DIY Kitchen Cabinet Painting

DIY Kitchen Cabinet Painting

 

When we bought out house while there were many things we loved about it, we unfortunately were not completely thrilled with the kitchen.  While the dining area was roomy and there were a few upgrades, it had old solid oak cabinets that cast a yellowy-orange look on everything. 

For a long time we wanted to upgrade them but didn't want to put in a lot of expense.  We finally refinished and painted them ourselves and I don't know why we were afraid to for so long!

 This was the BEFORE

Here's what we did:

Project Materials

  • Trisodium Phosphate
  • Heavy Duty Cleaning Gloves
  • Sherwin Williams Black Magic Showcase Paint (one gallon did this all!)
  • 220 Grit Sandpaper
  • Plastic drop cloth
  • Two large buckets
  • Optional: Wood or something else to lift doors off of cleaning and painting surface.

First things first, carefully remove your cabinet doors to clean them down before painting.  We actually did our cabinets in sections so the project wasn't too big at any one time.  Be sure to organize your cabinet hardware carefully so you don't mix the pieces up.  Find a large enough space where they can be undisturbed and spread out to clean, paint and thoroughly dry. Lay them down in an organized fashion so you remember which doors go where.

Next, clean those cabinets down. We used Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) mixed with water. Follow any directions given on the box you purchase. In our case we used about a half cup of TSP per 4 gallons of water.  Have another bucket of clear water handy to rinse them off.

Note: BE SURE to wear gloves when working with TSP.  Do not wash doors with bare hands.

We also sanded the doors down gently with 220 grit sandpaper to make sure the paint would adhere well.  Be sure to clean any remaining dust from this off before painting.

We painted our cabinets then with Sherwin Williams Showcase paint.  The particular color we chose was Black Magic.  It only took 1-2 coats and minor touch up.  Be sure to use a quality paint brush.  I found touching up then with a foam brush over top was helpful. Be sure to give the doors PLENTY of time to dry.  The more the better.

Ready for the finished result?

FINISHED PROJECT (we still need to add door hardware and we'd like to put in a backsplash.  The walls were also painted a new color as well)

 

 

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