DD2 and I painted her 90s oak kitchen cabinets 2 years ago. Started with a Prime Lock primer. Paint was purchased at my local Ben Moore store. I told owner what we were going to paint and he recommended paint line. She did not want gloss or semi-gloss, so it's either an eggshell or matte finish. I am actually surprised it has held up so well with dogs and her son.

We took off the hardware, left doors on the cabinets but removed the drawers. Painted drawer fronts first, then cabinet frames, then doors. One coat primer, two coats paint (second one went on much quicker).

1) Do you have any regrets
no

2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only?
In the last house I painted a bathroom cabinet. In this house it was the baseboards, door trim, window trim, tall built in bookshelves, and a wood door in the family room and kitchen.

3) What color or kind of paint did you use?
In this house I used Ben Moore Linen White semi gloss, not sure which exact type

4) What would you have done differently
nothing

5) Where did you start? i.e. finish a specific room and then move on, baseboards, crown molding, doors
I believe the built in shelves but the first thing I did was to sand everything down and clean that mess up.

6) What made the biggest impact
This house had painted white trim in the front half and stained wood in the back, it felt very disjointed. Painting the back half made the house feel more cohesive plus it really did brighten up the space.

7) How long did you devote to the project
It was a part of a complete downstairs redo so it seemed like forever, but the painting probably took about a week, mainly because of dry time. The tall bookshelves took the most time in this house, in the first house the cabinet took much longer than I had expected because of the dry time between each coat.

8) Any other comments you think are relevant
* Take the time to sand in between coats.
* It almost always looks better if you can paint without tape, tape creates weird edges.
* Watch for drip marks. I try to go over each area before it dries to catch them, they can always be sanded but it is easier to get them before thy dry.
* It also helps to not use too thick or too thin of paint. There is an additive called Floetrol that I have used to help thin the paint a little and it is supposed to help reduce brush and roller marks. I have found it especially helpful for painting large doors.
* If you use a roller always go back over it with a brush. Rollers can leave an odd texture whereas the brush will smooth it out.
* It will probably take more coats than you realize. Prepare to at least sand, prime, and do two full coats but I usually have to do extensive touch up, if not a full third coat.

1) Do you have any regrets
no
2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only?
I don't have window trim or crown in my house. I painted the kitchen cabinets and one bath vanity, plus the inside of the door and casing

3) What color or kind of paint did you use?
In thie kitchen I used a very dark green. The bath was done in a faux dark cherrywood finish. Both were done using Behr paint, with a black metallic glaze on top in the bath.
4) What would you have done differently
nothing

5) Where did you start? I started in the small bath as a test run

6) What made the biggest impact
The kitchen cabinets. Even before I was able to replace the ugly yellow Mexican tile, changing the color do the cabinets made a huge improvement

7) How long did you devote to the project? The small bath was done in a weekend. The kitchen took a couple of weekends. All doors and hardware were removed. Everything scrubbed with dish soap and water, then lightly sanded with a sanding block. I primed and painted an extra door first, but did not like the absence of grain. The rest of the doors were done without primer, two coats of paint.

8) Any other comments you think are relevant
* Take the time to sand in between coats.
* It almost always looks better if you can paint without tape, tape creates weird edges.
* Watch for drip marks. I try to go over each area before it dries to catch them, they can always be sanded but it is easier to get them before thy dry.
* It also helps to not use too thick or too thin of paint. There is an additive called Floetrol that I have used to help thin the paint a little and it is supposed to help reduce brush and roller marks. I have found it especially helpful for painting large doors.
* If you use a roller always go back over it with a brush. Rollers can leave an odd texture whereas the brush will smooth it out.
* It will probably take more coats than you realize. Prepare to at least sand, prime, and do two full coats but I usually have to do extensive touch up, if not a full third coat.

^All of the above

Also, if you are reusing hinges, make sure to mark them all to go back in the same places are you will end up with alignment issues.

1) Do you have any regrets
NONE

2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only?
Crown molding, cabinets, baseboards, door frames, inside and outside of doors and drawer fronts. Did not paint interiors.

3) What color or kind of paint did you use?
Used a custom match -close to white dove. Used SW very expensive door and trim primer, and their new alkyd trim paint. It's pricy-get on their website and you will get emails for their sales when they have 30-40% off.

4) What would you have done differently
Nothing. Also I changed out the cabinet pulls, but painted over the existing hinges. It looks fine to me that way. Frankly I thought that the "new" hinges in the type that my doors would need looked cheap. I think the painted hinges look better.

5) Where did you start? i.e. finish a specific room and then move on, baseboards, crown molding, doors .
When we moved in the pro painters did the main living areas and trims. They of course had sprayers. We did the kitchen and bathrooms ourselves (to save $$). Saw instructions on line.
Process was to
1-lightly sand with a sanding block
2-wash with TSP
3-rinse with water
4-apply primer. Technique to paint on with a brush, and then lay off with small foam rollers for doors and trim.
5-apply 2 to 3 coats of paint in the same brush on roll smooth process.

6) What made the biggest impact
Getting things looking lighter and less visually stimulating since the busy grain is no longer what you see. And the new hardware.

7) How long did you devote to the project
I could do 1 bathroom in a Thursday after work prep/Friday night paint primer/Saturday first coat paint/Sunday second coat of paint in a weekend.

For kitchen, my collage-aged daughter and a friend did it last summer for an entire week all day every day.

8) Any other comments you think are relevant
Pay for the good paint.
Previous owner photo from MLS listing:

With new tile, counters, etc. before cabinet painting:

With cabinets painted:

I regret painting the wood trim in this house. There is more upkeep to painted trim and doors that I wasn,t counting on. The one thing that I have painting in all my houses that I never regretted was kitchen cabs. They also reguire more upkeep than woodstain but the payoff is well worth it. It personalizes lightens and brightens a kitchen in a way wood never does.

