Painting Kitchen Cabinets

[scrub-jay]

Welcome to my DIY kitchen remodel. I was blessed with the ugliest kitchen on the planet (which lowered the cost of the house allowing us to buy it) and we're redoing it. Suzysunshine will attest to it's ugliness. So far we've updated the countertops, sink, faucet,& backsplash. We need to paint the cabinets, desperately. They're going a pale cream w/black fixtures. Any tips other than sand-sand-sand? Best paint brand for hardwood cabinets? Hoping Diggity-Dot will chime in...
Anyone tackle this before?

I post pictures soon.

[SuzySunshine]

Isn't there a way to paint them without the sanding? I'm pretty sure shakti did that to hers...I can e-mail her if you want.

[scrub-jay]

I'm not attached to sanding, but I was worried with how they sloppily applied the varnish. I figured a deglosser was called for too. But I'd love to know what she did! Thank you!

[spotty_dog]

Young House Love has done kitchen cabinets from wood to paint a couple of times:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2012/0...ka-hallelujah/
http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/1...chen-cabinets/

I think you'll want to use the right primer when you're going over stained or varnished wood. DD will give you the skinny on that.

Mine are some kind of white factory finish that is chipping off. I have no idea how to handle it.

[diggitydot]

With kitchens, you find a LOT of surface contaminants like grease and food still on the cabinets. Even if you haaaaaaate sanding, if you're going to live with there and don't want to repaint within the next year or two, I'd recommend washing the cabinets with TSP, lightly scuff sanding every surface that will be painted to knock down the sheen (going down to bare wood isn't necessary), priming with white pigmented shellac, and THEN painting with the hardest film you can find.

[bobk]

I recently painted the ones at our old house. I used an orbital sander on the open areas and hand sanded the trim. Then I applied one coat of primer and two of the finish color. The paint was the high end Sherwin Williams interior, think it was called Emerald. We were only there a couple more months before we moved but the finish held up pretty well.

[bobk]

Cross posted with DD. Yes to the cleaning. I found those disposable Clorox wipes did a great job of breaking down the layers of grease, etc. The sanding was very light, just enough to rough up the surface so the primer would adhere to it.

[scrub-jay]

We were planning on following the YHL tutorials, they are really helpful.

[scrub-jay]

With kitchens, you find a LOT of surface contaminants like grease and food still on the cabinets. Even if you haaaaaaate sanding, if you're going to live with there and don't want to repaint within the next year or two, I'd recommend washing the cabinets with TSP, lightly scuff sanding every surface that will be painted to knock down the sheen (going down to bare wood isn't necessary), priming with white pigmented shellac, and THEN painting with the hardest film you can find.

TSP is a good idea. What do you mean by hardest film? Also- what are your thoughts on deglosser? Is there a brand we should go through? What type of primer? How many coats?

We will be living with it for several years and would rather do a good job to last.

[diggitydot]

TSP is a good idea. What do you mean by hardest film? Also- what are your thoughts on deglosser? Is there a brand we should go through? What type of primer? How many coats?

We will be living with it for several years and would rather do a good job to last.

By "hardest film', I mean a paint designed for doors and trim, not wall paint. Wall paint is a softer coating that isn't designed for the kind of wear cabinets get everyday. The harder the film, the longer it will hold up on the cabinets.

I'm not a fan of chemical deglossers because they don't give nearly as good of adhesion to the substrate compared to just a quick scuff-sanding. It's also not unheard of for them to act as a surface contaminant that can cause problems later. The kinds of problems where you end up eventually having to sand down to bare wood to fix.

If you're painting the cabinets a light color, I recommend using a white pigmented shellac as your primer. It's smelly and messy, but it's the best stain-blocking and adhesion primer available on the market.

I would do a coat of the white pigmented shellac and two coats of paint.

[scrub-jay]

Thank you so much! Any idea how to hide the significant wood grain? I'd read about wood grain filler, has anyone used that?

[alotofyarn]

Not quite cabinets, but I'm painting a dresser white. I lightly sanded, then I'll do a coat of Killz then the paint. All latex. Hoping to finish sanding tomorrow and paint this weekend.

[diggitydot]

Thank you so much! Any idea how to hide the significant wood grain? I'd read about wood grain filler, has anyone used that?

Wood grain fillers are definitely a good idea for hiding a significant grain on bare wood. Your already lacquered or shellacked cabinets? It won't adhere as well to the already-sealed surface. Try it on a small area and see how it works before deciding whether to use it on the entire project.

[diggitydot]

Not quite cabinets, but I'm painting a dresser white. I lightly sanded, then I'll do a coat of Killz then the paint. All latex. Hoping to finish sanding tomorrow and paint this weekend.

Awesome!

Are you using trim/door paint or wall paint? I ask only because I want to save you time if you have wall paint.

[alotofyarn]

Are you using trim/door paint or wall paint? I ask only because I want to save you time if you have wall paint.

I'm not 100% sure what it is - we got it at Sherwin Williams and they said it would be good for trim and wood furniture (we'll probably use it on trim and doors too, because we need to redo all of that eventually, and fortunately ours are not currently painted with oil-based paint).