Painting Kitchen Cabinets

[carter_amy]

I Would Like To Lighten My Kitchen By Painting The Cabinets. Have You Ever Done It? Mine Are Not Real Wood But Are Really Heavy Material. Please Let Me Know What Your Results Were.

 

[puffkin]

Yes, I did it at my old house. I sanded off the finish of the old cabinets as best as I could. They weren't wood either, almost a plastic/laminate combo (from the late 50's). I then used Kilz primer and then painted with semigloss paint. They turned out pretty nice and held up well for the 2 years we remained in that house.

I used a really high quality roller rather than a paint brush. Much easier and I got better/smoother coverage.

 

[Green Tea]

I have done this several times. Always a great result. Use a liquid sander or something to remove oils and gloss. Top with a OIL BASED PRIMER/SEALER. A latex won't adhere well to the existing finsih. Use disposable rollers and thankfully primer is easy and you don't have to do it beautifully. It just needs to seal what is there. Then top coat with latex, in semigloss or gloss. Whatever you choose.

 

[JB111107]

Yep...sand the doors down just a tiny bit so they are smooth, MUST MUST MUST use a decent primer like Kilz. If you dont the paint won't adhere, and when you need to wipe down the doors from time to time since Grease accumulates in a kitchen, you'll pull paint off.

Use smaller rollers for even coverage, and I used one of those throw away foam brushes for the crevices if you have any routed out trim or decor on the doors. Make sure you keep the doors in order of where they came off so they can go back on the same places. Surprisingly, you'll find that all the screw holes from the hardware wont match up right if you dont. Remove the hardware before you paint.

Don't forget about the cabinet frames themselves. Freshly painted doors might look funny on cabinet facing that is dingy and older. Updating the hardware can be an inexpensive update too.

For way easier cleaning/maintenance, after you have painted them, seal them with a polyeurethane (sp?) coating, and stains wont stick to the paint.

Be sure to take before/after photos so you can show them off here!

 

[Tuffcookie]

Green Tea, I was always told you could not put latex over oil based paints. Am I wrong???

I have thought about painting my kitchen cabinets too but I can't make up my mind!

TC

 

[Green Tea]

You can not put latex paint over oil PAINT, but the oil based primer is MUCH better at covering stains, and sealing in what was likely an oil based varnish of some sort on the origional wood. If you coat the origional varnish, stain, poly whatever with latex and it is oil, your final finish will not work right.

Oil based PRIMER is designed for a top coat of either oil or latex paint. (also great if you have hang wallpaper on top of old wallpaper because the origional homeowners put old ugly wallpaper adhesive directly on uncured drywall) It keeps the water in the paste from loosening the paste on the old wall cover and puckering.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Thanks, I learned something today!

TC

 

[Green Tea]

The cabinet color change makes such a difference. And it really isn't hard to do. If hinges have ever been over painted rolleyes1 ) they can be tricky to remove. Other than that, with a small roller and a small paint tray, the project isn't difficult to complete. I just went from one extreme to the other, added new hinges and hardware. I am so pleased.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Did you just do the fronts and parts that showed?

TC

 

[Green Tea]

I do the inside and outside of the door, and the outside of the cabinet bases. I have not painted inside and the shelving, other than the front of the shelves that are part of the base.

I actually wanted to flip my doors this time, but I didn't do it. The inside is very simple, with a very thin raised wood frame. The outside has a routered moulding detail. I wanted the sleeker side, but stuck with the traditional. If you have flat fronts you can add moulding, or beadboard panels before painting.