A LOT.  I'm starting to feel a little better....still nauseous, but it's nausea I can push through and function still.  At least during the day....evenings are a whole 'nother story.

Anyway, a friend of mine has some furniture she wants to update with a little paint, and I told her I'd give her my shortcuts to doing it....and I thought I should just write a blog post and share it with all of you too!

So back in February, I woke up in the middle of the night and decided I hated my kitchen cabinets and I was going to paint them.  For long time readers, you'll remember I spent a few months when we first bought our house sanding down and restaining those very kitchen cabinets.  Truth is, I was never happy with how they turned out, but after all the blood, sweat and tears (literally), I couldn't bring myself to admit it until months later!

These steps are specifically tailored to kitchen cabinets, but they can be applied to furniture as well.
So let's get started.  First things first, remove all the cabinet doors and drawer fronts, remove the hardware and take down all hinges.  Tape around the cabinet bases.  Then put down some plastic in your garage and lay out all those cabinet doors and drawer fronts.

This is our replacement sanding step.  With painting, all you need to do is dull the finish enough for the paint to stick, whereas with traditional restaining, you have to remove not only the protective top coat, but the original stain as well.  Hence the agonizing hours of sanding.

You need a deglosser.

I used Klean-Strip's Easy Liquid Sander and Deglosser.

Wear rubber gloves!  Pour some deglosser into a styrofoam bowl and use a cheap bristle paint brush to apply it to each of your doors, drawer fronts and cabinet bases in batches.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then come back with those gloves on and a good old fashioned Brillo pad in hand.

Using the Brillo pad, scrub all the surfaces you coated in deglosser thoroughly.  By using the Brillo pad along with the deglosser, you are smoothing things out a bit as well as deglossing the surface.  Flip the cabinet doors and drawer fronts over and repeat.

The deglosser will dry leaving a bit of a white residue.  That's okay, don't worry about it.

Next step: Primer!

I used an awesome water-based product by Zinsser, their Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer, designed to stick to any surface.  It's similar to their Cover Stain Primer, which I used when I painted my laminate bookshelves...but it's SO much better since it's water-based instead of oil-based.  Get a good quality angled paint brush and get the primer into the crevices.  Then pour around half a cup of primer onto a styrofoam plate and roll a high density foam roller into it, making sure to get an even amount of primer on your roller.  Then roll away.  Repeat as needed.  I only did one full coat of primer, but I made sure it was a good one!

And onto the Paint!

I used Valspar Signature Colors Paint and Primer in One, satin finish in Dove White.  I opted for paint plus primer because I was painting fairly dark cabinets with gnarly dark grain WHITE.  Even if your situation is different, I would still recommend the paint plus primer.  Just to be thorough.

Use the same angled brush then styrofoam plate and high density foam method.  This ensures you get light even coats with no globbies.  'Cause who wants globbies.

ALSO!  If you have oak with gnarly grain like I do, make sure you get the paint into all the grain!  Use the end of your foam roller to really scrub it in there...

Otherwise it will look like a cheap, poorly done paint job (like one of the houses we looked at during the hunting process...one of those houses that you can't believe anyone would EVER buy....)

Repeat the process as needed, making sure it dries thoroughly between coats.

Last but not least, top coat.

I used Valspar Clear Protector.  This stuff is awesome.  Apply it the same way as you did the primer and paint.  I did two coats overall, then three to four coats on the backside of the bar (where my children stick their grimy feet) and on the cabinet bases/door underneath the sink.  Just something to keep in mind, higher wear areas would benefit from an extra coat or two.

Once the top coat is thoroughly dry, you can reassemble your kitchen (or furniture!).

And for kicks, here is my kitchen in its many stages in the past year.

Kitchen Redo, Step Six: Decorative Molding

Following Step Five: Hardware...

