Distressed Kitchen Cabinets

DIY: Distressing Your Kitchen Cabinets:

The funniest thing about distressed kitchen cabinets is that normally, a homeowner would be worrying about whether the shipment of new cabinets come safe and sound with out scratches, dents and dings! In Tuscan kitchen design, dents and dings are what we want!

Distressed style kitchen cabinets are an appropriate addition to Tuscan style decorating. Old looking cabinets are representative of Tuscany. Distressed kitchen cabinetry is rustic and beautiful. It is an easy project that you can take your time and complete on the weekend.

If you are not sure of what distressed kitchen cabinets look like, check out some pictures in home decorating and design books. You can find them at hardware stores. Taking a look at a variety of distressed kitchen cabinet pictures can give you direction as to what style of “distressed” you want.

Many times, homeowners will paint their cabinets white over natural wood. Then, they bang the mess out of the cabinets! Believe it or not, this style is one of the most distressed styles that screams antique! I think my favorite is olive green distressed cabinets. Those look so amazing to me! They are great in Tuscan design as well as barn homes because you can go for a more natural color like cream distressed kitchen cabinets.

Check out my DIY distressed cabinets:

Paint Kitchen Cabinets:

– Paint (Two colors. One for outer color and one for color showing through worn spots.) **See Note
– Hammer, Keys and a padlock (I’ll let you know why the padlock later!)
– Sand paper
– Paintbrushes
– Drill with small bit attachments
– Varnish

Note: **If you are starting off with natural wood cabinets, or unfinished cabinets, and you prefer to have that natural color show through, you actually don’t need a base color paint. You just need what ever main color you would like on your cabinets.

All set? Here we go!

Okay, assuming that you are starting with an unfinished cabinet, and you want a base color painted, and an outer color here’s where to start:

1. Paint your cabinets with the base color you have selected. (This is the color that will show through the dents and dings!)

2. Allow cabinets to dry after application of base coat for 12 (yes 12!) hours. (As I said in the painting kitchen cabinets section, “Don’t be touching to see if it is dry!” Wait out the entire 12 hours please!)

3. Apply the main or outer color you selected. (This color will be the primary color on the cabinets.)

4. Allow outer paint color to dry AGAIN for 12 (yes 12!) hours! 🙂

5. (It’s party time!!) Lets Distress!

6. Use sand paper to wear away some of the outer layer of the paint. This is great for making the appearance of worn away spots and areas around knobs and cabinet pulls. Also, sand down some of the sharp corners of the cabinets. Rounding off edges will really look like the cabinets have had some usage.

7. Keys, Keys, Keys!! You know, how you used to key scrape your ex’s car? Key the cabinets!! Organized, deep scratches can be made easily this way.

8. Use the drill with small bits to make little wormholes. (Awesome, huh?)

9. Now for the padlock! Use it to bang against random areas. This will totally look like real wear and tear. Also use the hammer to create dents with the side portion of the circular end.

10. When finished, use a protective varnish to allow the rustic look to last long. Also, it will protect and lightly darken the wood to make the cabinets look even more authentic.

Keep your cabinets organized with kitchen cabinet organizers! Click Here to find out how!!