The finished cabinet door you worked on really looks great. We've rehabbed and painted a few kitchens' worth of old cabinets, and the end result never looked as factory-finished as your door.

The countertop kit looks great but I can see how it would be a huge mess, and a week of mess sounds like more than I feel like dealing with right now. Now, if only they would come in and do this for me and clean up afterwards for an extra 100 bucks..... :)

I've seen this product in the store and wondered about it. It looked like a great idea, but specifically, I wondered how the corners and sides of countertops were worked. These photos answer that question pretty well. However, how easy/difficult is it to spread the chips on vertical surfaces?

i'd be interested in buying the kitchen cabinet kit, but how toxic are the solutions used? Was there a heavy odor?

I was looking for a cheap way to redo my counter tops. Perfect timing!

I wonder how it would hold up to the wear and tear of a preserving/working kitchen... umm no we rarely hot pads and sometimes we even cut direction on the countertop. (bad, real bad... I know... read hanging head in shame.) Any ideas?

Wow, the counter top kit is truly amazing! I am wondering though about the exposed particle board on the side. Will there be matching finishing laminate for the side, or paint it? I guess you can also put w/e color laminate on first if there is unfinished/exposed edges and then paint it w/ the rest of the counter top?

Thanks for the link too. This will be in my archives for future use! :D

It looks very nice. I think it might depend on your DIY skills whether the countertop kit would be cost effective. We just helped my daughter redo some counters in her bathroom and it was shocking how cheap new laminate was compared to the granite that I had put in my kitchen. I think if you are handy with a saw, it might be less aggravation and as cheap (depending how much countertop you have to do) just to put in new laminate. Whereas, if you aren't handy with power tools, you could go for the refinishing kit.

This is amazing!!! I'm going to have to try this... and ASAP!!

I am grateful and thrilled to see this post. I've been researching refinishing products for my kitchen and bath cabinets - and front door - for months. This looks like the answer.

How well does this work on the cheap partical board cabinets? I want to paint mine and this looks amazing, but not sure if it will work right (show the grain) when the cabinets are just covered partical board.

I had just carefully read a post at Nate Berkus's web site on how to paint kitchen cabinets, and was screwing up the courage to get started. Now I'm off in search of this kit. Maybe I'll even take a before and after picture.

Just the other day, someone posted alink to a Rustoleum paint for countertops. (Plain colors, NOT this kit -- just paint.) Did they discuss this product at all at your event? I'm wondering if it would be appropriate for some projects at my budget conscious public library, and nobody I know has tried it to ask about it...)

If that cabinet kit is as good as it sounds, sign me up. I'm ready to paint over my golden oak cabinets from the 80s with classic white. They're still in good shape with wood fronts and plywood boxes, so there's no way I'd pay the expense of replacing them (and probably wind up with melamine!).

As for the countertops, I think I'd rather just save up for something better than laminate. My current white laminate top is a lost cause. The previous owners apparently sliced stuff directly on the surface so there's knife marks and also some pitting on it.

This looks really amazing. Our countertops are a higher end laminate to look like pink granite. Not my favorite, but probably not worth refinishing. The cabinets are a lovely, honey oak that belongs back in the 90's. I want to refinish them white but I've been afraid to. This looks like a really easy solution!

Like @jme718, I hate my oak cabinets, but my husband won't even discuss a kitchen remodel. That look you achieved, though, is very appealing, and I think white might be the ticket. My question - that doesn't seem to be addressed - how much prep do they need?

I have heard of the kits in order to cover laminate counters with a concrete finish. My friend tried it and it looked like sh!t. Maybe the Rustoleum approach is better.

I did a little research on this. The user reveiws for the cabinet kit are positive, however the countertop reveiws are checkers. While rental property owners like it because it is cheaper than new counters and look great when brand new, homeowners say that the paint tends to get chipped and waterstained easily.

For $21, the countertop kit seems like a great home staging tool, but not great if you actually live with them. I will probably try the cabinet finisher in the future though.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this!! I've also seen the kit at HD, but was hesitant to try it out. This has helped me make up my mind to try it out. I have a question: if you prefer a more opaque finish, without a wood-grain look, would you do two coats of the base coat? Or just omit the glaze?

Janel, I'd like to ask what you thought of the homogeneity of the countertop topcoat in the end? I did the Giani kit, and ended up having to buy new countertops because the lap lines from the small roller included were so bad, so obvious, and unavoidable no matter what direction I worked. I have new counters now, so it's not an issue for me, but I would be loath to try the Rustoleum kit on anything but a small surface area for fear that the same would happen again. I will say, too, (in case anyone was considering other brands) that despite following the directions very carefully, the Giani painted countertops chipped almost immediately--like within a day. A cutting board on the counter after the 3-day drying time ended up eroding the paint when used, just through normal, yet minimal, movement. I'd like to see Rustoleum post pix of those same counters after a week, a month, and 6 months of regular use by a family.

