I've used an adhesive primer, with lots of proper preparation, the the Cabinet Coat.

The thing is, you have to let it cure, not just dry. That means holding yourself back from putting things in your beautiful cabinets. :)

Should I assume the glass cabinets are more for display that something like everyday dish storage? If so, you could also just paint the walls and very edge of the shelf, leaving the original material on the bottom. Or, you could paint the walls and put pretty glass shelves in.

I've never scratched the walls of a cabinet in my life. Have you? :)

Go ahead and paint the insides. All of the insides of my bathroom cabinets are painted. They spray painted them when they did the boxes same as the outside. You must coat with a water based polyurethane or some such product once the paint is dry to protect it. Three days to dry, 30 days to cure, then there shouldn't be any paint scratches.

Are the insides of your cabs laminated? If so, that may be why your painter said you would be unhappy with the results. Have you considered using wallpaper or fabric? I've seen it done on Houzz and other home forums (maybe even here, but can't remember) and it can be very nice.

I have 2 glass front cabinets in my kitchen that I use to store wine glasses and vases. They are painted white on the inside and have glass shelves. If you used your glass cabinets for display, I can't imagine how you would scratch the inside.

The issue is the cabinet interiors are most likely plastic laminate - melamine, which isn't intended to be finished in any way.

But as some have said, with enough research and prep (it's all about the prep) it can be done.

I've seen the interiors of some glass cabinets done with patterned wall paper to great dramatic effect but it's all about how bold you are with your design and taste.

When we did our cabinets (new) we had our glass ones painted inside, but they are plywood cabinets with birch veneer, which is essentially real wood designed to take a finish, so it's pretty durable.

Plus in the glass cabinets we used glass shelves which I would highly recommend not only for how they look, but as a way of eliminating the entire painting issue on the most used surface in the cabinet.

Thanks for all of the responses. Yes, it is some kind of laminate inside. And TorontoTim--that's exactly what our contractor said--they aren't intended to be finished. I had just never heard that before; but then again, I never tried to paint the inside of my cabinets.

We don't have a ton of cabinet space, so the glass front cabinets would not be purely for display. However, they would not be used for our every day dishes either. I'm thinking serving bowls and some glassware. So much to think about, but it's great to hear that I have some choices. Thank you!

What about some nice wallpaper on the back instead of paint? Maybe that would be easier and net you the same look?

You absolutely can paint laminate cabinets. The ends of my cabinets in my old kitchen were that "pretend" wood stuff. I used a primer intended for plastic. The oil based paint that I was using to paint them stuck to it without any trouble.

(Specifically the primer I used was Valspar spray, their version of Krylon. It was a clear primer. Dried almost instantly.)

Perhaps he can finish the walls of the cabinets for you with proper prep techniques, and you can replace the shelves with real wood ones he can paint for you.

Sand,
Prime with an adhesive primer,
Sand again,
Prime again,
Sand lightly,
Paint with a cabinet paint.
Sand lightly,
Paint again.
CURE!

It's a lot of work, but I've painted my melamine cabinets and some of the insides of others. They're wearing beautifully. I even tried to scratch the melamine just to see what I'd be up against and it took effort, vs. easy, accidental scratches. Much more than the inside of your cabinets.

C.