How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets

Painting your cabinets is easier than  you think. All you need is one weekend and a gallon of paint to update your kitchen. Applying a fresh coat of paint to existing kitchen cabinets will take your kitchen from drab to fab without the cost. Turn that dark, dull room that everyone hates into a bright, cheerful room where everyone congregates with these tips for painting kitchen cabinets.

Prepare the Surface

Here’s where the perfect cabinet finish begins – in the prep work. Remove the cabinet doors and all hardware and place them on a flat work surface. Saw horse set up outdoors or something along those lines will make the work easier on your back and safer for your respiratory system. Using a sawhorse outdoors will make the work easier while protecting your lungs.

Clean the years of built-up grease and gunk from the doors with a de-greasing product. After the cabinet surfaces dry, use 100 grit sandpaper to gently rough up the surface. This will enable the paint to adhere to the surface.

Repair any holes or pits with wood putty. Use the product according to manufacturer’s directions. Allow to dry, sand until even with the rest of the surface, then slightly rough up with sandpaper so paint will adhere to the wood putty.

Apply Primer

This step can not be skipped. Primer will make or break the cabinet finish. If you want to have a glassy finish on the wood, you will need to use a sandable primer. A high-build, sandable primer will fill in all the imperfections on the wood and allow you to sand the primer to a silky smooth finish before applying paint. Two coats of sandable primer may be needed, depending on the condition of the wood surfaces.

Drying Racks

Before applying paint, note that it will take time for the cabinetry to dry. Touching it during the drying time may leave fingerprints. The doors will need to be kept laying flat during the initial drying time to prevent paint runs, so create drying racks before painting.

Paint

Select a paint that is specifically formulated for cabinetry. A latex paint that is 100% acrylic will provide a smooth, durable finish. Apply paint with a steady hand and brush or paint sprayer, using thin coats and building the color with two thin layers instead of one thick paint layer.

Hardware

Finish the updated kitchen cabinet look by adding new hardware to the doors before re-installing the them.

Using these tips and tricks will give your kitchen the makeover you are looking for without the cost of replacing your cabinets.

In the end, painting your kitchen cabinets is an economical choice. Some people may be a bit afraid of the unknown of painting their cabinets, but the process is not too much different than what you may accustomed to with exterior house painters… prep work, more prep work, prime, and a coat or two of paint. Or if you’d rather leave it to the pros, give us a call if you’re in the Green Bay area.