Role Kitchen Cabinets Play in the Look of Your Kitchen

Kitchen cabinets are a crucial element in the design and overall look of your kitchen. Not only do they provide functional storage space for your kitchen essentials, but they also have a significant impact on the aesthetic of the room.

Benefits of Painting Kitchen Cabinets

If your kitchen is looking drab, instead of planning something huge and costly, like getting new cabinets, consider painting your kitchen cabinets instead. Freshly painted cabinets are like a burden being lifted off your shoulders. Walking into the room begins to feel like a luxury instead of a necessity.If you are content with the style of your cabinets, why change them? You can avoid the stress of those decisions by simply adding a fresh coat of paint.Painting your kitchen cabinets increases your home's value. That's right. Updated, beautiful, well-cared-for kitchens bring out the best in a home.The color of your cabinets is hugely impactful in the feel of the kitchen. Lighter paint makes the room feel open and airy, while dark paint leans more toward elegance and sophistication. Simply adding a new paint color can change the entire mood of your kitchen.On top of all these other benefits, it's eco-friendly to paint kitchen cabinets!

How to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets: Step-by-Step Instructions

Preparation

Cleaning the cabinets thoroughly

Kitchens get grimy. Grease, steam, and food splatters are common because the kitchen is a work area. You'll want to prepare properly by scrubbing every inch of the cabinets. A little elbow grease will go a long way to help the paint stick.Clean all of the surfaces you'll be painting with a solution made from one part trisodium phosphate and four parts water. Trisodium phosphate (TSP) will remove all the old grease and oil and can be found in any hardware or paint stores.Rinse the cabinets, but be sure they don't get soaked since that could damage the material. Allow them to dry thoroughly before applying paint.

Table of Contents

Removing the hardware

Now is a great time to don your safety gear and remove all the doors, cabinet hardware, and drawers.When you are removing cabinet doors and drawers, remember to label them. Use masking tape to mark each door with its cabinet. If you don't do this and either the door or the cabinet hardware gets mixed up, you might find yourself with misaligned doors and drawers.If you are only painting the drawer fronts, you won't need to remove the attached sides.

Sanding and priming the cabinets

If you're planning to use new hardware, use a putty knife and wood filler to cover the current holes.Light sanding before painting is an essential step in your preparation. Sanding helps to remove any imperfections on the surface, such as bumps, scratches, or existing paint, when necessary. Sanding doesn't need to remove all the old paint, but it does need to create rougher, flat surfaces for the new paint to adhere to. If the reason you're going to paint your kitchen cabinets is just a sort of facelift, you won't need to paint or sand the inside of your cabinets. Your focus should remain on the exposed surfaces and any edges that are/will be visible.If the old paint is flaking off the wood cabinets, it indicates the finish did not stick well to the wood surface. This usually indicates moisture or kitchen grease under the original paint job or getting into the wood itself.Sand these areas down to bare wood and spot-prime with a sealer or primer before you start painting. Sanding down to bare wood means you will need to blend the edges where the old paint meets the wood so your paint will lay flat. If you're not careful, the paint edges will be visible through the new finish, which is something we want to avoid.Thoroughly vacuum and wipe down all the areas with a tack cloth after sanding.

Covering surrounding areas

Cover anything and everything with a drop cloth that you do not want to get paint on. This includes fixed appliances, countertops, and floors. Placing masking tape around each surface to avoid little bits of paint where you don't want them."Is that really necessary? I'm using a mini roller," you ask. Let me tell you, even a mini-roller has its dangers. Better safe than sorry.

Painting Cabinets

Choosing the right paint

When selecting paint, first decide if you want to use latex paint or an oil-based paint.Latex paints are a good option if you're new to painting projects. These paints dry quickly and clean up with water and a paper towel, making them pretty user-friendly. However, they take up to three weeks to fully cure, so they may not be ideal for those with little ones running around.For a more durable finish, pick oil-based paints. These paints produce a smooth final coat and hide the imperfections of your cabinets. These paints are also stain resistant, which can be a great help in the kitchen. Keep in mind that oil paint is typically more expensive.A few tips:

  1. Choose the right paint for your skill level.
  2. Don't try to do too much at once.
  3. Always opt for high-quality paint, be it latex or oil.

Apply A first coat

These next few steps are the easiest. Take your foam roller and paint away, covering all areas of your cabinets, cabinet doors, and drawers evenly.Always apply paint in thin coats and allow at least four hours between each coat for drying. Thin layers leave fewer stroke marks and dry quickly.During the drying time, store your roller and paint tray in a plastic bag to keep it from drying out and getting skin across the top or becoming dry and flakey.