Tricksy.  Learned a lot about using a miter saw, I can tell you that!
I did most of this flying by the seat of my pants (of course), but I have to tell you, after I labored and made mistakes, I discovered someone else in the crafty/DIY blogosphere who has some awesomely awesome tutorials on molding.  Emily at Nest, Nesting, Nested.  I refer you to there.  Partially because I have a head cold and can't begin to fathom explaining all of that myself.  And I'm sure she won't mind me sending traffic her way.
Anyway, just to give you a few tips of my own.
- You can make almost any kind of molding work.  I chose molding that is technically a chair rail molding, but worked wonderfully for my purposes.
- I attached 4 inch pieces of furring strips to my cabinets using brackets.

I then mounted my molding to those.
- The cabinet sides were thinner than the cabinet fronts, so I needed to stick something between the bracket and the cabinet to make sure the furring strip was flush with the front of the cabinet.  I used Popsicle sticks.   Worked like a charm.  Don't worry if they crack and splinter, it doesn't matter.  They just need to fill that gap.

- Measure and remeasure for the molding.
- When you are cutting, try using the sneaking up method "Using Your Saw Blade" in this article.  It worked great for me.
- Buy screws long enough to go through your furring strips and into the molding, but NOT THROUGH IT!  (Plan on putting the screws in at the thickest part of the molding.)
- Put a bit of wood glue on the furring strips before you start screwing.  If any drips down, WIPE IT UP IMMEDIATELY.  It's globby, ugly and won't stain.
- Use clamps, but still don't try to do this yourself, it's a two man job.
- Predrill the screw holes using a drill bit smaller in diameter than your screws.
- If needed, tack the molding in from the front using finish nails.  When it gets almost all the way in, use another nail to tap the hammer on and drive it all the way in.  Then fill it with wood filler.
- Wood filler is your friend.  It will cover a multitude of sins.  Seriously.  You wouldn't believe some of the mistakes I made in my cutting that no one would even notice, thanks to my wood filler.  We're pals.
- Follow the same basic recommendations for staining these as are in Step Three.  Be aware, this wood is different wood than your cabinets, so your stain may not look exactly the same, but it will be close enough.
- I did all but one coat of stain before I put the molding up.  Once they were up, I did another coat of stain (and two or three coats on the wood filler using a Q-tip), then the polyurethane to finish it off.

And that is that.
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Molding

Furring strips

Brackets

Clamps

Screws

Screwdriver

Drill

Drill bit

Screwdriver drill bit

Finish nails

Hammer

Wood glue

Miter saw (rent, borrow or buy)

Stainable wood filler

Q-tips

And just remember, you might (probably will) make mistakes.  (though hopefully fewer since you've been learning from mine!)  But in all likelihood, it will still turn out great, and no one will ever notice those mistakes.  Take courage!  :) If you want to do this, you totally can.  I did, after all!

If you've missed any posts in this series, here are the links for the whole she-bang:

Step One: Design Decisions and Shopping List

Step Two: Stripping and Sanding

Step Three: Staining

Step Four: Polyurethane

Step Five: Hardware

and of course, this post, Step Six: Decorative Molding
Not to mention, the Before and After photos of my kitchen.

Kitchen Redo, Step Five: Hardware

Following Step Four: Polyurethane...

It could have been easier than it was (that sounds familiar).  But anyway, first things first, choosing that hardware.  I recommend browsing some websites (Pulls Direct is where I ended up buying) to find the hardware you want, then Googling it to find the best price. I went with the Hickory Hardware Craftsman line, their round knobs and cup pulls, in highlighted oil-rubbed bronze.

Maybe you know some other great place around town to go, but don't limit yourself to the selection at Home Depot or Lowe's.  Embrace the wonderful world of online shopping!  Anyway, I first had the brilliant idea that I would just spray paint the old hinges with Krylon in oil-rubbed bronze so I wouldn't have to buy new ones.  Yeah, as soon as I took them off and cleaned them, I realized that wasn't going to work!  So I bought these hinges, also from Pulls Direct.  Can't beat the price on those babies.  Oh, and make sure you count and double count and triple count how many you need of each!  Trust me!  (On the bright side, Pulls Direct has very reasonable shipping...)
Now, installing that hardware.  Here are my hard-won tips:
- Make templates out of cardstock or posterboard, and tape them onto your doors and drawer fronts with painter's tape, so you know where to drill each time.  (Make sure you measure and remeasure when making these.)

