I did this at the previous house I owned. They turned out
really well, but I took my time and didn't try to rush through it. Some tips:
Take cabinet doors off. Remove hinges & handles, put them in individual baggies and number them. Trust me, the hinge for door #1 does not always fit properly for door #5.
Have a set of saw horses available, to lay the cabinet doors on. If possible, borrow some extra saw horses from friends...the more the better. If you have a garage/basement available, that's a good place to paint the doors and drawer facings.
Thoroughly wash the cabinet doors, facings, etc with TSP solution. This is necessary to get the grease/residue off so the paint will adhere well. Pat dry with old towels to remove the excess water. Let them dry for about 3 days afterward to make sure the moisture is gone.
Remove all dishes, etc and box up...you don't want to get sawdust all over them...don't ask how I know this!
Patch any scratches, extra holes, etc at this point. Use wood putty for this, let dry well, and sand down any excess.
Give the doors and facings a
light sanding with fine grit sandpaper. Use tack cloths (available in the woodworking department at Lowe's) to remove the sanding dust.
Buy a gallon of primer...possibly more, depending on the size of the kitchen, and whether or not you're going to do the insides of the cabinets.
Buy a high quality cabinet paint (available at Lowes, etc). When I did this about 10 years ago, I think the paint cost around $35 a gallon, but I only used one gallon.
Buy a good quality 1" or 1 1/2" angled brush, one of those mini rollers, and several roller covers for it. Don't forget to buy drop cloths too.
Start off by priming side 1 using mostly the mini roller. Use the brush where necessary, but you'll get a smoother finish with the mini roller.. Let dry overnight. Flip over and prime side 2. Let dry overnight. Watch for drips.
Now do your first coat of paint, using the same directions as above. Let dry overnight before you do side 2.
Now it's time for the 2nd coat of paint. Depending on how much coverage the 1st coat did, you may or may not want to skip the 2nd coat on the backside of the cabinet doors. Again, let dry overnight before you do side 2.
Next, do a 3rd coat on the front side of the cabinets. Let dry at least a day before attempting to reinstall.
In between these steps of painting the doors, paint the cabinet facings...3 coats total. I didn't paint the inside of my cabinets, but you can if you want...it's a real pain though.
Let everything dry for at least a day. Reinstall the hinges and door handles. You can buy inexpensive handles for $1-$2 that really update the look of the cabinets. Buy a couple of extra handles in case one breaks in the future.
Put the doors back on the hinges...this is easier with 2 people, one to hold and one to use the screwdriver.
Sit back and enjoy the new look of your kitchen!
This took me about a week to do, mostly because of the waiting time in between coats of paint, and the drying time after washing them down. The result was definitely worth it though. My cabinets were very, very dark oak...very retro 70's, lol. I painted them a light cream color, and it really opened up the kitchen. We sold the house a couple of years later, and the realtor mentioned that it was good that we had installed new cabinets, because it was a good selling point. I let her in on the secret that they were actually just painted, and the whole process had only cost around $100 total and a LOT of hard work.
