Budget Kitchen Transformations

My first house in Washington had 30 year old cabinets. They were sturdy, solid wood but stained an ugly outdated color, and the doors were sticky with years of UV degradation and cleaning product buildup. Unable to remove the stickiness without refinishing, and unable to afford new cabinets, I decided against restaining with wood tones, and introduced color into the kitchen—Paprika.  I discovered Rustoleum's cabinet transformation kit, when it was newly introduced, and decided to give it a try. Since then I've seen similar results with regular paint and a urethane seal on many DIY blogs. If you chose to refinish your kitchen cabinets, I recommend waiting for warm weather and working on your doors in a covered area (an open garage or carport) with plenty of ventilation. Prepare for your kitchen to be out of commission for anything but microwave reheating for several days while built-in surfaces dry. You can read more about my cabinet transformation experience here.