- Choose a drill bit just a little bigger than the diameter of your screw.  Not so big that the hole would be bigger than the round part of the pull that attaches to the drawer (not a concern with a lot of cup pulls), but enough so if your measurements are slightly off, it will still work.
-  You know the saying "Measure twice, cut once"....?  Well, I would recommend measuring three times, then drilling!  :)
- I held my cabinet doors down with one arm on my counter top, and making sure it was hanging off the edge, then drilled the hole all the way through with the other hand.
- Put the hinges on the doors next.  The holes on my hinges lined up perfectly to screw them back onto the cabinet bases, but not to screw them into the doors.  So I had to drill new holes.  I put the hinge in place, then used a pen to trace each circle and drilled the holes.  If you have to do this too, use a drill bit that is smaller than your screw, and position it in the drill so it does not stick out further than the length of the screw.

This will help prevent you from drilling all the way through your cabinet door and putting a hole in your laminate counter tops (saving our pennies to replace those with granite, especially now there is a wee little hole in them!).

- Then put the screws through the holes and start twisting on knobs.  I did it most of the way by hand, then used the drill with a screwdriver bit to tighten the rest of the way.
- You'll need two people to get the cabinet doors back on.  One to hold them in place, and one to put in the screws.  We usually got the screws started with the screwdriver and finished off with the drill.  BUT BE CAREFUL.  Go slowly, or it is very possible the force of the drill could break the head of the screw off, leaving the body of the screw embedded in your cabinet base.  Which you will then try to get out by drilling more holes all around it and repeatedly yanking and twisting (and trying not to think in profanities).  If this does happen, take a deep breath, then fill up that gaping hole with wood filler and move on until it is dry the next day.  In all likelihood, the hinge will cover it up anyway, and as long as the other screws are secure, it won't matter that one of them is only anchored in wood filler.  Trust me.  (If you're really worried, do it by hand with a screwdriver.)
- On the drawer fronts, the screws must sink down into the drawer front so that nothing protrudes.  The back of the drawer front must be flush against the drawer to reattach.  This means after you drill the hole for the screw, go back with a larger drill bit, about the same size as the screw head, and drill right over the screw hole (MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS ON THE BACK!!!!!), down about an eighth or a quarter of an inch. (Or you could use a countersink drill bit, but since it was on the back of the drawer front where it wouldn't show, and I didn't want to buy one, I didn't.)

- Getting these on is much trickier than the knobs.  Put the screws through, and try to get both holes in the pull lined up with the screws, then start turning the screws to get them going.  Then use a screwdriver, and tighten with the drill.  If this doesn't work, you may need to drill a little to the left, right, or just an all around bigger hole (this is why I told you to use a drill bit that is larger than the screw..that will hopefully take care of this problem before it even happens).
- Then attach the drawer fronts to the drawers, using the same screws they had before.

And you're done with the hardware!
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Pulls (make sure you count and recount!)

Knobs (ditto)

Hinges (if your old hinges don't match your new hardware)

Drill (consider renting if you don't own, can't borrow or don't want to buy)

Drill bits

Screwdriver bit

Screwdriver

Cardstock (to make template for drilling holes)

Next up, Step Six: Decorative Molding...

Kitchen Redo, Step Four: Polyurethane

Following Step Three: Staining...

Sticky, sticky, sticky.  Other than that, it's pretty straightforward.  I recommend the following:
- Buy a couple good quality brushes.  The cheapo brushes you used for wood conditioner and stain will leave bristles behind.  If you catch them and pull them off while you're brushing it on, you'll be okay.  But trust me when I say you will not catch all of them.  You typically can peel them off once it's all dry, but they leave a line you'll have to either ignore or lightly sand and hope for the best.

