If you need to paint your cabinets first, make sure that you clean and fine sand the cabinets before your first coat of paint. The sanding makes your surface have the ability to hold your paint. I paint cabinets with a water based latex enamel satin paint. Minimum of two coats.

You will notice that I specified different colors on the material list.
You will want to decide what color you want your antiquing to be. I have used all sorts of colors for this process. If your trying to get a typical brownish look, then use burnt umber. I use acrylic craft paint.

Mix your brown color into your quart of glaze. Glaze is slightly milky but will dry clear. The more color you mix in the darker the glaze will be.

Old Oak Cabinets Painted and Antiqued

I use a small roller brush to roll the colored glaze on the entire cabinet door. Use a small brush to apply it into any tight spots or corners. I glaze one door at a time. Your open working time is approximately 15 minutes, give or take. Don't dawdle...

As quickly as you get the colored glaze on, you need to start taking it off with a damp, clean rag. The more you wipe, the more glaze will come off. I rub in the direction of the grain of wood. Variations of color will be very typical.

Chocolate Antiqued Cabinetry

There is a fine line between leaving too much glaze on and taking too much off. On pure white cabinets, it's a little more difficult.

Your best bet is to practice on the inside of a lower cabinet. It doesn't take a pro to do this, just don't get to finicky.

You can do the exact opposite also. I sanded these white cabinets a bit and then painted them chocolate brown. While the paint was still wet, I carefully wiped the wet chocolate paint off in a few places. Just think of where fingertips would have been over the last hundred or so years.