Did you know you can refurbish and make over solid wood furniture and cabinets without any dusty sanding or paint removers with toxic fumes? Yes! This EASY cabinet makeover required just a few products and was a JOY to work on. Get all the tips and instructions with step-by-step photos below!
Read below for tips and step-by-step instructions for how I refinished this board game storage cabinet.
The trick to refinishing furniture without needing to do any dusty sanding is using a couple of “liquid wood” products from Retique-It. I promise they are not paying me to write this blog post. I am just obsessed with their products and how easy it is to refinish furniture by simply painting on Retique-It.
I got this super functional but boring cabinet for free through a Facebook “Buy Nothing” group. There was nothing wrong with it, but I wanted to get rid of the orange tones and update it a little bit. I wanted a new DIY project. Can ya blame me?!
I did NOT want to do any dusty sanding. We just finished working on our basement (see my tutorial for how to install vinyl wall base on cinder blocks) and the last thing I wanted was to make a mess down there.
You can use Retique-It products on any type of furniture to give it a wood-like finish. I used it on this game table makeover too, and I love how it came out!
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Summary of the process
To get this look, I used:
- Retique-It Light Liquid Wood (2-3 coats, I needed less than 1 quart)
- Retique-It Wood’n Stain in Barn Wood with this wood graining tool (1 coat, I needed less than 8 ounces)
- Jacobean stain (1 coat, about 2 ounces)
- Seal with Varathane Triple Thick stain polyurethane (2 coats, half a quart)
The Liquid Wood acts like a basecoat and provides a wooden-like surface on your furniture. The Wood’n Stain adds the dark brown “wood grain” look to the cabinet. The Jacobean stain was totally optional—I wanted a darker more dramatic cabinet and less contrast between the graining and the “base” liquid wood. And the polyurethane protects the cabinet from scratches, water spills, and every day wear and tear.
RELATED POST: How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Why use Retique-It
- No sanding or paint-stripping needed. Simply wipe your surface clean and paint over it.
- This is a super forgiving technique, perfect for beginners. The liquid wood is very easy to paint on and you have several minutes to fix any imperfections before it starts drying.
- It dries quickly without any toxic fumes. I still wear a mask and open the window, but it is SO MUCH BETTER than strong chemical fumes of many other furniture makeover products.
- The graining tool — the one that makes the “wood” design — is so fun to use! But if you don’t want to use it, they have smooth finish kits where you can finish cabinets without the graining.
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Materials
- Retique-it Light Liquid Wood – This is light-colored base that I painted over the whole cabinet. It can be painted on pretty much any surface without sanding!
- Retique-it Wood’n Stain in Barn Wood – The Wood’n Stain is the darker brown “wood” design you see on my cabinet.
- Stain (optional) – I used Minwax Jacobean and an old sock to apply it. Looks like Home Depot also has a Jacobean stain (Varathane). Retique-It only recommends using their gel stains but I had stain left over from our hardwood floors so I used that. It looks amazing and is holding up really well. If staining, please wear a respirator to protect you from the fumes.
- Polyurethane – I used Varathane Triple Thick in Satin. Retique-It has their own Tripletique topcoat. I tried both and the Retique-it polyurethane is just NOT as durable and it is so much more expensive. I was able to scratch it up. But when I tried to scratch up the Varathane, I couldn’t make any marks or scratches.
- Rubbing alcohol – for cleaning the cabinet before painting
- Mod-podge (matte) and large decoupage paper (optional) – I had old blueprints that I found in the basement of our house so I decoupaged the inside back of the cabinet instead of leaving it white, and I love the look. If decoupaging, you’ll also need a brush and probably a craft knife
- New cabinet handles (optional) – I used these
Tools
- Wood graining tool – I used this one. I tried one from Amazon and one from Retique-It for comparison and the Retique-It one was SO MUCH BETTER. The Amazon one scratched the paint off because it was more plasticky, while the Retique one was rubbery and soft, giving me more control.
- Brushes – I used this inexpensive set and I am NEVER going back to $10-per-brush brushes from Lowe’s or Home Depot
- Drop cloth or plastic sheeting to protect your floor
- Painter’s tape
- A small rag or old sock to apply stain
- Paper towels
- Paint pyramid stands – to prop up the shelves so I could paint the sides. You can use ANYTHING do prop them up (tin cans? wooden blocks?), as long you don’t mind it getting messy.
- Respirator and masks
- Nitrile gloves (I am MESSY when I DIY, many people can do this without gloves)
- Gallon-sized zip lock bags (my favorite trick for keeping brushes wet in between coats)
- Screwdriver or drill (to remove door hinges and handles)
Tips before getting started
My main tip is to “trust the process” and don’t stress if it’s not coming out perfect. Your brush strokes might be imperfect or your wood grain lines might not turn out how you wanted them to. But follow through with finishing the whole piece and it will look fantastic.
If you have a flat piece of wood (such as the bottom of a shelf from your cabinet or any flat hard surface, actually) to practice on, I recommend painting on a “sample” to make sure you’re happy with your choice of wood colors.
Having a flat piece of wood also lets you get some practice with the wood graining tool before using it on your main project. It’s not hard to use, but it can feel intimidating using it for the first time.
The great part about these products is that the Wood’n Stain for the wood grain look can be brushed over several times to re-do the wood grain if you don’t like how it turned out. Retique-it says you can brush over it and try again up to 3 times, but I’ve definitely done 4-5 times when I wasn’t happy with how it looked.
And last but not least, please wear a respirator when using any stains, topcoats, or chemical products.