So buy two quality brushes, and after each coat, clean the brush out in mineral spirits.  Then use your back-up for the next coat while the other brush dries.  And then clean out the back-up and use the first, etc.
- MAKE SURE THE SURFACE IS CLEAN!!!  I again used the brush attachment on my vacuum first.  Then wipe them down with a lint free cloth (not wet this time) to catch anything you missed before you stained.  If you don't, you will have a lovely grainy texture like the side of one of my cabinets that I missed wiping down.

I started brushing on the poly only to discover sanding dust still on the cabinet.  I quickly wiped down the rest of the cabinet, but since there was already some grit in the poly I'd already brushed on...it just got swept all over the cabinet.  And I was too lazy to wait for it to dry, sand it off and do it again.
- As mentioned before, I used Minwax in Satin.  I did two coats of poly on the cabinet bases, and the backs of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.  Three coats on the fronts of the doors and drawer fronts.
- When they say "thin coats," BELIEVE THEM.  Nice and thin and easy does it.
- So here's a big issue: while the surface is drying, every little thing will stick to it.  Seriously.  Which makes the garage a less than ideal place to do this.  Oh well, where else is there to do it?!  Fortunately, wood grain camouflages dust pretty well, and 95% of anything that sticks to it...not even you (the toughest critic) will see.  But this means DO NOT OPEN THE GARAGE DOORS while the poly is drying.
- Don't forget that mask! Especially since those doors need to stay closed.  Open a screened window (and hope no super obvious dust blows through).
- Close the lid tightly between coats, otherwise the poly could get gummy and form a disgusting layer on the surface.

- The folks at Minwax recommend lightly sanding between coats of poly.  Good for them.  I didn't.  Again, it goes back to what you want (and if you've made so many mistakes that you are going crazy and just want the madness to end).  If you want them PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT (or if you've chosen a higher sheen), you'll want to do that.  And lightly means by HAND, not by machine, capiche?
- If you do sand between coats, MAKE SURE YOU WIPE IT ALL DOWN AGAIN!!!!
- If you don't sand between coats (you rebel you), I suggest the same basic system as I used with staining...put the first coat on the fronts.  Wait two hours, then flip them over and do a coat on the backs.  Two more hours, and flip them again to do the second coat on the fronts.  Two more hours, then flip them again to do the second coat on the backs.  Two more hours, then flip them to do the third coat on the fronts. Let them dry overnight (and perhaps even longer...you don't want the sawdust from drilling hardware holes to stick to your lovely glossy surface).

And that is that!  You've survived the polyurethane!
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

QUALITY brushes

Polyurethane

Next up, Step Five: Hardware...

Kitchen Redo, Step Three: Staining

Following Step Two: Stripping and Sanding...

Messy, messy, messy.  That being said, staining is probably the easiest step, minus the messy factor. Let's get to it.
I have a tragic story for you.  Once upon a time, a certain DIY kinda girl went to Home Depot.  She looked at the sample swatches of Minwax stain, made her choice and bought a gallon of that just perfect stain.  She took it home, and proceeded to stain ALL of her cabinet bases.  And then she cried.

Her kitchen went from 1999 to 1983.  Not a good transformation.
So let us learn from this story.  Here is what I recommend:
- Pick out your stain.  Buy 8 ounces rather than a gallon.  (My first time around, I used Minwax Red Oak.  It was only slightly red and very dark on my wood.  In a word, UGLY.  But maybe it would look nice on yours...)
- Take it home, and get out two of your nicely sanded drawer fronts.  Use the wood conditioner first, then put one coat of stain ON THE BACK of one drawer front, and two coats of stain ON THE BACK of the other drawer front (very simple and straightforward instructions on the back of the can).
- Once dry, take those drawer fronts into your kitchen in the morning, and leave them there all day, with your proposed paint chips.  Take note of how it all looks at different times of the day.  If that stain is a winner, then go buy a gallon!  If it's not, go buy another quart (or take a gamble and buy a gallon of something else).  (This should also help you choose your paint color as well.)