My husband and I recently updated our kitchen and we used the Rustoleum countertop paint http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=208
It looks really nice, but a few days after we finished, I laid a WARM coffee mug on the counter and it melted the paint. MELTED! The product can does say to not place hot objects directly on the surface, which is understandable, but a warm object should not have done this sort of damage. Now we have a giant butcher block covering the mess and we are very diligent about placing hot pads down, even when it might not be necessary. I guess I can't complain too much for $22. Be warned, you get what you pay for.

Hi - I'll try and answer a few questions:

Violette - easy - you use a special tool that is included which actually sort of sprays the chips so the vertical surface isn't a problem - you just need to be sure to have the surface fully coated first

343rene - there was very low odor

starveil - you can use the same product on the edges - it works on vertical surfaces

jesendr - it will work on and adhere to particle board cabinets but won't pick up grain - it will be a smoother look finish

SherryBinNH - sorry, I don't have any info on that product

lazy_lurker - the prep for the cabinets was easy, you "degloss" with a liquid (included) and scrub them down with a scouring-like pad

Ms. Lynee - if you don't want the wood grain look, you would just omit the glazing step completely, it's the one totally optional part of the process

What a neat looking project. We used Skimstone for our counters recently (marketed by Rudd or Modern Masters). It was relatively cheap to purchase, only about $150 all told for all the components, and the instructions were straight forward. Though we carefully watched Youtube videos and read instructions ahead of time and put TONS of time into the project, however, it was a total disaster. We were all near tears at the end of the project, because despite all our hard work looked like brownie batter, not a counter surface. Worse, in the week that we had it in place (before we tore the counter out), we were already seeing signs of wear to the surface- it marked up, discolored, and eroded like crazy. We went back to the retailer who had sold the product and he said that generally people had to re-do their counters 2-3 times before they got a Skim stone result they were happy with. No thanks! When our landlord saw the results he laughed for about five minutes, then we agreed to split the cost of butcherblock countertops from Ikea. That was $350 that was very well spent...I just look back and wish we'd avoided the $150 waste that preceded it! Sounds like this product is way better. Thanks for the project!

That counter top mess is definitely a quick fix/scuzzy landlord remedy. I would be tempted to use it on small tables or other small project, but for counters, it makes more sense just to save the money and buy a different one that will last longer than a coat of paint. Cheap short term fixes are never worth the longterm aggravation.

WOW, talk about value-add post. I have no need of either product, but very very cool.

I will say that the cabinets look really nice though..:)

a new laminate countertop would probably come in at a comparable price, and would at least not be destroyed so quickly... or be so messy. not sure it would really stand up to years of use. sorry to be negative - just my thoughts.

It looks amazing but sounds cheap based on the comments above BUT the cabinets look amazing.

@monkeylizard I agree that a new laminate countertop would be better. I bought two very high quality laminate counter tops at Home Depot for around $150. Less of a hassle. However, I do have a laminate covered fold down shelf in my kitchen that needs help. I was thinking of spray painting it with Rustoleum.

I just looked at the website and while it looked easy enough at the end they said the counter tops were "ready for light use" ...

I seriously doubt my use is light. I'm a messy cook and even messier baker. I hate my laminate countertops but the thought of kneading bread and the resulting clean up on something for "light" use scares me. I guess I'll have to wait a few years to get new ones.

Also I'm not so sure it's really a cheap option for me since it's about $250 and I have a fairly small kitchen, if I wanted to get a new cheap faux granite countertop it would only be about $150 more according to the estimates I've already gotten. Maybe if I had a larger kitchen it would be more of a money saver.

Best. Thing. Ever. We have new, but yucky, builder-honey-colored cabinets in the kitchen. Not for long!

For those wanting to try a new counter finish, I had a lot of success with FlexRock. It was designed for pools and walkways so I tried it on a very badly cracked and stained counter. It did an amazing job and stood up to me poking it with a knife, hot plates etc. It wasn't as high gloss as this effect, which I honestly preferred.

I love that finished look of the cabinet door!!!

I have a small 80's kitchen with dark oak cabinets. They're really ugly but I was not confident to paint over them cuz I always doubt how long the paint will last (we always cook!). Last year I replaced the super ugly tiles with Italian tiles and backsplash with the help of my friend. I also replaced the greasy cabinet pulls to the satin nickel ones and painted the wall yellow. It already looks a lot better!

However, I would still love some better looking cabinets...

I wonder if this kit is easy enough and can it stand heavy use?

I wonder how this would work on knotty pine cabinets?

