About those Doors: I did it my way.

Preparation:

The first week of April, I tarped my living room to prepare for the arrival of the custom doors from Scherr's,  

My test samples were done. My five-step finishing technique had been worked out in advance. I was ready to go. I knew how to get the finish I wanted, consistently, on those beautiful wood cabinet parts. April was all about wood finishing. April...and then half of May.

Bare naked.

A few weeks after the doors arrived here, the custom cabinet parts arrived. Both the door order and the cabinet order were delivered on pallets. Everything was fork-lifted out of a big truck and deposited into my garage by Carlos Santana, the truck driver. No lie.

The garage held them safely, rain or shine, until I returned from work.

I unpacked the pallets and carried parts in separately.
This is the Grrl Genius way to get things done

The Big One was a combo of the
biggest Christmas present ever
and Dracula's coffin.

The Finishing Technique:

1. Lightly, quickly and thoroughly sand the lovely, reddish wood until smooth. Until. Smooth. While you work, listen to audio books from the library so that your brain does not liquefy and run out of your ears. Wear a good dustmask (not a bandanna, silly) so that your snot does not turn into Elmer's Glue.

Alder is a relatively soft hardwood. Those doors have arrived "pre-sanded," (snort) but the edges are rough in spots and need #220 grit to start. And everything needs #320 to finish. Sand as efficiently as possible. Use sanding blocks to save your hands. When you're finally done sanding, vacuum all dust from the doors, the floors, all tarps and horizontal surfaces. In real cabinet shops, sanding and finish-application happen in different rooms to keep dust out of the finish. I did not have that luxury. Instead, I sanded and applied finish on different days, and I vacuumed and cleaned like a maniac.

2. Wipe every piece with a tack cloth before applying the first coat of finish . (I used a wipe-on, satin polyurethane.) When dry, sand lightly with 320 or 400 grit paper, paying special attention to the corners and edges of the recessed panels which will be roughened from the first coat. This is really tedious work. Keep at it! 

3. Then vacuum and tack cloth again and wipe on a second coat of finish. Do not sand afterward, unless there is a really rough patch.

4. Wipe on, and immediately wipe off "Antique Walnut" gel stain, as a glaze. Yep. I glazed the alder even-though my original inspiration was a natural alder kitchen. I made a test with glaze and it was such an improvement! It was worth the extra work. Unlike the sanding, and most of the varnishing, glazing takes real concentration. It's easy to screw it up!

Natural+Glaze vs. Natural

5. Apply the last coat of finish to seal the glaze.

DIY cabinet finishing disclaimer: Finishing a kitchen full of cabinets is NOT a project for a novice. 

The five steps of the technique (above) are not a how-to guide. Describing everything that I had to do and take care with in the finishing process would take a book of instructions. There are lots of good books out there. I have years of experience in finishing and refinishing hardwood house parts and furniture. If I did not, I never would have attempted this stunt.

Also, factory-made and most shop-made wood cabinetry is finished with a sprayed-on catalyzed varnish that is tougher than the very good quality, wipe-on polyurethane I used. Spray-on finishes can't be used on-site. I don't have a shop; I used poly.

And I was happy to save a lot of money and gain a lot of control over the results with my technique. I have no regrets about doing it my way. Sing it with me! But, I can't encourage anyone else. Proceed at your own risk.