Are your kitchen cabinets looking old and worn. If you’re looking to give your kitchen a fresh new look without breaking the bank, painting your cabinets is the way to go. I’m here to guide you through the process, sharing some personal tips and tricks along the way.
Getting Started: The Prep Work
Before diving into the painting process, it’s crucial to plan and prepare properly to get professional results. Here’s what you need to do:
Selecting the Right Paint and Finish
It may be quite overwhelming by the sheer variety of paint and primer options available. Painting kitchen cabinets doesn’t typically require more than 1 gallon of primer and 2 gallons of paint, so it makes sense to opt for a high-quality primer and paint. The products I’ve found to be the most durable and long-lasting are Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond for primer, and Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel for paint. Both products are extremely dependable, easy to work with, durable, and will leave you with a beautiful long-lasting finish for years to come.
Gathering Your Supplies
Make sure you have all the necessary supplies on hand before starting. Besides the paint you will need degreaser, rags, screwdrivers, 100 grit sandpaper, paint brush, mini roller, painter’s tape, plastic and a few drop cloths. Oh, and don’t forget to put in some of your favorite music to inspire you!
Preparing Your Space
Lay out a drop cloth where you will be painting the doors and drawers. Place a cardboard box near your work area to prime and paint them while moving them to your drop cloth to dry. Protect your countertops with plastic and the floors with drop cloths. Trust me on this one. You don’t want add unnecessary hours to your paint project scrubbing paint off every surface. Such an ordeal will drive you to completely rethink your decision to paint your kitchen cabinets altogether. Just do it..
The Painting Process: Step by Step
Cleaning
No primer or paint will adhere to grease. Use a degreaser to remove any grease and grime from the cabinet surfaces focusing heavily around your appliances.
Labeling/Removing Cabinet Hardware and Doors
Before removing, be sure you label all your doors, drawers and hinges. Label the exact location of your hinges as this will eliminate hours of aligning your doors later.
After everything is labeled, take your time to carefully remove all the cabinet doors and hardware. On most cabinets the drawer fronts can be removed with two screws.
Sanding
Once they’re clean and dry, grab your sandpaper or sanding sponge. Although the primer I recommend will bond to most smooth surfaces, it’s always better to give a light sanding to remove any debris in the existing finish and give it some added bonding strength. Afterwards, wipe the dust and debris off with a damp rag so it doesn’t appear in your new paint finish.
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to dive into the fun part – priming and painting those cabinets!
Priming the Cabinets
Apply a thin coat of primer to all surfaces by brushing out the grooves and rolling the flat surfaces. Only prime one side of your doors and drawers at a time while allowing ample time to dry (1-2 hours) before flipping over to finish the backside. This prime coat is only to bond the paint to your cabinets. How it looks at this point is not important but DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!
Once the primer coat is dry (typically 1-2 hours), very lightly sand all the surfaces to remove the gritty texture. Then wipe them down with a dry rag to remove the dust.
Applying Paint
Use a brush to paint the grooves and a mini roller to paint all the flat surfaces. Apply a generous amount of paint but not so much it causes sagging (drips). The paint I recommended earlier is self-leveling. If applied too thinly it will dry too fast and will not level. Let it dry for 24 hours and then re-coat.
Same as with the priming step, only paint one side of your doors and drawers at a time while allowing ample time to dry (24 hours minimum) before flipping over to finish the backside.
Drying and Reassembly
After the final coat of paint, give your cabinets 2-3 days to dry before installing. Once they’re no longer sticky to the touch, very carefully reattach the doors and hardware. Understand that this paint can take 1-4 weeks to completely cure. While the paint is still soft be very careful not to squeeze too tightly leaving fingerprints, slam or accidently dig your fingernail into them while you reinstall them, and after installation.
Wrapping It Up
Congratulations, you did it! Step back and admire your beautifully transformed kitchen. I hope this guide has inspired you to take on the rewarding project of painting your kitchen cabinets.