FWIW, big tiles are cheap, low mainte3nance, easy to install and sturdy. I used 6"x6" black tiles (black grout, too) and smaller white tiles for the border and edging. Looks great w white cabinets and a few punches of red.

I can set pans direct from the stove right on the counter. IF I'm fool enough to cut directly in the counter, it's bad for the knife, but the counter is intact.

I did my countertops. It was nice at first. It did chip and peel. Anything that could possibly scrape it, did. Like a pan or stoneware with a rough surface. The rough ceramic bottom on my compost container, for example.

Even the small rubber feet on the bottom of my trivets and my cutting board sat for too long in one place and then peeled up the countertop paint when I moved them.

It was disappointing. And I let things cure for seven days before I put things back on the painted countertop.

This is a short term or novelty decision at best. It is however, HIGHLY recommended for trying out countertop, backsplash and paint combos before committing.

Regarding rollers; whether one paints or puts on any new surface material my suggestion is to utilize the rollers that look like terry cloth material rather than use spongey type rollers. I have never had any luck whatsoever with the spongey types on any project I have taken on as I find they always leave lap lines unlike the cloth type rollers. They are small like the sponge ones and are available at most paint outlets. Has anyone had good results slipping a smooth layer of finishing type concrete on the top of old melamine countertops? It would be just as messy as the above article however were it to be successful it would be sturdy and knife mark proof. I would imagine that concrete smoothers could do a nice job and one could finish the edges with a putty knife. Having done some work with newly prepared concrete over old the important step is to paint on a glue like material, wait a few minutes until tacky and then pour on the newly mixed surfacing concrete.

I did this to my counters two years ago and the epoxy has held up very well. Yes, it was messy but the results were totally worth it.

@SherryBinNH: I've used the Rustoleum countertop paint, and have mixed feelings about it.

Pros: it self-levels well--in terms of application and durability, it seemed to me much more like nail polish than traditional wall paint.

Cons: think of that nice, toxic nail polish smell. Like from a bottle of polish in the 80s, not the newer stuff. Now imagine that spread over your all of the surface area of you countertops. (I believe it's xylene. But I would also believe toluene.)

I would never recommend using this without an organic vapor respirator or while a house is occupied. (We already had a respirator on hand and hadn't moved into the house yet. It was impossible for us to do any other work on the house for a few days, and it took over a week of leaving a window cracked open and the stove vent running before we couldn't smell it anymore.)

The other issue is that the paint takes a LOT longer to cure than the can would lead you to believe. I think this may have been the problem cathyjomc had. We've set hot mugs on our counter without difficulty, but you really need to baby the counter for at least the first _month_ you have it. No hot items for any period of time, don't leave any object on it overnight, and take heavier objects off much sooner. Otherwise, the paint will dent.

In the fall, my husband and I facelifted our kitchen, and we used the Rustoleum countertop paint.

DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT!

We followed the directions exactly, even letting the countertop cure for longer than specified. And still, the paint chips extremely easily-- like just with warm soapy water on a soft dishcloth. Also, if you set down a mug of hot tea or coffee-- not boiling hot, just drinkably hot-- it will leave rings on the countertop. Over all, I'm extremely frustrated with it, and after a zillion other higher-priority home projects, I'm going to replace the countertop entirely with a butcher block.

I know several people have commented on their results with the countertop product - has anyone used the cabinet product? Did it hold up well over time?

We are so happy you had a good time in New Orleans and appreciate the honest assessment of our Transformations products. Thank you so much!

Hi, everyone, just want to avoid some confusion that might be cropping up in the comments. This post is about a new product that I tried last week that just launched in stores - not the countertop paint that some commenters have remarked upon, but a multi-step resurfacing kit called Transformations.

I've been debating with myself (and losing) about what to do with my kitchen cabinets ~ refinish or replace.

This is cheap enough that if I buy it and it's a complete disaster I haven't wasted too much money or time on it.

Given the drying time needed, I'd only be able to do maybe 1 cabinet a day as I've very little space for things to hang around dry.

Vacation project here I come.

Let me share my experience with re-doing my kitchen countertop last year.

I myself never thought of the countertop paint route, probably cuz I thought it wouldn't last long and it seems only for cosmetic.

But I had a little budget. So I just went with the tile route. I'm not handy... so I had to ask for a friend's help. He had experience in putting up tiles ( I think this is important).

Anyways, I spent some time in looking for the tiles. I found out the tiles in homedepot/ lowes are cheaper than other stores. At last I picked the Italian tiles from Lowes cuz they look the most durable (similar to those I saw at the tile store but they're a lot cheaper!) and I like the style plus the various colors/ sizes. I used the 12X12 tiles for the countertop, the round edge for the countertop edge and some smaller ones for the backsplash. I even picked one with a pattern to put in the middle of the backsplash (that one piece is the most expensive being around $7!). For the grouting, I chose dark brown, which is a nice contrast to the tiles (Lt brown/ salmon) and they don't show the mildew.

