Kitchen Cabinet Finishes

 Kitchen cabinets take a lot of abuse over the years: spills, stains, grease, moisture, door slamming, and nicks and scratches. How the kitchen cabinets stand up to that abuse depends in part on how they are finished and sealed.

 Currently enjoying popularity are pickled finishes, which consist of white pigment rubbed into unfinished kitchen cabinet wood. It lightens the appearance of the kitchen cabinets and can make a traditional-style kitchen cabinet look equally at home in a contemporary or country setting.

 Advantages of Polyurethane Finishes on Kitchen Cabinets

Polyurethane finishes form a coating on the kitchen cabi­net surface and can be applied over the wood, the stain, or a paint wash. Brown paste waxes are also acceptable finishes, applied over a sealer coat of shel­lac, varnish, or oil. One advantage of a polyurethane finish is that it can seal in formaldehyde gases, cutting down in emissions in your home.  But to be effective, it must cover all surfaces and edges, and remain intact.

Polyester and Lacquer Finishes on Kitchen Cabinets

Among the newer choices are polyester and lac­quer finishes, which give a high-gloss appearance. Polyester is harder and more durable than lacquer and therefore more damage-resistant, but it is more difficult to repair. The polyester coating is either clear or pigmented. Polyester is solvent-resistant, but lacquer can be washed off with a solvent as well as recoated and retouched.

 These high-gloss surfaces of kitchen cabinets are not recommended if you have active young children in your household; toy automobiles, tricycles, and other mobile items can easily chip the cabinetry. Breaks are less visible on a grained, softer-gloss finish.

 For a custom kitchen cabinet look, you can order unfinished kitchen cabinets and have them finished on the job site.

It is often easy to overlook the decorative possibilities for a custom kitchen cabinet look when beginning with unfinished kitchen cabinets.  Kitchen cabinets are blank canvases waiting for your creativity to explode upon then with color, texture and pattern.  Look at your local library for ideas for discovering a wide variety of techniques on creative finishes.