How to Paint Cabinets
The laundry room makeover is progressing nicely! I finished painting the cabinets that are in the room and the walls.
In the past, I have also painted the vanity cabinet in the hall bathroom and my kitchen cabinets. It's such an easy and inexpensive way to update a room so I thought I'd share how to do it!
First, check out the Laundry Room Design Board that I created to see my vision for this room. I couldn't get the "Gentleman's Gray" paint color from my design board, but I found one called "Undersea" which is a pretty close match.
How to Paint Cabinets
You can check out the kitchen cupboards here: Updated 1960's Kitchen Reveal and the bathroom vanity cabinet here: Main Bathroom Redo - Updating a Dated Vanity.
- Good quality paint - I used Behr's Ultra Scuff Defense, color: Undersea #S470-7
- Fine Grit Sandpaper
- Painter's Tape
- Small Sponge Roller and Paint Tray
- Angled Paintbrush
- Dropcloth (or use an old sheet)
- Cans for propping up cabinet doors to dry
Painting cabinets really is quite simple. The most important part is using good quality paint. Of course, it will be a little more expensive but it requires far fewer coats for good coverage. It evens out or ends up actually costing less because you will use less paint plus you'll save yourself lots of time and frustration. (Of course, it helps if you are painting with a darker color. It would require more paint if you were using a light color).
I painted two upper cabinets and doors and a larger base cabinet and doors with only 1 quart of paint and I still have almost half a can of paint left!
Step 1: Remove the cabinet doors and drawers from the cabinet bases. Also, remove the hinges and pulls. Put all of these and the screws in a plastic bag so you don't lose them.
Tip: Mark each hinge and the associated door that it goes to (If you have a lot of cabinets, mark the doors and cabinet bases that go together too). I just wrote on the backside of the hinges with a Sharpie, UR = upper right, LR = lower right, UL = upper left, etc. You would think that you could just use the hinges anywhere since they are all the same but take it from me... mark them... you will be happy you did. 😉
Step 2: Sand the cupboards and doors. You don't have to get too carried away but you want to scuff them up so the paint has something to grab onto. Fill any holes too, our cupboards had a clothes rod hung between them that I removed so I filled the screw holes.
Step 5: Begin painting the areas that you will not be able to get with a roller with the angled paintbrush. If your cabinets are flat you can skip this part! Also, cut in around the edges of the cabinet bases.
Step 6: Paint the flat areas of the doors and the cabinet bases with a sponge roller.
Tips: 1) If you are not painting the inside of the cupboards like me, then tape off around the inside edge of the cabinets so the paint won't bleed around the edge.
2) A sponge roller works better than a fabric roller for cabinets, it creates a nice, smooth finish.
Step 7: Remove any tape you have used before the paint dries completely. If you wait for it to dry, the paint tends to stick to the tape and it will pull off big chunks.
Step 8: Reattach the doors.
Great tips in here and love the color you painted the cabinets!
ReplyDeleteThank you Marie!
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