Do-It-Yourself: Painting Kitchen Cabinets

An inexpensive way to rejuvenate your kitchen

Painting your kitchen cabinets is the quickest and most cost-efficient way to give your cooking and dining area a dazzling new look. A do it yourself kitchen cabinet paint job can be as little as a third of the cost of kitchen cabinet refacing. If you want to brighten up your dull or faded kitchen cabinets, here are some step-by-step suggestions on how to get started.

Before you begin

Before you go to the trouble of buying paint and painting supplies, be sure that painting your kitchen cabinets is the correct thing to do. Kitchen cabinets that are warped, sagging, or cracking need more than just a facelift. If there are structural problems with your kitchen cabinets, they will need to be replaced. Spend that renovation money on new kitchen cabinets instead of paint brushes.

Oil vs. latex

One of the first decisions you're going to face when painting kitchen cabinets is whether to use oil or latex paint. Each has its advantages. Many professional painters favor oil-based paint, which they contend offers a more durable and smoother surface. Proponents of latex-based paint enjoy its quick and easy cleanup.

If you do choose latex, go with acrylic rather than vinyl acrylic. You'll get better endurance and adhesion.

The application process

With paint in hand, it's time to decide how to apply it to your kitchen cabinets. The pros use paint sprayers, but that can be intimidating for a novice. You'll need to cover or tape off areas that shouldn't be painted, and you'll have to rent spray equipment from a local rental or paint store. For do-it-yourself paint jobs, a brush is usually best. If you chose latex paint, get a synthetic-bristle brush, which won't absorb water. If you purchased oil paint, use a natural-bristle brush.

Preparation

But before you even get to use your paint brush, your kitchen cabinets need to be prepped. How successful your kitchen cabinet painting will be is going to depend almost entirely on how well you prepare your kitchen cabinets.

Here are the essential steps:

Remove all kitchen cabinet doors, drawers, and hardware

Thoroughly clean kitchen cabinets with trisodium phosphate, rinse, and let dry, OR

Strip kitchen cabinets to the bare wood

Fill in any nicks or scratches with nonshrinking putty and let dry

Lightly sand clean surfaces with 150- or 180-grit sandpaper

Remove sanding dust with a tack cloth

Prime time

The preparation work is through, and now it's time to apply a primer. If your kitchen cabinets are heavily stained, use a stain-blocking primer that will dry quickly and mask surface defects. If you stripped your kitchen cabinets to the wood, use an underbody primer.

Apply your primer to the kitchen cabinets in a thin, even coat. Don't worry if the old color or surface is still visible. Let the primer dry, and then sand any obvious imperfections with 150-grit sandpaper, wiping away the dust with a tack cloth.

Photo finish

And now it's the color you've been waiting for. You'll probably need to apply two coats of finish paint and sometimes even three, depending on the original kitchen cabinet color and the new color you've chosen. Let the paint dry between each coat, and make sure that the room is properly ventilated as you work. All that time and effort will be worth it when you see the fresh new look of your kitchen cabinets.

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