<p>I usually start the projects for my husband to finish. I will see something that bothers me and start to “pick” at it until it is such a mess that it has to be redone. LOL
I did that with the vinyl flooring when we first bought the house ( just started peeling at a loose corner to see how loose it was and ruined the floor),then started picking at some loose paint near the tub until I had half of the wall off LOL My husband doesn’t know what to expect, but we now have a lovely remodeled bathroom and nice tile floors instead of vinyl…oops. I’m glad he’s understanding. </p>
<p>Sorry we scared you off of the idea, but the yard will thank us.</p>
<p>Another “refinish or buy new” criterion to consider is the functionality and quality of the cabinets. I started out planning to refurb our kitchen cabinets by installing new hardware, new drawer glides, some pullout shelves, and new counter tops. I was also going to refinish the face frames and make new doors and drawer fronts. By the time I figured out the costs of upgrading our current particle-board cabinets, it won’t that much more to buy new ones, and I can order plywood cases instead. We are shopping now.</p>
<p>It sounds like there are two problems. First the cabinets are dirty and yellowed and second the cabinets are pine, which probably means they were stained a fairly dark color and are out of date. If you must have a more modern appearance with a light or washed white finish, you might need to replace the cabinets. As you have already heard, stripping to bare wood is expensive and difficult. Painting is relatively easy, but any wear and chipping will reveal the dark stain. If you can live with the dark, out of date look, I would consider a satin poly finish instead. Surface prep should make for a reasonable weekend project: remove hardware, thoroughly clean and lightly sand. I would bet you can restore these cabinets to the original appearance.</p>
<p>Yeah, but I’m not sure that the “original appearance” is anything to write home about. The wood is light–I’m assuming pine, but I could be wrong—more of a light stain/varnish. We’ll either just clean them and replace the hardware, or we’re still talking about painting them…maybe.</p>