Kitchen cabinet refinish — black shaker, gold pulls

Customer had a honey-oak kitchen from the mid-2000s with sturdy boxes and solid wood doors. The structure was great; the look was tired. Replacement quotes came in around $32K for the same layout. We quoted the refinish at a fraction.

Day one: disassemble every door and drawer, label and bag the hardware. Doors went to our shop for the sprayed finish; boxes stayed in place under floor-to-ceiling masking. Customer kept using the kitchen on days 2–4 while we prepped the boxes — bowl on the counter, doors off — then we did the on-site spray on day 5 with the kitchen sealed.

Process: degrease with a TSP substitute, sand every face for mechanical bond, prime with BIN shellac (the only primer we trust on honey oak — blocks tannin bleed-through and bonds like crazy). Topcoat is Benjamin Moore Advance, a hardening cabinet enamel that cures harder than standard latex and resists chipping under fingernails and bumpers.

Doors cured in the shop for three days before reinstall. Hardware was the customer's pick — brushed-gold pulls that pop against the black flat-front. Seven days door-to-door. Looks indistinguishable from a factory paint job. Saved them around 80% over replacement.