These posts are older and by now the original person who started this thread most likely has completed the job. Hopefully this will help anyone else who comes across this thread. I would have to say everything has a trade off when it comes to paint and painting. I refinish kitchen cabinets for a living and have changed my system through trial and error. There is no question that the best looking results will come from a professional who has the correct expensive spray equipment. If you want a factory looking finish, your cabinets will have to be sprayed. However, if you are looking for an antique look where you like to see brush strokes through glazing then you will have to do it by hand. Anyone can work and paint with FPE but your potential mistakes may cost more. FPE or Fine Paints of Europe are very nice paints and I use them often on jobs. They do have a high quality product in a different class than what you find here in the states and until you use FPE you just will not understand. I primarily use all water based products to refinish kitchen cabinets. The products now days have come a long way and the differences between oil based and water based paints are narrowing quickly. Strong VOCs in a home are no laughing matter. These products will also off gas for quite some time. I find that dust is usually not that big of an issue unless you are working with high gloss paints and kitchens are rarely if ever high gloss. *The kitchen should be sealed off with cheap thin plastic to keep dust both in and out. *During my prepping, I always have a box fan blowing out of a nearby window. This will help suck dust out of your sealed off kitchen. The fan should be sealed on all sides so air movement is only flowing out of your kitchen. It will also help to suck any VOCs out while you are painting and to speed up drying time. *I find that after my initial prepping of degreasing and sanding that vacuuming the entire kitchen with a vacuum that has a high end filter is a good start. I then sponge mop the floors and mop right over the rosin paper. *At this point I usually will not start painting until the next day and will mop again once the dust has settled. *Using a $10 lint free zip-up suit also helps while painting. For any questions, feel free to email me. I am Chris with Specialty Cabinet Finishes and my email is SpecialtyCabinetFinishes@gmail.com My Strongest Recommendation: Kitchens can be done by a home owner but the final results really come down to how handy you are, painting experience, and following the proper steps throughout the process. If you are going to hire out the work, find a professional who purely or primarily does Kitchen cabinets, islands, and bathroom vanities. These are not the easiest items to paint. You are dealing with a lot more surface area than you think as well as corners and edges. Most painters out there don't 'do' kitchen cabinets. They paint walls and trim in high volume and that is nowhere near the same as a kitchen. Different products need to be used and in a different manner. If you do the work your self or hire out the refinishing of your kitchen cabinets, here is what should be taking place: 1.) Degreasing of all doors, drawers, and cabinet bodies. You can use a strong concentration of TSP or even Acetone which is a very strong degreaser. I would stay away from the acetone because of the fumes and fire danger. 2.) Sanding of all surfaces that will be painted. You want to sand after you degrease as to not work the oils on the surface back into the wood with the sandpaper. Each job is different but I would sand with a 150-180 grit sand paper. Sometimes 220 is needed. You do not need to sand down to bare wood, however you need to sand everything to get rid of any 'shine' to the old finish. Basically you are creating a surface to 'satisfy the suction' of the paint. 3.) Prime. You should always prime unless you are re-staining your cabinets. Most paints do not have the 'sticking potential' that a primer has. I primarily use water based primer but will use a shellac based primer such as Zinsser BIN for certain kitchens. A shellac based primer is needed for some older oak cabinets where tannins and oils leach out of the deep but tiny pin sized pores. You will not be able to sand this out or degrease. Stix by Insl-x is a good product, and surprisingly Zinsser 123 primer is very good once it has had time to cure. Your best bet is to always read the label and shop for a high quality product. There are too many to mention out there. You usually don't need to prime twice unless you have dark colors showing through. (As a note, you would want to use your swedish putty or grain filling putty before priming. It's a lot of work, messy, and usually not needed. I would try to apply several coats of primer before going that route. For small projects it's worth it but for a kitchen, it could turn into a nightmare project. Remember that you are dealing with a lot of surface area and ornamental relief. A wall is one thing, 25 doors and another 10 drawers is a whole other beast. 4.)Light sanding of the primer. Use 220 grit. Re-vacuum and mop afterwards. Wipe all surfaces down with a lightly damp lint free clothe. Don't use tack clothes which contain resins that will react to your water based paints in the next step. 5.) Base coat applied. This is your chosen paint color. You really need two coats here. Especially if the paint is being applied by a brush or roller. Ben Moore Satin impervo water based is a wonderful paint. Of course Fine Piants of Europe is incredibly nice as well. They are very helpful if you ever call them. 6.) Glaze- This does not need to be done and is purely used to change the aesthetics. If you are using a water based paint then a water based glaze is used. If you use a oil or alkyd paint then use an oil based glaze. Some of the new oil modified paints will require a oil based glaze. These paints are water clean up and you can dilute them with water but dry as an oil based paint. 7.) Clear Coat. I don't care what people may tell you or how many years experience they have, for kitchens all paint needs to be clear coated. Kitchens are not walls. You will have your hands on them multiple times everyday. You will bang pots against them and plates against them. They take a ton of abuse and then factor in the stovetop grease being splattered and water splashing. Again there are a ton of high quality clear coats out there and the water based clear coats have been improving every year to compete against the old oil based paints. For water based clear coats I would highly look at FPE, Target Coatings, and General Finishes clear coats. Call them for questions and advise to your specific kitchen. I hope this will help some of you. Again every painter will tell you something different. I just know what works for me and all I do is kitchen refinishing. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Chris at SpecialtyCabinetFinishes@gmail.com Here is a link that might be useful: Specialty Cabinet Finishes

