how I fixed my scratched up kitchen cabinets.

We have this particular cabinet door in the kitchen that is just below and to the right of the sink. Ummm, I guess it gets splashed. A lot. Because seriously...look at the picture below. Yikes.

I'm super embarrassed to show you this before picture:

[ack!]

Wow, up close the damage was hideous. Not only was the wood scratched, it was buckled at the bottom of the inset panel.

I knew I could sand the whole thing down, then try to find/remember what finish was on the wood and hope against hope that after all that work it would sorta kinda maybe match it's neighbors.

Then one happy day I found this on Pinterest [thanks Tara!], which showed how to rejuvenate scratched wood with Watco Rejuvenating Oil.  So I thought, why not? If it doesn't work I'm no worse off than I was before. At only $6 it was sure worth a try.

First, I removed the door from the cabinet [ooh look at the nicks on the drawer above! those will get fixed as well]:

[removing cabinet door]. 

I took the door down to the garage and gave it a light sanding with some superfine grit sanding paper. Watco's instructions don't say to sand, but I wanted to smooth down the buckling a bit if I could.

[a wee bit of sanding].

[the magic potion].

I followed Watco's instructions, which are basically:
1. rub the product into the damaged area with a clean cloth
2. wait 10 minutes
3. wipe with a clean cloth

Simple! Even I could do that!

And check the result:

[after watco application].

While not perfect, I think it's 1,000 times better.  You can still see the damage at the bottom of the inset panel but once it's hung, that area is down by your feet so it won't even be noticeable.
And I didn't expect it to be perfect. As you saw, that door was pretty destroyed. In truth it probably needs to be replaced. But at least I can put it off for a while longer!

Friends, can you handle two more before and after pictures?

Take a look at the scratches on this kitchen drawer:

[what are we, animals? geez].

And now after a swipe of Watco magic:

[after the magic].

Now that's incredible!  :-)

If you plan to do this, of course please test it on an inconspicuous area first.

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