Cabinetry Finishes
Island legs and other cabinet components
Let me share with you one of my favorite finishes for kitchen cabinetry, and for that matter, any cabinetry. Of course, any cabinet finish is going to include cabinet island legs and bun feet. I'm talking about glaze finishes. There are two finishes that glazes are applied to. One is a glaze over paint and the other is a glaze over clear or stained finish.
Glazing adds apparent age to your cabinetry or furniture. The apparent age can be lengthened by "distressing" (ie applying small nicks and scratches). Light distressing adds less age while more distressing adds more age. Glazing also enhances or highlights the three dimensional quality of your piece. This is especially true of the furniture componets such as kitchen island legs and bun feet.
I'll give you a method I learned from Jeff Jewitt's book Great Wood Finishes. I'll first discuss his method for glazing over paint. First you are going to prepare all wood surfaces (including island legs, bun feet, doors and other wood surfaces for painting. You will apply a primer that is suitable to be overcoated with a latex paint. This is the color that your cabinetry will be finished with. You will probably need two coats of latex and should sand between coats. The latex paint must be sealed. Jewitt recommends a 2lb. cut of shellac. The shellac should be pale (not amber) in colored and dewaxed. Look for "dewaxed" on the can. After the shellac you should lightly sand with 320 grit sand paper. Here's where the distressing comes in. Now you don't have to do this but it will definitely enhance the look of your cabinetry. When I have distressed my projects in the past, I've used a set of keys on a ring and lightly tapped them over the surface of the piece I'm working on. The idea is to simulate wear. The places that recieve the most wear are bottom of the island legs and bun feet, the corners of the cabinetry, and the edges of the doors. You get the picture! The other part of distressing is to sand through some of the areas that will get wear as well. I know it's hard to do this to your finely painted cabinetry but it will look great in the end.
The next step is to apply the glaze. In this particular application, Jewitt recommends a latex glaze though there are other kinds of glaze for differnet applications. Glazes are meant to be rubbed on and then taken of - mostly. It can be applied with a brush or rag and the wiped off before it sets. If it does set use a dampened rag to wipe it of. The glaze will get "hung" in the cracks and corners and in your distressing areas. When the glaze has set you'll put two coats of a clear water based finish to seal your masterpiece. You'll want ot use a water based urethane rather than an oil to eliminate the amber tinting associated with oil finishes.
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