They are nice cabinets and will look great painted. It does look like your counters and backsplash are brown tones, so I think a creamy white would look great. Just be aware it is a LOT of work and good prep work is key if you want the paint to adhere well. Scrub them squeaky- clean first. Some use TSP, others say it leaves residue. I didn't use the TSP, instead chose Dawn dishwashing liquid in water, rinse, followed by Krud Kutter, rinse again. Let dry, sand everything well, vacuumed, then went over everything with denatured alcohol. We did this prep for both our refacing job in the kitchen and the painting of the bathroom cabinets. This ensured there was no surface dirt or grease ( a consideration for kitchen cabinets, although you may not see it, often there is a film of grease around the range area cabinets) Then, after all the prep, a good primer, followed by 2 coats of quality paint. Lightly sand between each coat of primer and paint. My prep work might sound like overkill, but 3 years later, the refacing veneers are still perfect, as is the paint. Definitely no chalk paint, its not durable enough for kitchen cabinets IMO. (or bathroom cabinets either) The chief advantage of chalk paint is that it supposedly doesn't require sanding. I am of the belief that sanding is always necessary, if you're going to do the job, do it right so it will last. Its not a weekend project, plan on weeks or months, depending on how busy you are. .

jeffandalisa - Well, actually A'Lisa! ;) Too funny! Thank you for the compliment, although not sure if we've made the right decisions thus far. Our kitchen started as a "Hey, we need to get rid of these 6 x 6 beige tiles", to replacing/redoing almost everything. Hubby and I weren't crazy about the MOP, but all the gorgeous tiles we fell in love with were over $65.00 -$400.00 sq.ft. Told my husband wasn't going to spend that much on backsplash. MOP was a good cross over (holding us in), until I give in and replace them all with the stuff we initially wanted. Agree with "difficult stone to compliment..", but it's stunning regardless. You don't have stare at drywall, instead stare at every other stunning piece you have in your kitchen! Our cabinets are being prepped for painting as we speak. We'll see how the paint color choice will end up like. :) PLEASE share pix of your finished kitchen when backsplash is completed. DYING to see what you choose!

Now having done both and seeing the drastic difference in results, I would never pay a painter to paint cabinets with standard paint products. A lot of the cost is the prep work (labor is high these days). Standard paints can never produce a professional result and will not have the longevity of lacquer. I would go with a true pro and have them use lacquer paints. You will be much happier in the end.