We finished painting the cabinet doors a few days ago and are now in the waiting phase as the paint cures. We couldn’t resist sharing photos of the process and of the glossy finished doors, so here are the results.
We used Benjamin Moore Advance in the Cloud Cover shade with a satin finish. It’s a soft, taupe-gray tone that pairs well with our brighter glacier-white countertops for a subtle layered look. Several professional cabinet painters recommended Benjamin Moore Advance to us for its low-VOC formula, self-leveling behavior, and durability — qualities that make it an excellent choice for cabinet painting.
Application was the same approach we used in our office cabinets: a high-quality 2″ angled brush for detailed areas and a small foam roller to produce thin, even coats. Pros generally recommend starting with a high-quality, stain-blocking primer and then applying 2–3 thin coats of premium cabinet paint with sufficient drying time between coats. Benjamin Moore Advance is designed to perform without an additional topcoat; sealers can sometimes cause issues like yellowing, dripping, or cracking by changing the paint’s texture and adhesion.
Using a good primer and self-leveling paint hides a lot of imperfections, although it may not completely eliminate visible grain on wood cabinets. The oak doors in our office showed no noticeable grain, while the kitchen cabinets reveal a faint hint of grain in places. We don’t mind a little visible wood texture as long as the finish is smooth, even, and glossy.
We also retrofitted and painted several custom doors. Some turned out completely seamless — two of the corner doors are essentially indistinguishable from originals — while a couple of others show tiny seams only visible if you scrutinize them closely. The faint horizontal seam on one door is nearly impossible to photograph and barely noticeable in person. We’re debating whether to sand and apply a buildable primer plus a couple more coats on the few less-perfect doors to match the seamless ones. Having two excellent examples gives us confidence we can get the rest looking that good with a bit more effort.
One of the reasons we’re thrilled with this update is cost effectiveness. For roughly $40 in paint (we used a coupon) and $22 in primer, we achieved a dramatically lighter, more modern kitchen look — a small investment compared to replacing cabinetry. Painting cabinets remains one of the most impactful, budget-friendly renovations you can do, comparable to painting paneling or whitewashing brick.
We primed and painted the exterior frames and the front and back of the doors while leaving the cabinet interiors in their original oak. This preserves durability for items stored inside and creates a pleasant two-toned contrast between painted exteriors and natural wood interiors — a look we’ve used before and really enjoy.
The room still reads a bit whitewashed since the cork floors and other finishes aren’t installed yet, but the lighter cabinets already make the space feel airier. Below are some doorless shots that show the kitchen’s current state and a few decorative pieces we’ve left on display, like my blue casserole dish.
We’re excited to move on to the next phases: hanging the doors, adding hardware, installing the backsplash tile, and eventually installing new cork floors and appliances. The sink window will look more balanced once we add 12″ deep floating shelves and a range hood over the stove, creating 14″ of space on each side that will visually anchor the area.
We’ll publish a comprehensive cabinet-painting tutorial with a detailed application video and lots of after photos once the paint has fully cured and we’ve rehung the doors and added hardware. For now, we’re enjoying the progress and the bright, updated look. Between finishing up the cabinets and juggling book deadlines and other projects, it’s a busy but rewarding stretch — and there’s nothing like seeing a major update come together.
Psst — in case you missed recent posts over the holiday break, here’s a quick roundup:
- Our ribbon-rific holiday card
- A whole lot of cabinet puttying and sanding
- Making some 2012 resolutions
- Priming in progress
- A December recap
Glad to have you back — stay tuned for the full how-to guide and the big reveal when we hang everything back up.