The Difference That Painting Your Cabinets Can Make: a house log

Update: We have a much newer cabinet-painting post with more photos, details, and even a video for you here.

If you can paint a wall (and even if you cannot) you can paint your kitchen cabinets. There are simply a few tried and true rules when attempting this project, so if you follow the plain steps outlined below it’ll be fairly hard to screw things up. And although you’ve all seen our newly renovated kitchen, we in fact painted our previous 50-year-old knotty pine cabinets right after we moved in (to tide us over until we had the funds to replace them altogether). Check out the dark and dingy kitchen that we inherited with the house:

And the refreshing “after” thanks to only a few hours of prepping and painting:

So how did we do it? Straightforward peasy.

Step 1: Figure out what you want. Bring home paint swatches and select the ideal palette, and if you are planning to replace your hardware, purchase some before you move on to the next step. Because most old hardware is a distinct size than newer hardware (the holes are further apart or closer together), it is essential to know if your new door and drawer bling is spaced differently than your current hardware before you begin. Then it is pleasant to wash everything down with a little soap and water to cut the grease and the spills that have built up on the doors and drawers over the years. Nothin’ like a little sponge bath to get you in the mood to makeover your kitchen…

Step 2: Take it off, baby. Now it is time to remove all of your hardware and your hinges (regardless of whether you will be reusing it or replacing it- and it helps to store everything in a big ziplock bag so you are never short a screw). Of course by removing the hinges you will be removing all the doors, so finding a place that you can lay out a big fabric or plastic drop cloth (which are about $2 from Home Depot or Lowe’s) is a good idea. Once you have your drop cloth in place, lay out all your cabinet doors and drawers so you can paint them all together in one convenient spot (and have full access to the frames of the cabinets in the kitchen).

Step 3: Fill ‘er up. Then if you are replacing your hardware with something that will not fit the existing holes in your doors and drawers, you will want to pick up some wood filler (it is around $6 a tube, which is all ya need) and fill those existing hardware holes in all of the doors and drawers. There are many distinct colors of wood fill, but since you are painting your cabinets, matching the tone is not truly a big deal (although it cannot hurt to grab the one that most closely resembles the color of your current cabinets).

Step 4: Get sandy. The sanding process is not consistently necessary (for example, our cabinets were not glossy so we skipped it and went straight to priming) but for some people with especially shiny cabinets (aka: plenty of polyurethane) it cannot hurt to run an electric sander over everything- or take a bit more time to hand sand things- with fine grit paper to rough everything up for maximum paint stickage. Not sure if yours need to be sanded? If they feel matte like a cutting board (a little absorbent) then they should not need it, but if they feel shiny like a laminated piece of paper or a glossy credit card then sanding is your best bet. Note: lead paint is a serious health risk when sanding, so if you have an older home with already-painted cabinets that look decades old it is worth testing for lead with a $6 lead test kit from Home Depot. Safety first!

Step 5: It is prime time. Due to all the grease and even simply the wood stain that frequently coats kitchen cabinets, it is über essential to get down and dirty with oil-based primer (even if the water-based equivalent claims that it works simply as well on cabinet surfaces, we have seen stains seep right through that stuff, so oil-based is the better-safe-than-sorry alternative). One coat of primer applied with a decent quality roller should do the trick (then simply use a brush to get into those tigher spaces and the grooves in the doors). We prefer wool or polyester rollers (Purdy’s a strong brand) over foam ones as we have found that they rile up the paint and cause bubbles. Oh and it does not matter if you can still see the wood tone underneath after one coat, the primer’s main job is to make your cabinets sticky and the paint will do the rest. You will likely want to snag an extra brush simply for priming since they are typically fairly messed up afterwords (it is best to toss it or save it for other priming projects and use a pristine new one for painting). And ditto with the roller. We typically do not even try washing the oil-based paint out of it- and prefer to replace it with a fresh new one before painting for a seamless result (reused rollers and brushes can frequently compromise the smooth finish that you are going for when it comes to your cabinets).

Step 6: Get your paint on. You are in the home stretch, so simply two coats of latex paint (in a semi gloss finish for straightforward wipe-ability) are next on the agenda. You will certainly want to wait a few hours after applying primer, but I in fact primed and painted my cabinets (two coats!) all in the same day. When it comes to applying the paint, a high quality wool or polyester roller makes for the sleekest application. A mini foam roller can also assist since it is smaller and straightforward to control. You will also likely need to use a brush sparingly, simply to get into those little cracks and crevices that your roller cannot reach. Do yourself a favor by buying an angle-tipped brush as opposed to a flat-tipped one- they make staying in the lines a lot easier.

Note: We did not prime or paint the inside of the doors, but our approach would be to prime/paint them first and then wait five days and turn them over and prime/paint the outside (that way if anything got a bit imperfect after being flipped face down, it would be on the inside- an therefore less noticeable).

Step 7: Wait for it. After two coats of latex paint you now have to practice patience. Most experts advise waiting at least three days to rehang or begin using your doors and drawers (especially since the rehanging process involves plenty of holding and pressing and drilling which can muck up anything that is not 100% dry). We in fact advise waiting five days if ya can (it beats doing the whole thing all over again and guarantees a totally seamless finish even in high humidity).

Step 8: Hang in there. Then all you have to do is rehang your doors (either using your existing hinges or new ones), slip in your drawers, and add your hardware. If the hardware is new, take time to measure twice before you drill to avoid any annoying mistakes that will make you want to putty and repaint, which never looks as good as the flawless finish that you get the first time around. John in fact took his sweet time drilling all of our holes for the new hardware (to the tune of about two hours) but it was well worth the assurance that everything was perfectly centered and right where it should be. In this case slow and steady wins the race.

*Oh and it bears noting that if your cabinets are anything but solid wood (laminate, veneered, etc) you should certainly take off a door or a drawer and bring it with you to your local hardware store and ask the paint pro there what they recommend. There are some strong oil-based primers and enamel paints out there so it might be possible to get a semi-durable finish (although none as long-lasting as solid wood paint jobs). The key is truly roughing up the surface so it is less glossy and then priming and painting with the best stuff they have (typically oil or enamel based). Oh and do not forget to let everything dry for a while so things can cure up and get especially durable for the long haul.

So that about does it for our cabinet painting and refinishing walkthrough. Of course Step 9 is to invite all of your friends over for celebratory margaritas or to do the glad dance every time you walk into your remarkable new space. We hope this will assist you fully transform your kitch on a dime and in a flash. And simply in case you need a few more before & after pictures to convince you, here are two clients of ours that we helped transform their rooms with painted cabinets:

Here is Kim’s crazy blue kitchen that she inherited with her home:

And here is her two-tone masterpiece after a swift paint makeover (we suggested slightly distinct colors for her upper and lower cabinets):

And here is Carla’s kitchen before she came to us for assist:

And here it is after we encouraged her to paint her cabinets a crisp glossy white tone (along with her dining room chairs) while the dining table went black to mimic the backsplash:

Remarkable what a little paint can do, eh? And if they can do it you can to! So if you have a spare weekend or even a few week nights you will be well on your way to a totally new room. Glad painting…

In need of a furniture painting walkthrough? Fret not, we have gotcha covered.

Update: We have a much newer cabinet-painting post with more photos, details, and even a video for you here.