Expert: Eileen Cronk - 4/10/2007

Question
We are looking for a cost effective way to update our kitchen. Currently the cabinets are dark but they are high quality and we would like to keep them, but we want to lighten them to create more a farmhouse kittchen feel. I don't want to paint them since I've heard that this can be fragile and look rather uneven. Recently I heard that cabinets can be professional striped and relacquered, but I cannot seem to find information about the process, the cost, and the durability.

Any information you can provide would be very helpful. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Elizabeth
Nice to hear from you.
Certainly most wood can be stripped of its finish and a new finish applied.
The problem you are going to have is going from a dark stain to a light one if in fact stain was applied before the laquer.
Unfortunately the dark stain penetrates the wood, and stripping does not remove it all. Aggressive sanding will though.
Having said that, perhaps the finish on your cabinets is colored laquer.
In that case, it will come off fine as the stain is suspended in the laquer and not in the wood.
The process for stripping can be either by hand, or dipping in a vat. The dipping would be cheaper.
I cannot comment on cost. The durability would be as good or better than the original.
Look in the business pages of the phone book under furniture refinishing. See if they do dipping.
And I agree with you 100% that this will be a more cost effective way to update your kitchen than replacing.
Any place that does furniture stripping would do this for you I think.
Hope this helps
Regards
Eileen