"Emergency" Cabinet Redo

I am often asked to update or makeover cabinets and furniture, but I'd never had anyone call their cabinets " a total disaster" and ask for my opinion, and then my services, as an EMT.

I had just finished a glazing/distressing job with my painting buddy Carol, and was headed out the client's drive when the interior designer who had hired us called.  She said that if we weren't too far down the road, she'd like us to go back to the newly constructed home next door and offer a critique of finishes their cabinet contractor had done in the master bath and the kitchen.  Apparently the results were disastrous and the homeowners distraught about what to do.  As you can see from the "before" photos, the cabinets were pretty awful.

Kitchen "after" repaint and refinish.

Aged distressed cabinet detail.

I've seen quite a few amateurish distressing and finish outcomes, but never anything so outrageously unacceptable done by a professional.  I asked if the cabinet maker had been paid. When they said he was still owed a substantial sum, I told them not to pay any more until they were satisfied.  If he would not or could not fix them, they should get bids on the cost the cost of refinishing and subtract that cost from the balance.  I took a few photos as they indicated I might be called to give an estimate.  I ended up with both "emergency" fixes.

The disastrous "before"

Another portion of the "before"...

When the cabinet maker was confronted, he first got angry - then admitted he had lost his "finisher" - and so he'd done the work himself.  He admitted they were not like the sample he'd shown them (which was similar to what I did).   But it's lucky I took photos, as his cooperative attitude was short lived. He had carpentry work yet to finish there, and when they called me to re-do the jobs, they warned me he might be "unpleasant."  He was.

Suffice it to say, I am glad I am a rather laid back person as he kept snooping and sniping about the owners as I worked; trying to see how I did what I do and having the nerve to ask me what products I use.  It's really not much about what you use, it's how you use it. 

And for a little lighter mood:  Here's a couple of my most recent fosters:  Briggs and Stratton... Well they have great motors...  purrrrrr....

Briggs - with his nursing mustache...

Foster kitten "Stratton" at four weeks of age.  I love her spotted nose.