Cabinet Painting 101:

 

Since several of you are interested, here is a quick run-down of how cabinets are painted at Casa de Daisy. This is by no means advice from a professional, just what works for me.

Materials:

A good cleaner/ degreaser

Scotch Brite Pad and/or fine grit sandpaper

Painters tape

Edge painting tool or a paint brush to get in corners and edges

A foam roller made for painting smooth surfaces. Buy several covers, you'll need a new one for each coat.

Primer- I used Kilz

Paint- look at the can to determine how much you will need. I started with a quart and had to go back several times. If you are doing a small area like a bathroom, a quart should be plenty, for a kitchen, you may want to go ahead and get a gallon. I used semi-gloss oil based paint because I like the finish it gives. It is a big pain to work with. It takes forever to dry and is a mess to clean up, but it dries to a very hard durable finish and shows less brush strokes than latex.  I think it's well worth the extra work involved. It's stinky though, so be sure your area is well ventilated.

Oil based paint doesn't clean up with soap and water. You'll need something like mineral spirits or acetone to clean your brushes. To clean the paint off your hands, pour a little cooking oil in your palm and rub hands together like you're washing them. Once the paint is loosened up, you can wash with soap and water.

If you use oil based paint allow at least three or four days for this project. You have to let the paint dry 24 hours between coats and it will take more than one coat.

Now for the fun stuff.

• Remove doors and drawers and the hardware. Depending on the type of hinges you have, you may want to remove those too. My hinges don't show, so I left them on the doors.
• Clean, clean, then clean some more. Especially important in a kitchen. I used TSP. It's available at Lowes and WalMart. Just mix it in some water, put on some rubber gloves and wipe everything down. After cleaning with the TSP you will need to go back with a clean sponge to remove any residue.
• If your cabinets have a heavy coat of varnish you may want to sand with a fine grit sandpaper to remove the shine and make a rougher surface for the paint to stick to. I didn't have much shine to worry about so I just scuffed everything up with a scotch brite pad. Wipe everything off again to remove any dust.
• If you have a very steady hand and can paint the cabinets without getting paint on the walls and counter tops you can skip taping. If you're like me, get out the painters tape and carefully tape the areas around the cabinets you would like to protect from paint. Extra time spent taping will be well worth it in the end.

• Once everything is taped you can start priming. I use Kilz. It comes in a low odor formula, but somehow I ended up with the stinky stuff. It is really strong, so open some windows and turn on a fan.
• Primer dries pretty fast so by the time you are finished with the last cabinet, the first one will likely be dry and ready for the first coat of paint.
• If you've never painted with oil paint, be warned that even though it dries slowly, it gets tacky fast. You don't want to go back over it with your brush or roller more than necessary. Try to get a nice smooth coat on and keep moving.
• My cabinets needed one coat of primer and two coats of paint. Don't be tempted to lay on a super heavy coat to save time, it will never dry.
• For the doors and drawers, I was fortunate enough to have access to a paint gun- (the kind cars are painted with) and a paint gun operator (Mitch).  He sprayed the doors and drawer fronts for me. It still took two coats of paint and had to dry 24 hours between coats and in the end, the cabinets painted with a roller looked as smooth as the sprayed doors. I don't think it saved that much time in the long run, so don't feel like you can't get the same results because you don't have access to a paint sprayer.
• I removed my tape between paint coats, just out of fear I would pull paint off with the tape if I waited too long.
• Once you are satisfied with the coverage, you'll want to let it dry at least 24 hours before replacing the doors and drawers so you don't mess up all your hard work. Also in the first week or so after painting try to be very careful, the paint will be soft to begin with, but trust me, once it has time to fully cure, the finish will be quite durable. 

Happy painting!!

Here are some more cabinet painting tips I found online.

Comments

[Margot]

I've never painted kitchen cabinets before... but this is good advice anyways!
The box came today! I'm shocked by how fast it arrived and hope yours was here today as well! I opened the box but then decided to use it as incentive to get a fence put up in the back yard first... So I guess I have to get that done and then I'll open it! I'm SO excited!

