I recently wrote about my first press trip – to see and test-drive Rustoleum’s new “Cabinet Transformations” kitchen repainting kit. I was impressed with my experience – but there is nothing like a real-life testimonial from someone who has used the product on an entire kitchen. Did skeptical Connie like it? Yes. The minute she finished her first bathroom, she ran out for another kit to paint the second bathroom, then for more to repaint the kitchen. Here’s a snippet of her enthusiastic story:
What a great, great product. Tell Rustoleum they’re welcome to come over and shoot a commercial here if they want to. I wouldn’t want to be in it – I’m 59 years old and well past my expiration date. That’s what actressess and spokesmodels are for! I love the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations – I swear I’m about ready to buy stock in the company.
Actually, Connie first contacted me because there was a small problem. She wrote:
I started out my Cabinet Transformations project in our master bathroom, just in case it didn’t look as good as the pictures on the packaging, because nobody really sees it besides the two of us!
All of our cabinets were spray-painted with thick white latex before we bought the house. Naturally the guy sprayed right over the hinges and not only were they peeling, but so were the joints on the cabinets. Actually these cabinets were just about a deal-breaker for me, but I finally thought I’d just live with them for awhile and then have them ripped out and replaced. (For $30,000 or so!)
Anyway, the bathroom turned out fantastic. So then I did the guest bath, and finally the kitchen. My one and only complaint is that Rustoleum doesn’t provide NEARLY enough glaze. They’ve gotta be kidding with that teeny little can – no WAY would it cover 100 feet. I called their Customer … She directed me to just go buy another whole kit, and said Rustoleum would reimburse me. I’m on my last section of kitchen cabinets now and it’s clear that I’m going to run out of even THAT glaze before I get done. Does anybody know where to get that type of glaze?…This kit is the world’s greatest idea, but it is just proportioned SO WRONG!!! Can anybody help? Thanks!
By now I know all these people at Rustoleum. I emailed them, and they jumped right on it. Not only did they help Connie out with more glaze, at no additional cost. Cathy, a leading member of the Rustoleum brand team, responded quickly:
Connie – I am so sorry that you ran out! As with any new product there is always room for improvement and comments like yours help us deliver better products in the end. With that being said, at this time there is not and option to purchase the glaze on its own at a retailer, and we do not recommend any other product as a substitute. As a result to consumer demand we will be adding an additional 1/2 pint of glaze to our small Cabinet Transformations kit going forward. Rust-Oleum will also be offering additional glaze, in the near future, if someone happens to run out of the product. (Cathy then gave Connie some options to get more glaze.) We do apologize that you ran out of the product, and really appreciate the feedback. Thank you – Rust-Oleum Cathy
Isn’t that great customer service? Good on you, Rustoleum! Back to Connie… here’s her DIY painting story:
The cabinets in here were solid wood and well worth saving – none of those cheap crappy veneers that you usually see these days. I just didn’t think they were “salvageable”. Thus my willingness to spend $30,000 to rip them out and get new ones.
This is a “before” picture of the kitchen, but I didn’t specifically take it because I was going to re-do the cabinets. I just took those to send to some of my out-of-town buddies once we bought this house. Too bad I didn’t get close-ups of the awful peeling white paint on the hinges and joints!
Ugly white sprayed on paint, chipping and slopped over the hinges.
I deliberately took photos of the nice new finished cabinets (left side of pictures) while the awful chipped white cabinet doors were still in place on my last section of kitchen (right side of pictures).
As you can see, I went with the darker kit in my kitchen, due to the terra cotta colored floor tile.
In the bathrooms, my tile and grout is quite light. I used one “lighter” Cabinet Transformations kit, and that was enough for both bathrooms.
So I see all these kitchen and bathroom photos, and they don’t look particularly “retro” to me, so I ask Connie how she happened upon this blog. She answers — and we also get this funny back story about her Dear Husband (DH):
I think I got there because I was trying to find out how I could get more glaze, and you had just participated as one of ten designers who went to RustOleum to test the Cabinet Transformations product. Your blog just happened to be about Cabinet Transformations that week. It was definitely a roundabout approach! Our condo is about thirty years old, so not really retro. We have cathedral ceilings which we call “retro” because all the newer houses have 10-foot ceilings and crown molding!
Here’s a funny story: I was one of the first people in the Palm Springs area to buy a Cabinet Transformations kit. Lowe’s had just put their first 8 boxes on display that day. So when I brought it home and showed my husband, he kinda rolled his eyes and said: “What did you waste money on THAT for?” I told him that if the thing works like I THINK it’s gonna work, it’ll save him thousands and thousands of dollars.
He was pretty skeptical, though. I couldn’t even get him to make me some drying racks, so the master bath seemed to take forever, because I had to wait for each coat to dry before I could flip the doors over and do the other sides.
Anyway, by the time I put the glaze coat on, his eyes were about popping out of his head. He immediately made some drying racks for me and he had the doors off the guest bath cabinets even as we were waiting for the top coat to fully dry before re-hanging the doors in the master bath! So as soon as I got done with the guest bath, I bought two more kits, this time in the darker shades. I’m pretty sure he had the kitchen cabinet doors off by the time I got home.