After crying, ranting, raving and throwing a tantrum somewhat reminiscent of my one year old prima donna, my husband took me to dinner (with a much needed dessert, of course) and then to Lowe's.  We bought another gallon of stain, this time Minwax in Gunstock.  And a whole lot of sandpaper.  Even with both of us wielding a hand sander, we were up until 3 o' clock in the morning sanding off the ugly.  It was awful.  And my arms were tingly for days afterwards (my Physical Therapist little sister told me it was just my nerves responding to the constant vibration and nothing was seriously wrong...just in case you were worried).
And then I stained again.  Much better results this time around.

I went with oil-based, basically for one reason: it's cheaper.  There are disadvantages, of course.  The stench, being one.  Tougher clean-up being another.  But $$$ was the name of the game here.  The less I spent, the more I had for other home decor!!!
A few things of note for the staining process:
- Wear grubbies, for heavens' sake!  I ruined 3 pairs of jeans and a pair of jammies because I thought I could just step out real quick to do that next coat and I'd be sooooo careful.  Bah.
- Make sure you have that mask and adequate ventilation!!!  And wear gloves.
- Clean the surface!  I used the brush attachment on my vacuum first.  Then wipe down your nicely sanded surfaces with a damp cloth.  I recommend doing two rounds of this, just to make sure.  Then let it dry (shouldn't be that wet though) before you start staining.
- Now is the time to use el cheapo brushes.  It really doesn't matter with the wood conditioner and stain.  I would wrap my brush in one of the wiping rags between coats, but even if the brush gets crunchy, just push it against the ground (on newspaper or the sheet), etc., to get it loose enough to stain again.  If it's too crunchy, just get out a new one. The beauty of cheap brushes.
- Don't use newspaper as a drop cloth.  It will just stick to everything and ruin your project (and sanity).  I used an old sheet.  Worked like a charm.  Be advised, however, stain WILL seep through, so if that is a problem (I didn't care about my garage floor, frankly), you'll need to put plastic sheeting or something like unto it underneath.  For the cabinet bases, I used painter's tape, newspaper and plastic sheeting.
- Don't forget to use the wood conditioner first.  It helps.
- That being said, I didn't bother with it on the backs of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.  Lazy and cheap, I guess.
- STIR your stain with a paint stirring stick thing before every coat.
- Don't skimp on the rags.  I went through a pound easily.  Start with that, but keep a watchful eye and run to the store BEFORE you run out if you need more.
- I personally wanted my stain nice and deep, so I left each coat on for 20 minutes before wiping off the excess.
- Rub the leftover stain off in the direction of the grain.
- I used a similar system with staining as I did with stripping.  In this case, I did the wood conditioner, then the first coat of stain on the fronts.  Waited two hours, then came out and flipped them over and did a coat on the backs.  Two more hours, and flipped them again to do the second coat on the fronts.  Two more hours, then flipped them again to do the second coat on the backs.  Two more hours, then flipped them to do the third coat on the fronts.  (Only did two coats on the backs.)  Let them dry overnight, and they were ready for polyurethane in the morning. Obviously, the number of coats you do depends on your personal preference.
- If you are staining your doors and drawer fronts in the garage, as I did, remember the lighting in there stinketh, and not to judge the color of the stain in there.
- If you get stain on something you shouldn't have, you have a couple options for clean-up.  If you can catch it almost immediately, then get a rag wet and add a few drops of dish soap on it.  Dish soap is designed to cut grease, so it cleans up oil based stain pretty well.  (Which means if you get stain on your hands, wash them with a liberal amount of dish soap.  Works great.) Rub the dish soap right over the wall, tile, or appliance (the things I got stain on accidently), and most of it will likely come off.  If it has had the chance to dry, get out the mineral spirits (and keep your mask on, despite their claims, that stuff ain't odorless).  Put some on a rag, and rub it over the splatter, or whatever.  DON'T LET IT DRY FOR LONGER THAN 24 HOURS BEFORE YOU TRY TO CLEAN IT UP!  It may not come up so well...believe me.  And if it's fabric you got it on, well, you could try these methods and see if it works.  It's already ruined, so it won't hurt, right?  :)

And that's about it!  Easy, right?  Well, comparatively.....
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Wood conditioner

Stain

Cheap brushes

Rags

Dish soap

Mineral Spirits

Paint stirring stick

Painter's tape

Newspaper

Drop cloth of some kind

Next up, Step Four: Polyurethane...