[Junie Moon]

Thank you for explaining the cabinet painting process. Although I'm not going to do this on my current house, we want to buy an old cottage-style house when we move back east in a couple of years. So, I'm placing your tutorial in my house file so it's ready when we are. Thank you!

[Laura]

hey! that vegetable oil thing is a pretty sweet trick!! i wonder if it works with all paint. probably only oil-based, eh? i still have white primer allll over the tile on my living room floor, because i would inevitably SOMEHOW get paint on my feet and walk it through the room.

[pinkgreen]

Thanks for the tips. My cupboards need painting again but I hate doing it. I may just save up until I can afford a new kitchen! The veg oil is a good tip to remember - beats nail polish remover!
Cathy X

[africankelli]

Your diy attitude is so contagious! I love it. Nicely done.

[Athena]

Great tutorial, thanks for putting it together, when I get that far along in our house fix-up it will definitely be helpful--along with your lovely photos of the finished result as inspiration (I was afraid you were gonna say oil-based paint).

A-

[Lindz (Yankee Girl Designs)]

Ooooh, where'd ya get those snazzy vintage mugs and saucers *giggle*

[Trudi M]

Your cabinets look great. I so want to paint mine... Just don't know if I have the nerve to use oil base paint. I've never used it.

[gena]

That's great! And now where didja get those cute cups hooked up underneath there so nice and pretty?

[mary]

Great tutorial and what beautiful cabinets! Love the drawer pulls and door handles. Very pretty kitchen
mary

[jessica]

great work. great looking cabinets.
wonderful how you put the tutorial together.

[gatorgirl]

Not that you'd want to paint cabinets professionally, but you sure could! They look absolutely fabulous!

Thanks for all the information - it will help me with my next painting project. I would never have even considered oil based paint, but given some good weather and sunny days, I'm going to give it a try.

[Tori]

Great info! I have a little cottage style home and am always needing to paint something! My cabinets are due a painting now!

What color did you use and did you replace the handles as well?

Thanks for any info!!!
Tori

[michelle]

I have the same dishes as you. I talked about my great bargain on my blog a few weeks ago. I love them.

[amandajean]

hurray for Kilz. that stuff is amazing.

I am happy for you that you took on that huge job of painting the cabinets. it does make a big difference, doesn't it? I painted my cabinets barn red once and had similar hardware on them to what you have on yours. They were so lovely. yours look amazing. nice work.

[Dana Wilson]

Oh! Oil Paint! My boys and I spend 4 weeks this summer painting miles of fence, a huge corral, 15 gates, a cattle shoot, and a trailor frame, JOHN DEERE GREEN with oil based paint! It is awful if you get it in your hair. (Don't ask me how I know)
I would have never considered putting it on cabinets. What a great idea.
Yours look great!

[Heather]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this :) I can't wait to get started on my kitchen!

[Kim]

I just stumbled on your site and I'm so glad. I've been considering painting the cabinets in my very dark kitchen just to lighten things up a bit, but I've been a bit leary. Thanks for posting this info. I'm almost have enough courage to do it.

[Kitchen Contractor New York]

this is very useful information. i've been wanting to make changes in my kitchen and have already contacted a kitchen contractor here in new york for it. i'm so excited!

[grain de sable]

bravo c'est joli.Kiss of france.Isabelle

[The Repair-Home Team]

Beautiful work! I think it would make a great entry in our “Share Your Project” contest. You can win up to $2,700 just by uploading your project description and the before and after photos you’ve already taken. I hope you’ll consider submitting your project!

For more details check out: http://www.repair-home.com/project/

[jessesToons]

This is adorable, thank you so much for sharing! I've never been able to deal much with halifax kitchen cabinets like this before. They have just been refinished and it's my job to repaint them. I'm so excited and nervous about giving it a try, wish me luck! http://www.mckkitchenshalifax.ca/products/kitchens-and-baths

[Jack Rider]

This look great. Do you know if it possible to buy halifax kitchen cabinet like this online? Any advice you can give would be helpful. My wife recently suggested that I should look into http://www.mckkitchenshalifax.ca/products/kitchens-and-baths but I'm still not sure.