Painting Your Kitchen Cabinets:Some Tips And Advice

Your kitchen cabinets probably take more abuse than any other piece of woodwork in your home. Very dry conditions are created when your oven is on at a very high temperature, creating the perfect environment for your cabinets to shrink and split. A few minutes later the room can be at near 100% humidity when you start steaming vegetables. This can cause the cabinets to swell and can lead to peeling paint and a cracked varnish finishes. As if these harsh conditions weren’t enough, the surface finish of your cabinets is constantly exposed to fingers that are covered with grease, butter, meat etc. All of these things play a major role in explaining why your cabinets may look like they could use some refreshment.

There are several ways to attack the finish on your cabinets. Are your cabinets painted now or are they finished with a stain and varnish? If they are painted, do you want to paint them the same color? Take some time to visualize what you want your refreshed kitchen to look like before you decide. This could be an opportunity for you to not only get the cabinets cleaned up, but to completely change their look.

Preparation is the most important step in the process of painting your cabinets and it is very important to make sure that all of the surfaces which you are going to paint are completely free of all grease, grime, food residue and whatever else may be stuck to them. Use a piece of sandpaper, at least 150 grit, and make a few passes over all the flat surfaces of the doors. Don’t forget to do the thin facing pieces on the cabinet boxes themselves either. Make sure that every surface that is going to be painted has been roughed up with the sandpaper. The slightly sanded surface will allow the primer to bite and hold onto the cabinet surface. Yes, it can be a tedious process, but taking the time to lightly sand your cabinets before you prime and paint them will greatly increase the longevity of the paint job. 

After sanding, it’s time to prime the cabinets. Primer forms a better bond with the surface than paint alone would. This means that the paint is less likely to chip and peel if it gets bumped with dishes or pots and pans. If your cabinets are already painted and you are re-painting them the same color, it is ok to skip this step and go ahead and apply the paint. If, however, your cabinets are stained and you are trying to cover up the natural wood grain with paint, you must prime them first. The paint will not stick to the varnished surface and the color of the stain will most likely bleed right through your paint.

Now you’ve built a great foundation for the top coats of paint which will bring your kitchen bouncing back to life. You can achieve a great looking finish by using a high quality paint brush. Skip over the cheapies this time around and spend the money on a nice brush. 2 ½” to 3” would be ideal. The key to achieving a professional finish with a brush is to do very thin coats. It may be tempting, after all the work you’ve already done, to try to coat the paint on as thick as possible just so you can be done quickly! This is not a good idea. The best, and most durable, paint jobs are built up by consecutive thin layers of paint, not just one thick one. Lightly apply your first coat and let it dry completely. Once that is completely dry, add your second coat.