Apply subsequent coats

After the first coat is dry, gently re sand all the surfaces, wipe them down with a tack cloth, and apply the second coat. This may seem like a redundant process, but it will give you that smooth finish at the end.Usually, the second coat doubles as the finish coat for high-quality paints. However, it's pretty common to add a third coat because kitchen cabinets tend to take a lot of abuse.

Drying and curing time

Now that you have painted kitchen cabinets, you still have to protect them. Yes, it only takes a few hours for the paint finish to be dry to the touch, but it can take up to 30 days for water-based paint to fully cure, seven days for most oil paints, and it can take latex paint several weeks.Before the paint job has finished curing, it is easy to damage. While what you have on your hands isn't technically wet paint, it's still vulnerable to the occasional bump or brush. Protecting your kitchen cabinet paint until it is cured is a massive benefit in the long run.

Finishing Touches

Replacing hardware

Simply going to undo the process you did at the beginning by using the hardware you saved. Or, to enhance the look of your cabinets even further, you could replace the hardware altogether. If you filled in the old holes with wood filler at the start of all this, you might as well go ahead.

Reattaching doors and drawers

This is when all that labeling will come in handy. This is when you replace each cabinet door and drawer. As a reminder, you may not have to replace the drawers if you were only painting the drawer fronts. If this is the case, you have saved yourself a step.Make sure to attach the correctly numbered cabinet door to the cabinet so that you have everything nicely aligned.

Cleaning up

For the sake of your tools, you must take the proper steps to clean them before you store them. Any tool that you used to paint, rinse thoroughly with warm, soapy water and allow it to dry completely before you put it away.If there are any splatters or drips of paint on the floors or walls, clean them up immediately with a damp cloth or sponge. If the paint has already dried, gently scrape up what you can, then use soapy water to remove the rest.

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Skipping Prep Work

If you have patience and perhaps a little DIY experience, painting kitchen cabinets is likely something you could do yourself. One of the first things that experience will teach you is that you should never skip prep work.It can be tempting, I know. Perhaps the cabinet doors look smooth enough, and they don't seem like they need to be sanded. Sand them anyway. I think you'll find that your eyes often run over the little things that your hands can feel.If you're going to take the time to paint cabinets, you might as well do it correctly on the first try.

Rushing the Painting Process

Painting is slow work by itself, and then you add in the idea of multiple layers, and it can seem grueling.However, trust me when I say that multiple layers of thin coats will do you a much better service than one thick coat. The goal of painting the kitchen cabinets is to create a durable surface than can survive the hard, daily life in the kitchen. Layers support and strengthen one another, while a single coat can chip off rather easily.Patience is a virtue.

Using the Wrong Type of Paint

It's important that you know what you're getting into before you paint kitchen cabinets. If you're unsure about what kind of paint to use, refer back to the section at the beginning of this article. Being aware of how the different kinds of paints will act will save you a lot of difficulties down the road.

Overloading the Paintbrush or Roller

While it may seem like this would help you be efficient, overloading your brush or roller can actually lead to several problems, including:

  1. Uneven Application: Overloading your brush or roller can cause the paint to pool and create areas that take different amounts of time to dry. This can also cause visible marks in your finish, creating a less attractive look.
  2. Drips: When too much paint is applied, it usually runs. This can be difficult to fix and will probably result in an unprofessional-looking finish full of bumps and squiggles.
  3. Wasted Paint: Overloading can also lead to wasted paint, as excess drips off the tool and onto the surrounding area. This is an expense you shouldn't have to take on.

Take Professional Help

As you have learned by now, there are many things to consider when taking on the job of painting cabinets. Professionals have already had much training on the subject and will be able to help you make the best, well-informed decision.Here are a few things to look out for when seeking a professional:

  • Look at the Painter's Portfolio and Reviews: A job such as painting cabinets requires a lot from a person. Always check to see what kind of experiences others have had with the prospective painter and if there are photos of their work, all the better.
  • Ask About the Timeline: Ask for an estimate of how long the project will take and how long it will be before the painter can get to it. It is always better to find these things out ahead of time so that you can plan. If you need to relocate furniture or set up a temporary kitchen in your laundry room, you have time!
  • Ask About Equipment: Sometimes, professionals will require you to provide some of the equipment for a job of this nature. Make sure those expectations are clear and decide what you would be comfortable providing.

General FAQ

How long does a project like this take?

It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two, depending on the size of the project. Do keep in mind that this does not include curing time; it is only painting, drying, and clean up.

Can I paint laminate cabinets?

Yes, with the right preparation and paint.

Should I paint the inside of the cabinets?

This is mostly a matter of personal preference. Painting the inside will add a layer of protection to your cabinets, but it is also unnecessary.

Can I paint over stained cabinets?

Yes. Stained cabinets are a very similar process. Do not forget to add a layer of primer to the wood before painting.