I can’t see how anybody could NOT love this product. In my case, replacing the existing cabinets with ones of the same quality would probably have cost at least $20,000 because they’re solid wood – not those cheap veneers you so often see. Instead I bought a total of four Cabinet Transformations kits and was refunded for the fourth one because I only bought that one to get more glaze. So, about $240 total.
I thought you’d get a kick out of my husband’s initial skepticism followed by his Attitude Transformation! If I’m Cabinet Transformation’s biggest fan, I’d have to say he’s now Number Two.
Thanks for your interest…this has been fun… Later, Connie
Thank you, Connie — yes, this has been fun! Please do keep in touch — I especially want to hear how the new paint wears! And if I ever make it to Palm Springs, you and I will have to go thrifting. We’ll get you some great bit 1960s lamps for your Palm Springs groove pad!
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Marianne says
Has anyone tried using this product on the cheap….and I DO mean CHEAP…..1970ish veneer cabinets? This house is 40 years old, with the original cabinets……I can’t afford to replace them.
pam kueber says
Best to call Rust-O customer service on this one. Not sure if you mean laminate…. Need to ask them…
Hilary says
I have been looking for some feedback from those who used the product a while ago and what it’s durability is like. I want to give this a try, but not if it isn’t going to last. Is it better than painting?
Pat says
Can you put three coats of bond on cabinets? I think mine are going to need it.
pam kueber says
Pat – I think you should call the Rust-Oleum customer service line to ask about this. Good luck!
Shala Simmons says
I spent several days deglossing my white cabinets(they are made out of a cheap material too)…I started putting my first coat of dark color on the back side of one of my doors ( I choose Cabernet) but it went on really streaky and could see lots of white still in the cabinets….I think it will take alot more than 2 coats to get a dark solid color…Did the degloss not work or what do I need to do? I thought going from white to dark would cover up quick and good but it is not..now I’m scared to do another one…Help!!!
pam kueber says
Shala — you need to contact Rust-Oleum customer service directly. Good luck.
Stacey says
I have used the Linen on some cabinets and loved it! A trick I found was to dampen a couple of the cloths and have dry ones also. It allowed me to get the color exactly like I wanted it! I also used it on an old wooden bed and it came out great! Now I’m trying to decide what color I want to use on my kitchen cabinets.
Kate says
Hi,
I wondered what colors Connie used in the kitchen and bath pictured above?
Thank you!
Donna in NY says
I’m in the middle of redoingmy kitchen cabinets. I was wondering if anyone knew if the glaze in all the kits are the same or if the different color. The reason I ask is because I am using quilter’s white. When I apply the glaze to my cabinet doors, I am able to wipe enough off to get the desired color, however, when I glaze the laminate on the cabinet bases and frames, it seems to come out much darker and blotchy. I know home depot now sells the glaze separately and was wondering if they sold a lighter color glaze. Any help would be appreciated
Mom of 5 says
Dont mean to jump in on blogs etc. But I ran across this while in the process of re-Rustoleum-ing my kitchen. **Long story… fiance picked out the Rustic color when we first moved in. I did the kitchen, but HATED the color. I’m either a dark or light kinda person, no in between for me, and Rustic was rather red for my liking. But I lived with it for about 7 months before I finally admitted it to him and purchased the kit in a different color.** Anyway, I’m in the process of painting my cabinets in Linen over the Rustic I didnt like. (I’m loving the white now in case anyone is wondering!:) With the old color, I didnt use the glaze as I found it actually wiped some of the bond coat off. And when I used the top coat, it streaked terribly. So I used Minwax on it instead. It worked ok, but both of those top coats felt rough and chalky to me. This time I went to the store and the associate recommended the Rustoleum Varathane. I was extremely skeptical, because I wanted to really enjoy my kitchen this time, but this stuff is awesome! I got the full gloss (probably too shiny for others), and it is so smooth to the touch! My 18 month old is really liking the color difference and loves rubbing her hands all over the cabinets that are done. The old color/top coat she doesnt even go near as it is very rough.
Anyway, just thought I’d share the Varathane hint if anyones interested. The top coat in the kit wasnt up to my expectations but the Varathane goes beyond! 🙂
Decla Nichols says
does anyone know the best place to buy these kits? I will probably be needing two of the large kits and want to buy these as inexpensively as possible. By the way, all of the pictures look great and I can’t wait to do my cabinets! I bought some old cabinets off of craigslist for a mountain home and I just know they are going to look spectacular!
Susan says
I’m just finishing my upper kitchen cabinets, it has been a crazy amount of work but well worth it! I was not in a hurry when I started the project so I had the luxury of being incredibly organized as far as prep and drying areas. I bought 8′ lengths of 1×2 scraps to raise my doors up off the work surface and actually bought a 6′ folding table for extra work area. Having plenty of work room is crucial to your sanity for sure! I had a friend help me the first day but I’ve done the rest of the work by myself, that’s a great feeling!