The thing that has to be understood about homes is that they are often a reflection of their owners’ tastes.  If you have ever explored the homes for sale on real estate websites and wondered who would possibly paint the dining room canary yellow, you know it’s true.  There are as many different styles as there are different people.   Let’s look at kitchens in particular.  These diverse rooms can run the gambit from extremely formal to industrial looking, to as casual as a picnic area in some cases.  Naturally, there is no right or wrong way to decorate a kitchen.  It’s simply a matter of preference.  If you are into a more casual look in your kitchen, distressing kitchen cupboards may be the right cabinet treatment for you.

Distressing Kitchen Cupboards

Lots of people have decided distressing kitchen cupboards is a job for the professionals.  After all, this technique isn’t difficult, but if you aren’t practiced at all, you could end up taking more of the paint off than you wanted to.  Most of the time, the cabinets are painted a significantly darker or lighter color than the wood underneath.  Typically a medium grain sand paper is used to remove a thin layer of the paint from the edges of the cupboards and the handle.  The end result is a rustic, antiqued look to your cabinets.

There are other ways to get a unique look in the kitchen besides distressing kitchen cupboards.  Crackle painting is similar in that the cupboards end up looking old and well used.  It usually involves choosing an underneath paint color.  A crackling medium is applied on top of the dry paint layer.  The chemicals in the crackling agent cause the paint to literally split and crack.  Another option is to have your cupboards painted in the old European tradition of a fresco painting.  No doubt a local artist can help out with this project.  At the end of the day it’s you that has to be happy with your kitchen.  Let your contractor know what you want to see and sit back and enjoy. 

For more information on distressing kitchen cupboards