Because your kitchen is the heart of your house, make it a “wow” place if you ever decide to sell. This doesn’t mean you have to renovate your kitchen fully; something as simple as painting your cabinets may make a significant difference in the room. Refinishing your kitchen cabinets is one of the finest kitchen investments. We’ll walk you through the process of painting kitchen cabinets step by step.
Step 1: Remove Doors, Drawers and Hardware
Before painting your cabinets, you must remove the doors, drawers, and hardware. If you want to reuse the hardware, store it in a secure location, such as a Ziploc bag. I’ve heard that numbering your doors will assist you in remembering where to put them when you need to replace them. While this seems a beautiful idea, it is a waste of effort since you will paint over the numbers. I found new hinges that were the same as the ones I had removed but in a different color; I changed from bronze to black. Because everything matched up, reinstalling the doors was straightforward, although I did have to play little musical doors. It doesn’t matter whether you use a different hinge.
Step 2: Clean and Sand the Cabinet Surfaces
It’s time to start the power cleaning portion of kitchen cabinet refinishing once you’ve removed all the doors, drawers, and hardware. Begin by cleaning with a Dawn dish soap and water combination. Use a green Scotch Brite pad to scrub, then rinse and dry with paper towels. Scrub again with a green Scotch Brite pad and dry with a 50/50 combination of denatured alcohol and water on paper towels. After washing, sand the surfaces using a 220 grit sanding pad or sponge.
Step 3: Mask the Area
This is the most time-consuming step. Mask off the flooring around the cabinets and openings, and cover everything you don’t want paint on. After you’ve taped off everything, you may start painting your cabinets.
Step 4: Apply Primer to Your Kitchen Cabinets
Apply a stain blocker primer, such as General Finishes Water Based Stain Blocker.
The primer may be applied with a brush. However, an HVLP sprayer with a 1.3mm air cap set was quicker. Spraying the structure of your kitchen cabinets is straightforward, but spreading the doors is more complicated. I made a swiveling platform from painter’s pyramids to paint the doors.
You must also pick where you will hang the doors to dry. Most cabinet refinishers use drying racks, but I bored a tiny hole at the end of the door, inserted a little hook, and hung them on a wire I strung across my garage.
Priming your kitchen cabinet drawers is a straightforward process. Prime the faces and mask the drawer boxes with regular paper. Allow two hours between applications to dry before applying two light coatings of stain blocker primer, then sand with 220 in between coats. An accelerator may be used to help the primer dry faster.
Step 5: Apply Cabinet Paint
To finish the job, use high-quality cabinet paint, such as General Finishes Milk Paint or White Poly. Spray one or two layers of Milk Paint or White Poly cabinet paint, allowing 1-2 hours between applications to set before sanding with 220. You may either be done at this stage or topcoat with a clear, such as General Finishes Clear Poly. After completing the Antique White Milk Paint, I used a Van Dyke Brown Glaze Effect for the shabby chic distressed look.
Step 6: Apply Clear Coat to Your Cabinets
Apply two or three coats of clear, such as General Finishes water-based Clear Poly in flat, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. Allow for 1-2 hours of curing time before sanding with 220 between coats. For a faster turnaround, use General Finishes Accelerator. Install the new hardware approximately an hour after applying the last clear coat. You may now enjoy your magnificent new kitchen design.