RELATED BLOG POST: Farmhouse China Cabinet Makeover
Instructions
Place a drop cloth on the floor underneath your cabinet.
Remove all doors, shelves, hardware, and hinges from the cabinet. If there are areas of the cabinet that you’re not painting, use painter’s tape to protect those surfaces.
Make a solution of 1:1 rubbing alcohol and water and wipe down the whole cabinet. If there are especially greasy or grimy spots, focus on removing the sticky parts so that the liquid wood base coat can adhere well to the cabinet.
Optional: If your cabinet is REALLY sleek and smooth, you can use a fine sandpaper to scratch it up a tiny bit. Not enough to create dust — I did promise you a dust-free process, after all.
Paint your first coat of Liquid Wood, using long even brush strokes that follow the length of the surfaces. Don’t forget to paint all the shelves and short edges too. Let the first coat dry. This can take about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature and room circulation. In the meantime, seal your wet brush in a large zip lock bag, removing as much air as possible.
Paint on a second coat, and let it dry. If needed, paint on a third coat. 2 coats are typically enough.
For this next step, have paper towels or lots of clean rags nearby.
Use a clean brush to apply a thin coat of Wood’n Stain. Work in small sections about the width of a plank of wood (about the width of 2 brushes). As soon as you paint on a thin coat, use a graining tool to add the wood grain design. Wipe the wood graining tool with a paper towel before the next section so it doesn’t drip. If you don’t love how the wood design turned out, use the same brush to paint over the wood design (do not add more Wood’n Stain) and try again.
Let the wood grain design dry completely.
This next step is optional. You can stain your project to make it darker and to reduce the amount of contrast between the wood grain design and the base coat. If staining, I really really recommend having a sample board somewhere to make sure you love how the stain color comes out.
Retique recommends using ONLY their water-based stain. I did not have any on hand so I gave my oil-based stain a try (you NEED to wear a mask for this stuff, it is STINKY!). I wore nitrile gloves and used an old sock to apply a THIN coat of stain all over the painted cabinet and then wiped off any extra. Be sure to work quickly because it does set in quickly and you want to get a consistent stain look instead of smeared lines of stain. The oil-based stain took about 24 hours to dry. It needs to be fully dry before you can seal your project with polyurethane.
Once you’re sure the stain is fully dried, use a clean brush to pain on a thick coat of Triple Thick Polyurethane. Be careful not to use too much or it will create white drips. Let it dry completely (this can take several hours or a day).
Apply a second coat of the polyurethane for a more durable finish. Let dry. If using a regular thickness polyurethane (not triple thick), you might want to do 4-6 coats.
Remove painters tape, add the shelves back in, reattach the doors and hardware.
Optional: decoupage the inside back of the cabinet and let the mod podge dry completely.
Let the cabinet “cure” for 7 days before using it to make sure that it is super durable and that things don’t stick to the topcoat.
Enjoy your new furniture and start thinking about your next project!
DIY Cabinet Makeover
Refinish an old cabinet (or any other furniture) without dusty sanding or stinky chemicals! I highly recommend reading the blog post for detailed instructions with step-by-step pictures and explanations of each material and tool used.
Materials
- Retique-it Light Liquid Wood
- Retique-it Wood’n Stain in Barn Wood
- Stain (optional) – I used Minwax Jacobean
- Polyurethane - I used Varathane Triple Thick in Satin
- Rubbing alcohol – for cleaning the cabinet before painting
- New cabinet handles (optional)
- Mod-podge and large decoupage paper (optional)
Tools
- Brushes
- Wood graining tool
- Drop cloth or plastic sheeting
- Painter’s tape
- Paper towels
- Paint pyramid stands
- Nitrile gloves
- Gallon-sized zip lock bags
- Screwdriver or drill
Instructions
Remove all doors, shelves, hardware, and hinges from the cabinet. Use painter's tape to protect any surfaces you do not want to paint.
Make a solution of 1:1 rubbing alcohol and water and wipe down the whole cabinet. If there are especially greasy or grimy spots, focus on removing those.
Optional: If your cabinet is REALLY sleek and smooth, you can use a fine sandpaper to scratch it up a tiny bit (not enough to create dust).
Paint your first coat of Liquid Wood, using long even brush strokes that follow the length of the surfaces. Don't forget to paint all the shelves and short edges too. Let the first coat dry.
Paint on a second coat, and let it dry. If needed, paint on a third coat.
Use a clean brush to apply a thin coat of Wood'n Stain. Work in small sections about the width of a plank of wood (about the width of 2 brushes). As soon as you paint on a thin coat, use a graining tool to add the wood grain design. Wipe the wood graining tool with a paper towel before the next section so it doesn't drip. If you don't love how the wood design turned out, use the same brush to paint over the wood design (do not add more Wood'n Stain) and try again. Let the wood grain design dry completely.
This next step is optional. You can stain your project to make it darker. Read the blog post for tips on staining.
Once the stain is fully dried, use a clean brush to pain on a thick coat of Triple Thick Polyurethane. Be careful not to use too much or it will create white drips. Let it dry completely.
Apply a second coat of the polyurethane for a more durable finish. Let dry. If using a regular thickness polyurethane (not triple thick), you might want to do 4-6 coats.
Remove painters tape, add the shelves back in, reattach the doors and hardware.
Optional: decoupage the inside back of the cabinet and let the mod podge dry completely.
Let the cabinet "cure" for 7 days before using it to make sure that it is super durable and that things don't stick to the topcoat. Enjoy your refinished cabinet and start thinking about your next project!
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