Running On Story Time: Black Distressed Bathroom Cabinets Tutorial

For the love of cabinets! These hideous 80's golden yellow orange cabinets I have longed to see disappear are finally actually making me smile.

I forgot to take a before picture but they all look the same & are quite similar to this picture. Those knobs have to be antiques by now right?!

So first wipe down your cabinets of any dust, dirt or grime. Take doors off the hinges by unscrewing them with your electric drill. Remove all hardware.

Next up your going to sand all cabinet doors front & back & the cabinet facing. Basically you're trying sand the shine off. You don't have to sand all the way down below the stain. I used this hand held DeWalt sander that was purchased at Lowe's.

After doors & facing are sanded. Be sure to wipe them clean of any dust, dirt or particles you wouldn't want mixed in with your paint.

Next you're going to prime your cabinets doors & facing with a primer. I used Zinsser Cover Stain, Primer Stain Blocker. Purchased at Lowe's. I only used one coat but depending on what you're covering just use your best judgement.

So I primed everything up & went to bed. Will start again tomorrow morning.

Finally the paint. Here is comes but first off be sure to mask everything off with painters tape don't want anything bleeding through.

Paint I used satin interior Valspar Signature Paint + Primer in Cracked Pepper which is the darkest black lowes carries so said the paint guy.

I used a this roller as well as a paint brush for the grooves.

The cabinet door behind this roller is what the door looks like before you sand it.

So granted I am doing this in the heat of the day during the good ole Texas Summer which means it's blazing hott outside everything drys a little quicker.

I painted the first coat of black on all the doors outside in my garage, went in to paint the facing & by the time I came back out that side was dry enough that I could flip it & paint the other side. I waited 4 hours before adding a second coat. Then let all the painted cabinet doors & facing dry for 24 hours before I began sanding on Monday evening when I got home from work. Only got one cabinet door accomplished this evening b/c my husband had a golf tournament which meant I had to entertain our two year old whom is highly allergic to Mosquitos yet they love to feast on him in the evenings so we refrained from outside, but I am highly pleased with how it turned out.

This is the sanding block I used to distress my cabinet to perfection. Ha! It's only to my satisfaction whereas everyone's is different so just sand to your hearts desire. You do however want to make sure you sand past the primer though.

Ok this is as far as I got today b/c Mr. Case as always trumphs any & everything so until tomorrow.....Goodnight!!

7/13/14 8:23pm

Good evening all, finally got around to finishing up my cabinets this evening. They turned out even better than I ever imagined.

I did end up going over them after I was finished sanding with a Minwax wipe on poly in a clear satin finish.

Let poly dry for 24 hours. Put all your hardware back on & hang the doors & viola....stare in amazement for hours & smile every time you flip the light on....I do. =)

Thanks!

Let me know if I can help.