I did my old kitchen. Yes, the prep is killer and painfully long. BUT, the results are so worth it. People will tell you that you never will have cabinets without grain if you paint them. Yes you can. You just need to use that pore-o-pac, and follow all the directions. The type of paint you use will make a difference too. We used BM Satin Impervo. Hard, smooth finish, easy to wipe up any messes.

When it was photographed for the magazine, the stylist and the photographer (who is one of the best in the biz and has done many shoots for many shelter magazines) could not believe that this was a DIY kitchen. That to me was the reassurance that we did do a good job.

I only have some up close pictures, ones of the hardware, but you will see the finish.

I too was very worried about doing this project. I just kept thinking if it goes wrong, it will be a huge screw-up.

The hard, smooth finish--that's what I'm talking about! Hard to believe they were oak!

I think one of the reasons the results are so good is you had a nice recessed door style to work with. Would you have painted them if your cabinet style was ~whispers~ dated?

I painted my oak cabinets because I HATED the color of the wood. These aren't the best close up pics but I can take more tonight and post. I love how mine turned out. You can see some grain from the oak but I hear if you use wood filler all over (and sand) then the grain is unseen.

I used CabinetCoat (paint and primer in one) and my primer (2 coats) then I used Ben. Moore's Advanced paint (2 more coats, so 4 coats total). BM's Advanced paint leveled beautifully and it's NOT oil-based (thank you Jesus). I HATE oil paint. The smell is horrible!

good luck!

You can see some grain here-

Back up-

BEFORE - BARF BAG NEEDED

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen remodel - b&a

may, I never considered them not ~whisper~ dated.

before:

I don't have pictures yet, but I can tell you you get what you put into it. (MrsShayne, your kitchen is lovely.)

If it's too much work, you'll get a too DIY job. Plain and simple.

I..
Sanded
Primed w/ STIX, an Inselx adhesive, oil based primer, now owned by BM. Oil based primer is severely different than oil based paint. For some reason, even easier clean-up.
sanded & primed again.
painted w/ Cabinet Coat, (acrylic) another Inselx product now owned by BM.
sanded & painted again.

Note that CabinetCoat is made for woodwork and dries hard as nails. It cleans beautifully. I will use it for everything I possibly can.

On a few pieces that were definitely not top of the line, I used Pore-o-pac, too. It fills the grain beautifully. Insert before the priming steps: applying, sanding, applying & sanding this again. Glass finish.

The easiest way to get over your prejudice is to do something, a door, or something the way you want to: Half-assed, er, oops, I mean Quick & easy. Then, take another piece and do it right. That will convince you.

Remember you don't and can't do it all at once. Plan time to let things sit and cure. I found if I painted at night, by the time I slept, went to work and came home again, things were really nicely ready to do another coat on. The weekends I double shifted & they sat for 3 days? Like Buttha! With proper priming, it's almost a pleasure to apply the paint it goes on so smoothly!

If your time is worth more than the investment, pay someone to do it right.

An alternative solution might be to paint (with filler, etc) the cabinet boxes and buy new doors (some sort of wood that doesn't need filler) and paint those, thereby saving you the work of sanding and filling all the doors/drawer fronts. It would cost more than a total DIY job, but be less work. If your cabinet boxes are in good hape, and you liked the layout, it would work. You could even get a different door style if you wanted. Just a thought.

Here is the result of a less labor-intensive approach intended to produce a hand-painted look. Starting with a pinkish pickled maple, we cleaned the cabinets, applied one coat of Kilz primer, and finished with one coat of BM Chantilly Lace.

To be clear, I replaced my oak cabinets with cherry, so it's not something I'm considering. I just wondered about paint being the answer to every oak kitchen posted here. I wouldn't want to encourage someone to go through all that work with high expectations of their cabinets looking and wearing like a factory finish. Also, not every kitchen can be improved by just paint, but people do it, slap on expensive granite, and call it an upgrade.

Now, I might try to paint our oak MB vanity. I'd have the patience to go through all the proper steps for that.

May flowers......... I'm getting a bad vibe after your last comment.

I agree that paint doesn't always help but I consider $4000 worth of appliances and $3000 granite an upgrade. If someone doesn't like the painted cabinets then then can re-face them or replace them. They would still be saving money with upgraded countertops and appliances.

Smh....

Hmmmm.

Trying to make something/sense out of this.
I happen to feel that all advice shouldn't direct one towards an OTK.

But the way that came out kind of rubbed me the wrong way, too.

I hope it's just me.

Thanks for the thread everyone. Learned more today about painting cabinets! CEFreeman, thanks so much for such a detailed how-to! Now at least I know what I am up for should I chose this option.

Love the pics from everyone too and listing what products to use.

Thanks so much guys.
Peace out.