Have you ever heard of “inking”? Sometimes painting your cabinetry just isn’t enough to provide that high-end luxury feel your looking for… When that’s the case, “inking” is a great way to add that extra touch to your cabinets.
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Inking has also been called “glazing in the grooves” or “distressing” but actual “inking”, by definition, is done by applying a much more cleaner line to certain areas of your cabinetry.
I recommend starting with a properly primed and painted surface. A sprayed finish on your cabinetry is best as it always adds to that high-end look. You can either hire it done or spray your cabinets yourself. I have a cabinet spraying tutorial available HERE to teach you everything you need to know to feel confident in spraying your own kitchen cabinets. It’s basically my entire step-by-step process of how I spray cabinets!
When your cabinetry is how you want it, it’s time to pick the inking color. I’ve done everything from taupe to walnut. You need such a small amount of paint that I recommend just having your color matched at Home Depot and buying their little sample cups for like three bucks. Then just mix your paint with just a teeny amount of glaze. I use Modern Masters Furniture and Cabinetry Glazing Cream . You don’t need much glaze. I would say 10:1 ratio of paint to glaze. You can adjust to get the look you want.
Applying Cabinet Inking
I then take a fine artist brush and dip my brush lightly in the paint/glaze mixture and basically draw a line in the crevice of the door. I then take a paper towel covering my finger and wipe in a straight line. After that, I take a Boss Wipe (I get from Home Depot) and wipe off any more extra. I love Boss Wipes as they remove what I don’t want but never damage a painted surface.
That’s all there is to it! You can apply a topcoat, but I have found it’s not really necessary when I’m mixing paint with glaze. It’s already highly durable. So there it is…any easy and amazing way to update your painted cabinets to give them a little more luxury!
Here is a picture of the finished cabinets.
Finished Kitchen after painting and walnut inking was applied.