Kitchen Redo, Step Two: Stripping and Sanding

Following Step One: Design decisions and Shopping list...

Okay, onto the next step!  Preparing your cabinets, doors and drawer fronts.
The first thing we did was remove all the cabinet doors and drawers, then remove the hinges from the cabinets and drawer fronts from the drawers.  THEN we could really get started.  I would recommend organizing them somehow so you know where each came from, ESPECIALLY the drawer fronts.  This will be relevant when you are trying to put them back on and matching the exact position of the old screw holes  in the drawer front to that on the drawer.

Stripper:

I used a stripper.  Not sure if I recommend this route, and I'll tell you why.  It was messy, smelly, back breaking and time consuming.  But the clincher was that we spent just as much time sanding the pieces that I didn't strip as those that I did.  You see, the stripper I used was the cheapest one.  Because, well, I'm cheap.  I was willing to work harder to save money.  So I'm (obviously) not sure how other strippers would do.  My gripe is that the stripper removed the polyurethane, but NOT the finish (i.e., the previous ugly golden oak stain).  I then had to sand off the finish.  Given, you need to sand anyway, but if the finish had come off as well, I wouldn't have had to sand so...thoroughly.  More on that later.  Anyway, perhaps I could have done another round of stripper, and that would have worked.  Perhaps I could have bought a better kind of stripper, and that would have worked.  I don't know.  But here's what I do know if you decide to go the stripper route:
- Buy gloves that fit.  Mine were a little big, and as a result I put a big hole in one of the fingertips because it kept getting caught in my scraping tool.  Annoying as all heck.
- I turned my scraping tool sideways and scraped with the side of it.  It just worked better for me.
- Scrape HARD.  Put your weight into it.
- Leave the stripper on less time than you think.  It doesn't work better if it is allowed to "soak."  It just becomes impossible to scrape anything off!  The cheap stripper I used was designed to sit for 30 minutes before you scraped.  After learning the hard way, I let it sit 10 to 15 minutes, then scraped.
- On that note, don't put the stripper on everything all at once.  Trust me.  Work in batches of 2-4.  I usually put the stripper on the front of one door, then walked away for 10 to 15 minutes.  Came back, put the stripper on front of another door, then scraped the first.  Flipped the first over, and applied stripper to the back, then scraped the front of the second door.  Flipped that second door over and applied stripper to the back, then scraped the back of the first door.  One door done.  Then applied stripper to the front of the third door, and scraped the back of the second door.  And on it goes.  Make sense?  Let me know if you have questions on that...or anything!
- Good ventilation will save your brain cells.  And wear a mask.  I bought this one because again, I'm cheap, but if you are particularly sensitive (or worried), then buy one of these babies.  Spring/summer is a great time to tackle a project like this since you can leave the windows/doors/garage doors open without freezing your tush off!
- For the detailed areas, try using a metal brush, but don't get carried away...scratches are not easily sanded out, and they WILL show up when stained.
Okay, onward!