I participated in painting kitchen cabinets for someone else. They look nice from a distance, but just make sure you use quality products and take your time. They weren't able to and I feel theirs could have looked nicer. However, I still think their after looks way better than their before.

1) Do you have any regrets
None at all.
2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only?
Only kitchen cabinets. Everything else was already white.
3) What color or kind of paint did you use?
The painting was done professionally using sprayed on catalyzed something. Color was BM Cloud White.
4) What would you have done differently
For the same project, I wouldn't do anything differently.
5) Where did you start? i.e. finish a specific room and then move on, baseboards, crown molding, doors
I bought new doors and drawer fronts and they were painted in the painter's shop. I kept the existing boxes and they were painted in-place.
6) What made the biggest impact
Color, style update, removal of upper cab over the peninsula and its soffit.
7) How long did you devote to the project
I didn't do the painting myself. I don't remember, but I think the painters asked for about two weeks.
8) Any other comments you think are relevant
Big bang for my buck.

Oops... Duplicate post

This post was edited by Errant on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 22:33

I have to say, That Pig Chef on the island in Julie's MLS photos is positively frightening! Did the PO's leave that in the house when you bought it, Julie?? I'm very curious about it and would love to know its origins.

ETA: I found one! Now to decide if I'm weird enough to buy it :o

This post was edited by Errant on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 23:19

The pig was not part of the negotiated transaction.
Alas, I do not know its current whereabouts!

It does look like it's ready to beat down any complainers into meek submission at the mention of "what's for dinner?"

Where in did you find one????

This post was edited by juliekcmo on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 23:41

I have stripped paint off many many linear feet of oak.

Before you paint, apply shellac to all wood surfaces. At least the next generation of paint strippers will have an easier time of getting the paint off.

Yes he does, Julie! I found one on eBay. In your photo, they added a flower to his ear to try and soften his look a bit. He's even scarier without it. I think I want to tuck one away in a corner of the butler's pantry, just to creep people out ;)

That's awesome.

Thanks for all the info.
Juliekcmo your kitchen had quite the transformation! It's beautiful.

Athomeinva, thanks for the reminder about Floetrol. I've heard others mention it before, but forgotten all about it.

Madeyna, the the comment about painted woodwork is what I needed to hear. My woodwork requires little to no upkeep and I'd be constantly repainting knicks.

Linelle, I wish there were painters in my area to come in and do it, but unfortunately not.

I've tried the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations in Quilters White with good results on several pieces of furniture and that's the color I'm going for. It's held up well for the short term, but the task of doing a full kitchen is rather daunting. I'll check out the other paints/colors mentioned.
Thanks again

Painted mine this summer. It was a ton work since I took off the doors, sanded, scrubbed, etc. I love how it brightened up my kitchen. I used INSL's Cabinet Coat, which is a super strong non-oil paint. Shouldn't yellow or crack. It does show soil much more readily, but I guess that is good because then I know to clean things up before they petrify. No chipping so far. It worked best for me to divide the room and finish one section at a time: All the drawers, upper cabinets, lowers, etc. You need a lot of room to lay the doors out on. I liked those little pyramid things to set object on to be painted. My one tip. The longer you paint, the more gummed up your paintbrush or roller gets. So have several so you can periodically have a fresh brush. Also, let your drawers and doors dry for as long as you can before re-installing them. It takes about three weeks to become really hard

We purchased a 1989 Cape that had been untouched since building. The layout and number of closets are fantastic! The adundance of draperies, mismatched floors, and the kitchen were AWFUL. Draperies were easy to lose, floors are slowly getting done, and the kitchen - well, it will take years to save for a full reno, but a coat of paint is a miracle worker!

1) Do you have any regrets
Absolutely not! It made the space so much brighter and cleaner.

2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only?
Base cabs, upper cabs, beadboad on the back of the peninsula, beadboard wainscoting around the room, door frames, and a closet door.

3) What color or kind of paint did you use?
Benjamin Moore Advance in White Heron.
I discovered I adore the Advance paint. It self-levels, filling in pores and grain lines. It's not as workable as oil, but it's very different than acrylic wall paint!

4) What would you have done differently
I thought I'd save some time and mess by NOT sanding the frames between coats. I did sand the doors. You CAN see a difference, but only when you open a door. The sanded door fronts are very smooth - the grain nearly disappeared.

5) Where did you start? i.e. finish a specific room and then move on, baseboards, crown molding, doors
The kitchen was the focus, but now, we have some "spare" cabinets that were relocated to the laundry room. I plan to paint them aqua. I can't wait to buy more Advance!

6) What made the biggest impact
Color. The original kitchen is fairly large - about 13x20, with half as the working kitchen and half as a seating area. The original counter is a rich blue-green Corian - and there's a lot of it! The original floors are unsealed whitish tile with white grout. The golden cabinets became white and I painted the room to match the counters (for now). From green and orange and beige and dirty gray floors, to crisp green and white - such a transformation.

7) How long did you devote to the project
About 3 weeks, working 4-5 hours over 3-5 days a week. I had to clean everything with TSP, then sand everything (someone re-poly'ed the cabs to shiny them up for sale - ugh!). Two coats primer, two coats paint, touchups, sanding between each coat. Not to mention, I also painted the interiors of the uppers, as I still plan to buy glass front doors for those.

8) Any other comments you think are relevant
I refinish furniture as a hobby - I love to see wood grain and bring an old piece back to it's original beauty. But I've become a white kitchen convert. It's SO EASY to keep it clean! The cure time is a full month, but 2 years have passed, and it still looks perfect.