7 Tips for Painting Kitchen Cabinets
I still can’t believe I finished this project, so I’m hoping to help you with your project with these 7 tips for painting kitchen cabinets. The suggestions I was given from family and friends helped me in more ways than I ever imagined. Which leads me to sharing the 7 things I learned!
7 Tips for Painting Kitchen Cabinets
1. Get Samples of Your Paint
When I started getting the itch to go for this project, I spent quite a bit of time on Pinterest and at Home Depot. After narrowing down my options, I came home with two paint colors and then sampled the colors on the cupboards to see which I liked better…it helped me decide so quickly which color I wanted. Also, I would highly recommend spending a few dollars on a sample paint color then doing one color and later deciding you don’t like it after putting in all the work to paint that many cupboards.
2. Determine The Hardware you Want
When you’re painting kitchen cabinets, the hardware can really finish off the look of the cabinets. I really liked the hardware that we had and knew it would look great with the new color. However, if you’re changing the hardware, get it early on in the process so you can repair the cabinets as you paint them to adjust for the new ones.
3. Get the Appropriate Tools
The tools don’t have to be the best of the best, just the simple and basic tools will get this job done. I bought stripper from Home Depot to start the removal of the paint, which worked great. with a scraper I also used lots of sand paper and then a friend let me borrow their sander…I highly recommend if you’re wanting to save time. Then, I used some nylon paint brushes and a roller to paint the cabinets. And that’s it!
SHOP THE TOOLS
4. Prepare the Cabinets
Once you’ve got all the tools for this project, it’s time to get to work! Follow these steps and you’ll be ready to paint in a day or two.
- Strip or Sand: Depending on the amount of paint or what you’re wanting, you’ll want to prepare the cupboards as best as you can to get a smooth surface before you paint.
- Prime: I used the Kilz All-Purpose primer, which was such an easy and great primer to use.
- Sand: Never forget to sand after you prime. The primer is important, but it’s also important to sand it down to be a smooth surface for the paint.
- Tack Cloth: Using a tack cloth is great to grab the little scraps and dust you might have missed. Wipe down all your cupboards and doors with this before painting.
5. Pay Attention to the Little Details
Look over the cupboards and doors to see if there are little imperfections anywhere you may have missed. I was surprised with the little things I found, but grateful I took that one last look because I know it would have been much more noticeable once the coats of paint were on.
6. Paint Your Heart Out
You made it! The prep work is the hardest and now it is time for the smooth sailing of painting. I used two coats of paint – I waited the time recommended on the paint can between coats of paint and lightly sanded between the coats of paint. When sanding between the coats, use the highest grit you can find at your local hardware store, sand with the grain of the wood on all in the same direction. After your final coat, do not sand. Let the paint fully dry, add your hardware, get the doors back on and you did it!
7. Celebrate a Job Well Done
It is finished and you did it! Doesn’t it feel amazing to now look at the work you’ve put in over the past few days or weeks…depending on how long it took you. Another thing I’ve loved is that my kitchen finally looks like it’s put in order. After a few weeks with the door fronts off I was going a little crazy with the clutter of seeing everything that is usually hidden behind the doors.
If you’re the sharing and posting type, snap some pictures and share them for your family and friends to see. You deserve to brag about the hard work you’ve put in that you now get to enjoy every time you’re in the kitchen.
Use these 7 Tips for Painting Kitchen Cabinets
At first I thought painting my cabinets was going to be a relatively quick project, so with these 7 tips for painting kitchen cabinets I hope your project goes quickly! It is a lot of work and takes more time than you may think, but I can tell you that it will absolutely be worth it in the end!
Looking at these pictures you may not see the difference in color of cabinets, but I can tell you that they look great and as the other finishing touches in the kitchen get worked on, it its going to be a beautiful kitchen in my small home that I’ll spend time in everyday.
