How to paint your kitchen cabinets

No plans for Labor Day weekend? Make the most of it and paint the kitchen! I believe the kitchen is the heart of the home. We spend countless hours cooking, cleaning, and in my family's case just hanging out. So why not make our kitchen beautiful?! We bought our home back in June of 2019 and thanks to our busy life we did not get around to painting it until March of 2020. However it is so much more enjoyable. I wished we had taken care of it months ago!! Here are some tips we would like to share about problems we encountered and things we would do differently for next time.

Prepping kitchen cabinets for paiting - absolutely no shortcuts.

Correct prepping is crucial to your final outcome! Many of us just want the final result that we skip through important parts. For example tapping off the walls, removing cabinets, unscrewing knobs, and sanding down rough areas. These are all parts that we recommend taking your time on!! Over time it's likely your kitchen has grease stains that have built up. Simply take a soft cloth, mix with water, liquid grease fight dish soap and wipe down the wall. You can use an old toothbrush for harder to reach areas. Fill in any holes/ dents/ scratches with caulking or wood filler, be sure to smooth it out then sand down.

Priming your kitchen cabinets

We recommend using high quality stain blocking primer. After you have sanded down the area to where it is smooth and assured there is no leftover dust on the hard to reach areas you're ready to add prime. A simple roller paint brush might be your best bet to get it done in an easier manner depending on your kitchen. Make sure and get the detailed areas on the cabinet doors and the walls behind your fridge! Let dry. One coat should do the job however apply as many coats as desired.

Paint your cabinets!

Here is the fun part!! Once your primer is COMPLETELY dry you can add your paint! I would recommend a darker color for your cabinets. One of my favorites is a royal blue or sage green they always turn out stunning! If you have children their fingerprints tend to show up alot faster on lighter colors, especially white! Also another defect in painting white for cabinets are they tend to go yellow over time in the kitchen. Cabinets and kitchen walls are a high use area and darker colors seem to last a lot longer.

Drying process

This step is so important! I can't repeat it enough! Even though you are excited about your outcome,hopefully, let them dry completely before reassembling the cabinets/drawers etc. I have seen way too many projects gone wrong because they did not wait long enough for the product to dry.

Add sealer/top coat to your cabinets

Sealer or topcoat is completely up to you, although this will help later down the line when you want to go clean or wipe down the area. We would recommend a clear polyurethane finish over the paint. Again apply as many coats as desired.

Cabinets, ASSEMBLE!

The very last step is reassembling your cabinets, drawers and knobs. You can find beautiful knobs online to add such a unique touch! We hope you absolutely love your new kitchen and recommend celebrating by trying out a new recipe! Enjoy your hard work! Feel free to call or email us at Honey Do Painting LLC for further questions, we would be happy to help!