Painting Your Kitchen Cabinets without fear!
Does your kitchen need updating? Have you seen all those cabinet makeovers online and thought "No WAY, I am not tackling that project!" Well I'm here to tell you "Yes, You CAN!" Painting Cabinets is not HARD, it's just time consuming requires a little planing, a little research and some time. This isn't a weekend project, it's more like a week but it can be done! Here I will outline the things I used and steps I took to get my kitchen looking fabulous in about a week! So leave your worries behind, I'm going to walk you through it!!
Picking your paint
I recommend going to your local paint store, not a big box store. I went into our sherwin williams. They were so helpful there and they just can give you much more personal help and can really take their time with you and answer all your questions. All you need to do is tell them the project you're tackling and they will recommend the best brushes, sand paper and more to help you! The color I chose for my cabinets was called Alabaster. It was an off white but not cream. A quick test you can use is the white paper test.
Hold up a sheet of white paper to your paint sample. I knew I wanted white, but not stark white but not country creamy either...Here are some very popular paint colors for cabinets.
Once you have your color you can begin prepping. I took each door off and numbered the door and the location which I removed it from. I did this with just a sharpie marker and a piece of painters tape. You think you'll remember where each door and drawer face go but the reality is, after 7 days painting you're brain will be mush so number those doors! Here is the Middle of our prep work. Taping off near the floors and because the walls were getting painting I didn't need to tape those, score!
The next thing I did was give the doors and cabinets a good scrub. I love Krud Kutter cleaner, we sprayed them down and then cleaned with a sponge. Kitchens can be greasy places and I find that cleaner really cut through all the grease on the surfaces. Next you want to start your sanding. I used a 150 grit sanding block and then used a tack cloth after I sanded to remove all the excess dust. You'll give everything a good sand to just remove the shiny surface off the doors. Psssssst if you have kiddos they think sanding is "SUPER FUN", so grab your kids and put them to work!
You don't want to deprive them of fun right mom? ;)
Next you'll move onto primer. I love zissner OIL BASED. Kitchens require an oil based primer. They are high usage and you don't want paint to be chipping off so definitely grab this kind! Then you want to give your cabinets a first coat of primer. Start with the sides of the doors then any inside grooves, then roll over the inside panel. This is the best method I used for the least amount of brush strokes. After you prime all the cabinets and doors and drawer faces let it dry about 24 hours. Then you're going to sand down this first coat, not a lot, just to get it smooth, go over it with your tack cloth and wipe off any dust. Prime and wait again. Then sand and tack cloth again. It's a lot but this is your KITCHEN, the HEART of your home. You want this to last. I am pretty much the most impatient crafter of all time so this was painful for me but I knew I was doing this ONE time and one time only, so I waited! This is a photo after the first coat of primer.
Then it's time to PAINT!!! This is the paint I used. Its self-Leveling, that means the paint brush strokes and roller marks virtually disappear within minutes. It's great, goes on little streaky but it dries quickly and then, voila! no brush strokes! The brushes I recommend and what Sherwin Williams recommended to me are PURDY. They are great, this Kit from amazon is a great deal with 3 different sizes, the small is exactly what I used for the edges on the doors and the large was great for doing the sides and edges near the wall. I'd also grab these rollers
also for large areas like the fronts of the doors and the sides.
For the paint I did 3, yes THREE coats of paint, sanding with 220 grit paper in between and wiping each time with the tack cloth. Tedious yes, but you want you doors super smooth and you want these to last, so do all the steps! Let everything dry for 24 hours- 48 hours before you hand your doors back up. They pain will continue to harden for a few weeks after you're done painting so be gently on them the first few weeks.
I've had my cabinets done for over a year now and I'm happy to report they are holding up great!
They completely changed the look of my kitchen and my home and I couldn't be happier with the results.
I was terrified to start but I'm glad I took the plunge and did it! It's amazing what can of paint can truly do!!
Let me know if you have any questions!!
Happy Painting!!
Sarah
***this post may contain affiliate links which pay me a small percentage if you purchase any of these items through the links provided. This just pays me to keep bringing you great tutorials and content. I was not paid to promote any of these products, I used them and loved them and only share what I actually use!***
