Your kitchen is one of the most high-profile rooms in your home, but it’s also a room that suffers a lot of wear and tear and temperature fluctuations. You can give your kitchen a sparkling new look and save thousands of dollars on remodeling by simply having your kitchen cabinets re-painted.
And you can save even more money by doing it yourself — as long as you get professional — looking results. We’d like to show you how to paint like an expert.
Professional painters will tell you that painting is 60 percent preparation and 40 percent spreading paint. This rule of thumb is even more important when it comes to painting your kitchen cabinets. There’s no hiding a bad job, but also nothing more rewarding than painting like a professional with professional looking results. Preparation is the key.
First, you will want to remove the cabinet doors and all of the hardware. This is a painstaking job, but absolutely necessary to get the results you are looking for. It’s also wise to number each piece of hardware so you can eventually return each hinge or knob to its original position. Using a roll of masking tape and a marker, stick a small piece of tape on each piece of hardware noting its position on the cabinet (lf for left front, for example).
Find a comfortable, level and airy location for painting the cabinet doors. You’ll want to use a de-glosser (use rubber gloves) to completely remove any oily residue or wax build-up that may have accumulated over the years. The de-glosser may raise the grain of the wood, so a light sanding with 150 to 220 grit sandpaper will prepare the wood for painting. Afterward, you’ll want to clean the surface with a tack cloth to make sure all dust and dirt is removed.
A professional painter, like all good craftspeople, uses the right tool for the right job. If you want a professional look, we recommend you paint with a china-bristle brush (a 2 ½ or 3 inch), or a pneumatic sprayer. China bristle brushes spread paint more evenly and leave fewer brush strokes. Pneumatic sprayers require purchasing or renting the appropriate equipment
At this point in the process, patience comes into play. Remember, you are saving big dollars that can be used for your next vacation or that flat-screen TV you’ve been thinking about. So it pays to be patient for a professional paint job. If your old cabinets were stained, and you’re changing to paint, you’ll want to apply a primer coat. At this point you’ll need to decide between oil and latex paints. In the past, oil was considered the best choice by professionals, but modern technology has produced latex paints that have the durability and longevity of their oil-based forbearers.
For an oil base finish, you’ll want to use an oil base primer. For a latex paint finish, we recommend a shellac based primer. This primer dries fast, is made for latex based finishes, but has a strong odor, so make sure you have good air flow in your work area.
Now it’s time to apply the finish coats (and we mean plural). By now, your patience with this project may be wearing thin. Take a break and re-group, because now, more than ever, it’s important to take your time. The old axiom “less is more” come into play when you are trying for that professional look for your all-important kitchen cabinets. This means applying thin coats of paint and building them up to achieve a rich, luster-like finish.
After applying the first coat, allow it to completely dry. Then, lightly sand (400 grit) the surface to make it ready for the next coat. This insures a hard bond between coats, and you know how much wear and tear your kitchen cabinets receive on a daily basis. You’ll want a strong, hard finish that combines durability with a radiant beauty.
Finally, apply another coat (we recommend a third for heavier-grained woods). Make sure to allow the last coat to dry and harden before applying the hardware and setting the doors back on the cabinets. Now sit back, take a little time to admire your hard work, and give yourself a nice pat on the back. You deserve it.
So if you are a do-it-yourselfer, and you want an economic way to give a brand-new look to your old kitchen, be sure to use a quart of preparation and patience for every quart of paint you use to give your old kitchen cabinets a professionally painted look. The pay-off will be compliments from your house guests. How you handle their requests for the name of your professional painter is totally up to you!
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