DIY Beaded Raised Panel Kitchen Cabinets

 

This is one of my favorite makeovers I ever did. I know I’ve said that before, but this has got to be the one!

I turned our, what we call the pantry area of our kitchen, from this:

To this:

A closer look…

So for those of you that wish you had raised panel doors on your kitchen cabinets, wish no longer! I would be quite impressed if the rest of my kitchen looked like this.

Years ago I had crackled these doors and drawers, and in doing so I made it virtually impossible to paint them again. To coat them with paint would only make them crackle again, and if they wouldn’t crackle, the finish would still be uneven and not very smooth. The only fix for this would be to take the doors to a wood shop or to someone with a planer and get them planed, completely removing the finish. I tried sanding them, but that didn’t work. I thought about trying to remove the finish with furniture stripper but had the feeling that the crackling glue would not remove itself easily, even with stripper.

I purchased a roll of paintable wallpaper that looked like beadboard. Thankfully if was 70% off at a local lumber & hardware place! At the same place I got some thin Poplar wood strips. They were three inches wide and I cut them to two and a half. I’m not sure exactly how thick they were, probably not more than an eighth inch.

I cut pieces to fit around the doors. For the drawers I cut them an inch and a half wide, since the drawer fronts are so much smaller.

First I cut the wallpaper to fit the door, and following directions that came with it, I applied it to the door.

It doesn’t look that way on the picture,but I did take it all the way to the edges.

I also sanded the edges of the wood strips.

I then attached them to the door by gluing and pinning with my air pinner.

 

And, after a few coats of paint they are ready to hang!

I also painted the countertop at the same time. For a tutorial on that, click here.

For the complete kitchen makeover, click here. 

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I am enjoying my “new” kitchen!

Thanks for visiting!

-Mary