How to Perfectly Paint Kitchen Cabinets the Easy Way

The idea of painting your kitchen cabinets can be overwhelming. It isn't until you get going that you realize that it is easier than you would think! Just time consuming! With my help, I hope you get the courage to take the plunge and give your cabinets a makeover. I promise that you will be so happy that you did!

 1 inch good quality paint brush like THIS ONE or your local hardware store

Benjamin Moore Cabinet Paint in Swiss Coffee (which is a creamy white) found HERE or at Orchard (This paint is self leveling so it helps hide brush strokes!)

WHIZZ foam roller sample & touch up kit. THESE  PAINT KITS ARE LIFE CHANGING! You can find them online HERE or at your local Lowes store. These allow you to get to the small places perfectly.

KILZ primer found online HERE or at your Local Lowes store.

 Painters tape found HERE or any hardware store, Target or Walmart.

 Canvas drop cloths to put on the floor found HERE or local hardware stores

Angled sanding block {LIFE CHANGING} found HERE or hardware stores

Electric hand sander. The one I have can be found HERE or at Lowes. This is going to make your life a lot easier!

Hyde Painter Pyramids  LIKE THESE or found at Lowes

Other things that I used :

 Random boxes and crates to put cabinet doors on while painting

Sharpie marker

Drill for taking off cabinet doors or screw driver. In my opinion your life will be so much easier with a drill!

Wash cloth & soap

Putty knife for scraping grease

Here is the before! Outdated, dark and dingy looking when we first moved into our previous house. I was craving something bright and fresh so I decided to tackle one of the best DIY makeovers I've ever completed (It only took me 4 years to get to it). It was 100% worth all of the work. I'm going to be honest, IT IS WORK! I worked non stop for a week straight. Call me crazy but I finished ALL the cabinets in the entire house in a week! Now that's determination. When inspiration strikes there is no looking back! So gather all of your energy, supplies, a whole lot of coffee and maybe a 5 hour energy drink too! Here we go!

 1. Start with wiping down and degreasing your doors. I used dish soap and a rag and scrubbed them. If there were globs of grease, I used a little putty knife to scrape it off. 

2. Now take off your cabinets doors and label them. Use a little bit of painters tape, a Sharpie and a zip lock bag. You are going to label your cabinets as you take them down. Here is how I labeled them with numbers. T = top & B = bottom {My dad taught me this trick and it made it so much easier when it came to putting things back together.}

As you take each one off,  place a small pieces of tape where no one will see it and label it with the number that coordinates. So for this one, it would be L1. Now after you do that set your door in the garage. Grab 2 small ziploc bags for every 1 door. Take the top hardware and place in 1 bag and label it with the corresponding place. With your sharpie you will write on the bag. For example, one bag will have the piece and screws and will say TOP T1 and one will say BOTTOM T1. That way when you put it back together you know which screws and piece went where and with what door so the doors go on straight again.

++ How to perfectly PRIME your cabinet on the wall. First take your 1 inch paint brush and go into the top trim and creases. You want to make sure you have a good amount of paint on it so it glides on smoothly (remember you don't want paint brush lines) but not so it's dripping. Dripping = bad! Once all of the creases and trim are covered and the edges by the wall are done, grab your 2 inch foam roller. Load that with some paint and go back over the trim and edges lightly. This will smooth out all of the brush strokes if you have any. The Benjamin Moore Advanced paint is self leveling so that helps too! Now keep on using the foam roller and finish priming the entire area. DO NOT push hard with the foam roller. You will create lines so use a soft hand with enough paint. Also DO NOT go back over wet spots as they are drying. It will just rip up the paint leaving bald patches. Now let the first coat of primer dry. Then do another primer coat and completely let that dry. {Look! It's a real life mess! You mean you actually don't have a perfect house you ask? NO WAY! I'm human, lady!}

Since I did the entire house in one week, I forgot to get a lot of detailed pictures. I'm sorry! I will try my best to describe how I did this. Thanks so much for sticking with me. You may want to grab another cup of coffee and get comfy. I have a feeling that this is going to be long!

I started with this one little section to get the technique right. I took off the doors, lightly sanded it, taped around the cabinet on the wall, and primed it. I could already see it was going to make a HUGE difference.

Side note: That was my DIY backsplash! Maybe I'll do a post on that later!

Make sure you paint the bottom too! "Cut in" where the wall and cabinet meets and roll it out and cover the rest with the WHIZZ roller.

*2 coats primer - 3 coats Swiss coffee 

Let each coat fully dry. After each one is dry, take your angled sand block and run it over the cabinets. Work in small portions at a time.

Prime*sand*prime*sand*paint*sand*paint*sand*paint is how I did it. It creates a smooth finish. Remember do not press hard with your little WHIZZ roller. It will create lines. Get enough paint on there and lightly roll. The paint will even out and you will have NO brush strokes!

Once all of cabinets are done, it's time to move onto the doors & drawers! I removed the drawers as I worked on each section of cabinets. I let that portion fully dry and put the drawer back in but DO NOT CLOSE THEM! I painted the 2 primer + 3 paint while there were pulled out but still attached. It made the painting easier for me to get all around them. Let those dry a few days before closing them so the 2 paint surfaces (cabinet & back of the drawer) do not stick together and then peel up with you open them.

Now head out to the garage! Sand all of the cabinet doors front and back. Finish all of the sanding before you start painting. It makes it go by more quickly.

 See my painters tape with the labeled door numbers? These cabinet doors are all sanded and ready to be painted.

Now place on the Hyde Painter Pyramids on the floor and or on your boxes & crates.

Fill in the creases with your paint brush first. 

 Then use your WHIZZ roller and smooth brush strokes out and finish this side.

See the thicker painted creases? Now go over them with the WHIZZ and smooth everything out. This was my first coat of Primer.

Here we are with 2 coats of primer and one coat of Swiss Coffee.

Remember to completely dry each coat then lightly sand in between each coat. DO ONE SIDE AT A TIME! Let that one side with all 5 coats COMPLETELY dry before flipping over to do the 5 coats on the other side. ALSO PAINT THE BACK SIDE OF THE DOOR FIRST! That way when you turn over, if it does kick it, it will be hidden. Don't forget to do the edges too!

After all of the cabinet doors are done and dried for at least a day. It's time to put everything back together!

Grab your cabinet door and matching number  ziploc bags. Use your drill and put the doors back on back on!

Next we will add hardware! My next DIY post will be how to perfectly install cabinet hardware! I have a trick to get them perfectly even and level every time!

All of my new hardware is from D. LAWLESS HARDWARE. They have so many options at amazing prices! They are my go to place for any knobs for any project!

  You can find my exact crystal knobs HERE. My cup pulls can be found HERE.

Some very important things to remember to get a flawless finish:

+ 2 coats primer

+ 3 coats paint

+ Let each coat fully dry

+ Sand in between each coat

+ Do not go over wet paint with the WHIZZ roller. It will pull it up

+ Fill in creases first, then go over the entire thing with the WHIZZ roller to smooth it out.

+ Pull up tape when the paint is still wet after the last coat. That way it won't rip up the paint.

+ Paint the back of the cabinet doors first then flip to front last

If you want to take it an extra step and completely protect your freshly painted cabinets you can use Varathane High Traffic Formula Floor Finish in Satin or Semi Gloss found HERE.

Use as directed and it will put a protective coat that will not scratch nor chip! 

BEFORE

AFTER

Do you think you would ever tackle painting your outdated cabinets? It was completely worth it to me. Once everything was painted and all the new hardware was on I almost cried tears of joy. Don't forget that my next post will show you how to add new hardware the easy way!

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