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I spray-painted all my cupboard doors and drawers!

15 years ago

We bought our home about 16 months ago with white melamine thermo-foil textured kitchen cabinets. They are about 10-15 years old, and have yellowed over the years. We don't want to spend the money on new cabinets right now, so I painted them, and it worked fantastic!

I washed them all with TSP first, then in lots of 6 or 8, took them downstairs and spray painted them white. I put 4 coats on each, by spraying once from each direction, one coat immediately after the other. I left them downstairs overnight to dry. I used Krylon Fusion Satin white paint. Total cost was under $100, it was not a lot of work, and my cupboards look brand new.

It has been a month now, and they are performing beautifully. We have a 2 and 4 year old, and the mess with fingerprints and such, and the paint shows no sign of wear. I can wipe 3 hour coffee stains off no problem.

I only post this to give inspiration to those, like me, who were(are) embarrassed with those awful white(yellowing) melamine cupboards.

Here is a link that might be useful: Krylon Fusion Spray Paint

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Comments (10)

remodelfla
15 years ago
OH boo.... I was expecting the link to show a pic of your cabs! Show off your good work!
rosalita
15 years ago
yes, post the cab pics!
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Can you use spray paint for doors?
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Spray cans would work, but you would need a lot of them so at some point it becomes an exercise in wasting money. Plus, the paint in a can of spray paint is thinned down so that it will spray nicely through the small nozzle so in the end it may not be as durable as a full strength paint and it may not cover well. The absolute best way to paint a door is with real paint through a real paint sprayer but I know this is hard for a DIY'er to do. Latex paint may have a tendency to stick but after 30 days of full cure, this will be less of a problem. Plus, oil paint won't hold up to paint touching other painted surfaces either. You can adjust the doors so that no painted surfaces touch each other by tweaking the hinges a bit, sanding or sometimes we may even move the door stop a smidge. Ideally, you want the door to just hang free when it is closed. I would use BIN as the primer after a good sanding and then two coats of a high quality 100 percent acrylic paint.
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Can you spray paint door knobs?
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The refinisher will dip the piece into some chemicals to strip off the lacquer finish. Then, assuming the piece is brass, the refinisher will force-age the piece and re-lacquer it. If the piece is not brass (check with a magnet, brass won't draw the magnet), then the refinisher will need to take other actions (such as coat the piece with brass first). Over the years, we have had many pieces coated with chrome or turned ORB brass. The cost varies a great deal, depending on what the underlying material is and whether re-wiring is needed. My lamps, for example, typically cost about $100 or more each. Knobs, hooks, and stuff were considerably less. I attached one company's price list. I use a local plumbing store. I found , more in the range of $ at keeps the piece shiny. Here is a link that might be useful: price list
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I am having this same problem. I got all of my kitchen cabinets painted, inside and out, with oil-based white paint. Now whenever I am in or near the kitchen, I am nauseous and light-headed. It is a narrow kitchen and there are no windows immediately nearby; also no fan, just central A/C. It has been raining for days so I haven't been able to open the windows much anyway. What can I do?!
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Op, I did what you did on some bathroom door/drawer pull. I soak them to get clear coating off the brass, sanded every nook and cranny so would get good adhesion. Sprayed a couple (2-3) of very thin coats, drying for a couple of days in between. Applied clear coat, oh I also did a primer for metal I wanted this to last. I was also wanting to do to kitchen pulls (same ones) . After about 9 months all my careful work started chipping off. As for tackiness on your drawer pulls. Maybe coating was to thick. Also it cures better/ faster in a warm room with good air circulation. A clear coat won't protect the underlying paint if not fully cured. Maybe a bad batch of paint, or old possibly reasons for it not curing. I don't know what else it could be.
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clg7067
15 years ago
Me too! I tried Krylon spray paint (not fusion) and it was uneven with some areas glossier than others.
caroscbran
15 years ago
I have been reading this forum for awhile now and think it is great. This is my first time posting. I would love to do this with my kitchen cabinets, but what about the remaining part of the cabinet? Did you also spray paint that? I would be interested in seeing a picture.
pelican
Original Author
15 years ago
Pictures cannot really show what a difference it made. In one of the pictures, I put the back of one of the doors up against a newly painted door to show the difference. It is slightly blurry, but the gist is there. The other pictures just show the whole kitchen. We are in the process of tiling the floor and back splash, and painting, and replacing the counters. I added more cabinets, that is why you might notice the counter is a bit short. I used the Krylon Fusion paint because it sticks best to plastic, and I used the Satin, as opposed to gloss. I will tile the ends of the cabinets. It would have been possible to take them off the wall and paint them as well. I never painted the inside of the doors, but now that I think of it, I probably should have. The inside would have to be done first, so that any overspray could be covered up on the front when the front was painted. The cabinets are frameless, so you don't notice the color difference unless the door is open.
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boysrus2
15 years ago
Your cabinets look brand new and beautiful. Congratulations! I think your pics will inspire many others.
pelican
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you! That was very kind of you to say.
caroscbran
15 years ago
That does look great...thanks for posting pics. I think I may just try this myself...thanks for the inspiration!!!
wishihadabluekitchen
15 years ago
I have to admit - I was a little nervous until you posted the pictures - you did a GREAT job. They do look like new cabinets. Good work!
jessie21
15 years ago
pelican, VERY nice. your cabinets look fantastic. The kitchen looks so bright and clean and pretty just as it is but i can't wait to see other changes you make too.

i'm so happy to see your post too because i just know you will inspire others. what a great, easy, inexpensive update! please keep us posted.

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