You know what... it looks great! And after more than 6 months of intensive usage, they still look the same! And I think we re-did the tiles for around $300, with the Italian style I like :)

But now, after I saw the cabinet transformation thing, I wonder if this one will be good... The cabinet is the last thing I wanna change in my kitchen...

Anyone with experience with the cabinet kit???

OK I am just about sold on the cabinet kit. Here's the thing: the previous owner of our house also painted the INSIDE of our cabinets. (I know.) Think I should use an ordinary paint for the inside?

If it works on melamine it might be interesting to try this out on an Ikea cabinet body (like a Billy or a Pax) just as a test project before jumping in to do a whole kitchen.

I'm curious as to how the cabinet kit would perform over already painted cabinets but ll of the examples on Rustoleum's website "before" examples are stained or bare cabinets. Anyone have any experience with the results over paint?

California Sleepybears, do you have any photos of your countertop? It sounds very nice.

The counter top product looked to be a too tedious of a process for me. That we have to have tremendous price advantage over installing a new laminate counter top for me to consider it.

I'm not sure what the cabinet refinishing product's advantage would be over the way I'd do it otherwise

the cabinet kit looks like a great idea. I have a client with old golden oak raised panel fronts and we were thinking of replacing all the doors and draws then painting everything but that is pricey and paint is a gamble. I think using this product is much more bomber and way cheaper.

The counter top stuff, i dont think so, i would rather replace with corian and sleep well.

I found your post about Rustoleum's Transformation products on Thedesignfile.net blog and decided to explore further. I've enjoyed reading all the comments.

In 1991, I replaced all our kitchen cabinets with white laminate ones, which frankly, I still love although I know they are derided by many people. However, we moved some of the brown, plain, 60s cabinets to our pantry and laundry area.

I always intended to paint those cabinets to unify the look of the kitchen, but never got around to it. Since reading about this new product, it has given me some impetus to get going on this project. I wonder if they can match the paint if I take in a door from the white cabinets.

Thanks for the great post.

I'm wondering how this is faster than regular painting? You're still deglossing, priming, painting, a putting a top coat on. It seems like the same amount of steps and time commitment to me Of course, I've never done it so I could be way off base here. Is it just that the finish is more professional looking?

Has anyone ever tried covering ugly laminate counters with a rubberizing compound, maybe like plasti-dip? I'm thinking about all those wonderful vintage chemistry tables in my high school, which were covered with some sort of black latex. Would be lovely in the kitchen, and clearly very durable. Has anyone done this? If so, please post!

I had a pretty good experience using it myself. Only issue I had was little globs of the top coat b/c we weren't careful about smoothing it out. You can check it out here: http://mallicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/master-bathroom-big-reveal.html and http://mallicious.blogspot.com/2011/02/master-bathroom-cabinets.html

The sample cabinet looks great! What color is it?

Just did this to our cabinets this last week.

It took me longer than a weekend to finish- and we only did 7 cabinet doors in our master bathroom-

I think the worst part was the protective top coat- I kept getting wierd results with the brushing on of the last coat. It looked SO nice up to that point, and I took such care to do it right. Then, the last coat seemed to be too sticky or glompy. In the end I was able to work through it, but it was harder than it looked initially. My wife was like, "better you than me".

So- will I do it again? I don't know. I love the look, but I also don't know the durability of the whole process. I'll probably live with it for a while and see if the look holds up before I go tackle another set of cabinets in the house.

Bye-Bye honey oak.
hello Expresso colored dark wood.

Thanks for such valuable post. I really appreciate you . keep continue..

I'm sorry, but your adoration for Rustoleum is misplaced. We had every problem others mentioned (including having scratched bond coat because we used screws to rest the doors on so we had to repaint 4 doors). The kit did not contain anything I haven't purchased over the counter at about 1/2 the cost, but the BIGGEST PROBLEM is that Rustoleum refuses to sell bond coat except by kit. Because of the need to repaint items, we need to buy more. The store said it's not available and Rustoleum just told us to buy another kit. I will not do that and found another satin finish to finish.

Very nice post. I loved the cabinets and the countertop and this product that I've found is a perfect match. It's a backsplash kit for DIYers (http://tinyurl.com/72ba5y8). What an amazing ideas (cabinets/countertop remodeling kit and backsplash kit)!

The hours of prep do not begin to compare to potential years of misery - or expensive replacement - if the product doesn't hold up well over time. I'm more interested in that info than how messy or tricky the prep/application/finishing work is.

After all, it's a _DIY_ project.