Sanding:
Oh my gosh, I hate sanding.  Seriously.  HATE IT.  This was by far the worst part of the whole project, I kid you not.  If you can survive this part, you can definitely handle ANYthing else.  I promise.
So first things first, you need a sander.  Yes, NEED.  Not a heavy duty belt sander..unless you're a kamikaze bent on destroying your cabinets so your husband will buy you new ones.  No, you need a nice little hand sander.  Something light and comfortable that you can use regular ole sandpaper on.  You will not survive this project without one, I swear it to you.  And this would be a good investment, if you are a DIYer like me.  Seriously, $30 well spent.  Have I convinced you?  :)  I don't, however, recommend a detail sander.  I had one, and for one, it broke.  For two, it didn't do what it was supposed to do.  I.e., sand the details so I didn't have to do it by hand.  Maybe it works for some people.  Not for me.
If you used the stripper, then the polyurethane is gone. You need to sand off the old stain finish.  (If you skipped the stripper, you'll be sanding off both polyurethane AND the old stain finish.)  Any finish that is left will not stain to your new color.

So it has to go.  In my case, the old finish was so light, it could be hard to tell if it was gone or not.

I would do the cabinet bases first, followed by the drawer fronts, and the cabinet doors last.  Bases typically consist of solid wood and panels, all flat surfaces.  Drawer fronts are typically solid wood, no paneling or much detail.  Cabinet doors are usually solid wood frames with panels in the center, and some detail.
Now let's talk grit.  I used a coarse grit, between 60 and 80.  I was just trying to rip that finish off as quickly as possible.  And I though they were smooth enough.  Just not silky smooth.  If you want silky smooth, you'll have to follow up with a fine grit, around 180 or 200.  Or you could compromise, and spend a little more time (but still sanding just once) with a medium grit, somewhere between 100 and 150.  Your choice.  I just couldn't handle any more sanding, thanks to a faux pas I'll tell you all about in my next installment.
So based on all of that information, here are my tips for you:
- My rule of thumb for solid wood pieces was that it is impossible to sand too much (unfortunately, this cannot be said of the panels!).  If you're suspicious, keep sanding.
- Panels are another story.  (You'll know which are panels and which are not.)  They too must be sanded down, but you have to be careful.  Otherwise, you'll sand that top layer right down to ugly underneath...or even put a hole all the way through.

(I would just like to say, here and now, that my husband did that part!)  

- Be careful in your sanding of any curves not to get overzealous.  You could greatly diminish the edges of your drawer fronts or cabinets if you do!
- Don't let the sander bounce around at all.  It leaves marks that are nearly impossible to sand out, and most definitely show up when stained. So just make sure you have good control of the sander before you put it down on the wood.

- Use the sanding sponges for those details.  And for the places you still can't get, wrap a piece of sandpaper around one of those nice rigid emery boards and use that.  It worked like magic for me. Well, magic paired with elbow grease.
- Wear your mask for this part as well, and if you don't want to get super grimy or ruin your eyes with sawdust, consider wearing eye gear and a shower cap!
And hang in there.  Sanding is AWFUL, but once it is done, the worst is over.  And even if you make mistakes (which hopefully will be minimal since you'll be learning from mine!), it's unlikely anyone but you will notice them.

Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Stripper (based on what you decide)

Scraping tool (ditto)

Metal brush (ditto)

Rubber gloves

Mask

Hand sander (if you don't have one or can't borrow one)

Sandpaper, coarse to medium grit, possibly fine grit

Sanding sponges, coarse to medium grit, possibly fine grit

Emery nail files (trust me on this one)

Next up, Step Three: Staining...

Kitchen Redo, Step One: Design decisions & Shopping List

Once I got the idea in my head to revamp the kitchen in our new house, I knew I had to take the time and figure out exactly what I wanted.  So let's walk through those decisions.

Paint vs. Stain

The first question to as is what are your cabinets made of?  They need to be WOOD.  If they aren't at least solid wood with wood panels in the middle (like mine), then you can't stain them.  Sorry.  Consider painting (I'll be going a tutorial soon about painting laminate surfaces, so if that applies to you, stay tuned).  If your cabinets ARE wood, you're in business.

