Are you ready for something different for your painted cabinets?
Try Glazing kitchen cabinets! We are painting kitchen cabinets at about a kitchen and a half per week. Most people are just painting with solid colors, some will add a second color for islands. One thing we used to do a lot of was glazing wood, specifically glazing kitchen cabinets.
Ever seen glazed cabinets? Do you know what a glazed cabinet looks like? Can you see yourself wanting a glazed cabinet?
What is a glazed cabinet?
In the simplest of terms a glazed cabinet or piece of furniture is something that has been painted with a color. Once that color is dry, we add a tinted clear finish, then spray, brush or roll that color onto the surface, where we wipe it off until we achieve the color or style the customer wants.
Just like every other type of decorative painting there are different ways you can glaze
- Pinstripe – simple stripes along the edges of the doors
- Wipe on – almost like staining, the glaze is applied to the surface by wiping it on
- Wipe off – we apply the color to the surface and wipe off until we get the color the customer wants
- Spray on – this one we can do with smaller sprayers, not a lot of overspray, and add an aged look to the painted surface
You can actually watch a video we did about glazing cabinets here
What colors can you glaze?
That is an easy enough question to answer…any color. What looks good? That is a whole different story. Usually applying a dark color over a lighter color looks the best (in my opinion), I have seen some dark cherry cabinets that were glazed with a light white over it in the groves of the doors. It didn’t look bad, just not my taste.
A trend in flooring and furniture is a type of glazing called a Ceruse finish. Here is a link to video that shows what this looks like .This unique as it typically uses heavy grain woods such as oak, which really show the grain, a dark color is applied to the oak, then it is glazed with a light color glaze and man does it pop! Again, not a huge fan of it but it is interesting. The finishes we are seeing are natural oak with white, that appear to mimic picking finishes done in the 80’s.
How durable is a glazed kitchen cabinet finish?
The best part about a glazed finish is that it can be as durable as a painted surface. Depending on the application and materials used, it can last a long time and stand up to normal wear and tear.
Just like traditional painted surfaces, the painted wood surfaces do not tolerate water! So not using hot soapy water, not allowing water to stand on the painted surface, and no harsh cleaners will definitely allow for longevity.
Does a glazed finish make a big difference in how my kitchen will look?
A picture is worth a 1,000 words…
Cabinet door and drawer front that have been glazed
Before and after photos of glazed kitchen cabinets
Of course when you go all out and paint the cabinets before they are glazed it is even a bigger wow factor!
Cherry cabinets painted and glazed
Glazed cabinets is not for everyone. It has a certain place and it is something that takes practice to do. We’ve also had projects where we are painting over glazed cabinets as well. We hope we have the opportunity to help you with your cabinet painting needs.
