Hi everyone!
When we last left off I told you all that the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit was not for me and that I decided to move on to Plan B. Well, here’s the skinny on how that went.
After my 4th coat of the bond coat that came with the kit I was completely over it. Plan B consisted of purchasing a quart of paint and finishing out the upper cabinet frames with a final coat of “regular” paint and hitting up the cabinet doors with 2 coats.
Not wanting to take any chances, I opted for the best quality paint I could afford: Benjamin Moore. I had heard so many great things about the Benjamin Moore Advance paint formula and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.
I called one of my local Benjamin Moore stores and explained the situation with the RCT kit. I told them that I wanted to move forward with rest of the cabinets using the Advance formula. The salesperson at this particular store suggested I go with the Aura instead. Aura paint is a Low Odor/Low VOC latex paint that promises: (pulled from the website)
I opted for the Aura formula in Satin finish and chose the color Simply White. The color was virtually a perfect match to the Pure White in the RCT kit. He advised me to use 2 very thin coats. Learning from my first go round, I also bought some Floetrol to help combat brushstrokes and extend the open time of the paint:
Another part of Plan B was the addition of a primer to the cabinet doors. The RCT kit did not come with a primer and I suspect that had a lot to do with why even after 4 coats the wood grain was still coming through. I wanted to be sure I didn’t run into this issue again so I primed the doors before I painted. My primer of choice: Zinsser Cover Stain oil based primer. This is hands down THE best primer for cabinetry and furniture (in my very humble opinion)!
It was perfect for this project because it is a bonding primer and you can use it over glossy surfaces without having to sand them first. Since I had already deglossed the doors using the RCT kit, I needed a primer that could cover non-sanded surfaces. The best thing about this primer is that you can paint your surfaces after only 1 hour! The worst thing about it is the smell!. Its pretty strong so if you are working indoors with it definitely open a few windows.
After priming the fronts and backs of the cabinet doors I painted my first thin coat on the backs of the doors first. This way I could get a good technique before I moved on to the fronts. Let me just say the Aura was freakin amazeballs! That stuff glides on to surfaces like silk. A little goes a long way and there was pretty much no odor. The floetrol definitely helped minimize any brush strokes and it covered in only 2 coats as promised! Another great thing about the Aura formulation is that you can recoat in only 1 hour so I was able to get 4 coats in ( 2 on each side) in less than half a day!
I absolutely LOVE this paint! It was worth every single penny of the $24 price tag. It made an extremely stressful situation extremely easy for me to tackle and the results were great! I love how the cabinets turned out:
Next up the lower cabinets and interior of the open cabinets! In my next post I’ll reveal the process and results of the lower cabinets. Until next time….
XoXo-Shavonda
Anonymous says
Hi:
Found your blog in Better Homes and Gardens February 2014 issue and love every project you do. So very helpful for someone just thinking of starting a DIY project. One question with the kitchen make-over. Did you remove the doors to paint them? Thanks, and will be following your blog.
She Repurposed It says
This is great!! Love all your little tips!