Color of Stain

What do you want for your kitchen?  Is it dark and cramped?  Consider a lighter stain.  My kitchen/dining/family rooms are one big long area with lots of windows, so I was safe on using a darker stain.  I also wanted the kitchen to look warm.  Plus, I have a thing for darker reddish wood.  :)

Wall Color

I would definitely recommend giving your kitchen a fresh coat of paint to match your fresh new cabinets.  I'd also recommend waiting to choose your paint color until you have your sample drawer front stained (more on that in the Staining portion of this series).  Then lay your chips against the sample IN your kitchen in the morning, and watch how it looks throughout the day, as the light changes.  (And if you have fluorescent lights in your kitchen....my sincerest condolences.)

Hardware

So here is where you really need to think about the style you like, both in terms of the finish and the form of the hardware.  Something sleek and modern?  Silver, with clean simple lines.  Vintage chic?  Maybe pewter or oil-rubbed bronze with plenty of detailing.  There are LOTS of choices to be had.  My style is probably closest to country (though a sleeker, more edited version of country, I like to think), so I opted for highlighted oil-rubbed bronze hardware.

Molding

The same applies to the molding (if you're going to attempt that).  Craftsman style?  Then plain.  Country?  Maybe egg and dart, like I opted for.  Lots of choices.  Go browse the hardware store.

Polyurethane

Sheen is what we are concerned with here.  More sheen is generally a more modern look.  And the more the sheen, the higher the need for precision verging on perfection.  I opted for the lowest sheen, Satin.  And it is plenty glossy, if you ask me.

Okay, onto the shopping lists.  If you plan on tackling this project as guided by my words of wisdom...I highly recommend reading every part of this series before you even go shopping.  I'll do a recap of the shopping list with every section.  Oh, and the items linked are just to give you the idea.

Stripping/Sanding shopping list:

Stripper (maybe...more on that later)

Scraping tool (ditto)
Metal brush (ditto)
Rubber gloves
Mask

Hand sander (if you don't have one or can't borrow one)

Sandpaper, coarse to medium grit

Sanding sponges, coarse to medium grit

Emery nail files (trust me on this one)

Staining shopping list:

Wood conditioner

Stain

Cheap brushes

Rags

Dish soap (if you go with oil-based...I'll explain later)

Mineral Spirits (ditto)
Paint stirring stick

Painter's tape

Newspaper

Drop cloth of some kind

Polyurethane shopping list:

QUALITY brush

Polyurethane

Hardware:

Pulls (make sure you count and recount!)

Knobs (ditto)

Hinges (if your old hinges don't match your new hardware)

Drill (consider renting if you don't own, can't borrow or don't want to buy)

Drill bits

Screwdriver bit

Screwdriver

Cardstock (to make template for drilling holes)

Molding:

Molding
Furring strips

Brackets

Clamps

Screws

Screwdriver

Drill

Drill bit

Screwdriver drill bit

Finish nails

Hammer

Wood glue

Miter saw (rent, borrow or buy)

Stainable wood filler

Q-tips

Next up, Step Two: Stripping/Sanding...

THE GRAND KITCHEN REVEAL!

Update: Since this time, I've painted my kitchen.  I never really liked how this particular stain turned out on oak...but oak is what I've got!  :)  However, the steps I outlined (links at the bottom of this post) are still a great resource if you're looking to stain anything.

Has this has ever been a long time coming.  I'll spare you lots of text on the matter, since I'm sure you just want to see the pictures.
But first, a quick run-down of what we did: stripped and sanded the cabinets down to nothing, stained them, coated them with polyurethane, added hardware and added decorative molding to the top of the cabinets.  Oh, and we painted all the walls too.
Wow, that sounds simple.  It wasn't.
And without further ado, here are the long awaited photos!

The kitchen was fine before, everything was in good shape.  I just didn't care for the golden oak of the 90's, and I wanted a little more pizazz. Overall, I'm happy with the results.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the flaws are largely only things I will notice.  Most of all, IT IS DONE.  (cue the angels singing...)

My step by step how to series:

Step One: Design Decisions and Shopping List

Step Two: Stripping and Sanding

Step Three: Staining

Step Four: Polyurethane

Step Five: Hardware

Step Six: Decorative Molding