Tips on How to Paint Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers
By Mark J. Donovan
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Kitchen cabinets take a lot of abuse, and in just a few years they can begin to show significant wear. Painting kitchen cabinet doors and drawers is a great alternative to replacing your kitchen cabinets altogether. Refinishing your kitchen cabinets is also a perfect do it yourself project if you have a couple of spare weekends.
To paint kitchen cabinets doors and drawers properly you should remove them from the kitchen cabinet faces and paint them in a dry, clean and dust free area, such as in a garage. Prior to painting kitchen cabinet drawers and doors all of the mechanical hardware should be removed from them. |
A latex paint works best for painting kitchen cabinet doors and drawers, however a specific process needs to be followed to make sure you get a quality finish and to prevent the kitchen cabinet doors from warping.
Clean and Sand Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers
Start by thoroughly cleaning and sanding the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers.
Otherwise the paint will not adhere well to the kitchen cabinets. Paint that does not adhere well, winds up flaking and chipping off.
Use a mild soap and cloth to thoroughly clean the kitchen cabinet doors and to remove any grease, grime and food from them.
| After cleaning the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers, lightly sand them using a 150 to 180 grit sandpaper. You do not need to sand them down to bare wood. Simply light sand them to rough up their surfaces. This will help to ensure that the primer and paint will adhere well to them.
Apply Primer to Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers Next, apply a flash primer to the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers if they have never been painted before or if you are applying a paint that is a dramatically different color than the original paint on the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. |
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Also, if the cabinets were previously stained and varnished a primer should be applied. Paint does not adhere well to stained and/or varnished wood.
Primer is necessary to ensure a solid bond between the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers and the paint. A flash spray paint primer dries very well and dries quickly. Make sure, however, when selecting a primer that you use the right type of primer with the type of paint you are applying to the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers.
| For example, if you are planning to paint your kitchen cabinet doors and drawers with a latex paint, then you should use a shellac-based primer. Make sure to apply the primer to all sides of the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers to prevent them from warping.
Fill Small Voids with a Filler Material After priming the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers apply glazing putty over all small voids. Then go back and apply primer over the filled voids. Re-Sanding Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers After the primer has fully dried go back and lightly sand down the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers again using a 180 grit sandpaper or sponge sanding block. |
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Painting Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers
After removing all of the dust from the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers you can then move on to painting the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers.
| To paint kitchen cabinet doors and drawers you can use either a sprayer or a high quality 2 ½” wide paint brush. A sprayer will provide the best finish, however a high quality paint brush does a fairly good job as well, particularly if you apply multiple thin coats of paint.
Again, make sure to paint all sides of the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers to prevent them from warping. In between paint coats lightly sand the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers with 400 grit (very fine) sandpaper. This will help to achieve a very smooth paint finish, however make sure the paint is thoroughly dry before applying additional coats. |
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Once the final coat of paint has dried, you can reinstall the hardware and then remount the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers to the cabinet faces.
For help on your kitchen remodeling project, see my Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet. The Kitchen Remodeling Bid Sheet provides a request for quote checklist section that you can provide to prospective kitchen remodeling contractors. It also includes a comprehensive kitchen remodeling cost breakdown table, in Microsoft Excel format, that allows the contractor to include his projected remodeling costs for every phase of the project.
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