Painting kitchen cabinets without professional tools is simple when you follow these straightforward DIY steps in this complete guide. I'm thrilled to finally have them done! These do-it-yourself painted cabinets transformed my whole kitchen with some hard work and a modest budget. I'd happily do it again for results like these!
Before we start this detailed home improvement guide on painting kitchen cabinets and turning your worn, dated space into a fresh, beautiful one, I have to give you a heads-up.
Painting your kitchen cabinets is a lot like childbirth.
There's a lot of hard work. Plenty of cursing. It'll take far longer than you planned, and more skill than your DIY confidence might suggest.
BUT! Here's the big payoff. Once those big, beautiful, freshly painted cabinets are looking back at you, you'll forget all of it in a rush of happy love.
It's true. All the worry I'd built up over the years about how hard it would be to paint my cabinets was justified.
Still, I promise that even though you'll curse my name along the way, the result is well worth it.
Before and after photos of my kitchen with white cabinets (click here)
So, so worth the effort, friends. Every morning I walk in there and think, "Ahh, my dreams came true."
I've written about painting cabinets before. This time I did a few things differently, so I'm sharing a brand-new tutorial and will point out the changes as we go.
How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: The Timeline
Let's start with timing. I didn't paint the cabinet interiors. So this estimate covers the time it took to remove all the doors, prep them, paint them, then prep and paint the outside of the cabinet boxes.
It took me roughly four weeks of steady work during naptimes and after the kids were in bed. My mom came over and helped for a day (and she works hard). Then my husband helped me rehang everything. Apart from that, I did it all myself.
I did hire a sitter to come every afternoon for one week because I had to finish before Christmas. So if you're a stay-at-home mom tackling a small or medium kitchen, plan on 4 to 6 weeks. Just to be safe.
Or maybe you're a superwoman who finishes in a weekend. Just don't tell me, OK? It would hurt my feelings.
How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets: Supplies
All right, here's what you'll need to paint your cabinets with a roller and a brush, the way I did. (Pour yourself a cup of coffee, because this list is a long one.)
- Painter's tape
- Degreaser
- Wood filler
- Sander or sandpaper (I recommend an electric sander, and this is my favorite.)
- Foam roller
- Liquid deglosser
- Primer – How to prime for a smooth finish
- Paint
- Paint brushes (Purdy brushes are my absolute favorite. They last forever if you look after them!)
- Tack cloth
Best Paint for Kitchen Cabinets
Before we get into the steps, here's a key tip. People ask me all the time, "What kind of paint should I use on kitchen cabinets?" So this should help!
The paint you choose for your cabinets is HUGE. Don't cut corners on it.
Pick a semi-gloss or gloss paint made specifically for cabinetry. The shinier sheen is easier to wipe clean, and the special cabinet formula dries to a harder finish. I'll cover the two brands I've used so far on my cabinet-painting journey.
Ace Hardware's Door, Trim and Cabinet Paint: The first time I painted cabinets, I used the Door, Trim and Cabinet paint from Ace Hardware. I did my bathroom cabinets with it, and you can see them here.
It's amazing, y'all. It was the only cabinet paint I'd ever tried, and it flowed on smoothly, left no brush marks and dried to a tough finish. To this day, those bathroom cabinets have no chips.
It's a very thin latex paint that glides on and dries extremely smooth and hard. You're supposed to use several thin coats, and that's what I did. After a few minutes I'd check each door for drips or pooling in the low spots. I could lightly drag my brush through any pools or drips, and the paint would level out again without showing brush marks.
Benjamin Moore's Advance Paint: This one isn't as thin and dries much faster than Ace's paint. After two coats on my doors, you can see some brush strokes in the beveled edges.
If I used this paint again, I'd add a paint conditioner such as Floetrol, a latex-based additive that cuts down on brush marks. I assumed BM's Advance would act like Ace's paint. That was my mistake, and I should have tested it first.
Final thought: I think BM Advance is a fantastic paint, but if you use it, I strongly suggest adding a paint conditioner like Floetrol (mix it according to the directions on the bottle).
How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
Pick your color and buy your paint. I chose Simply White by Benjamin Moore, and I only needed one gallon. Then gather your tape, sander or deglosser, drop cloths, degreaser, brushes and rollers.
You'll also want to set up a space for painting. I did the sanding and priming in my garage (since it stinks) and carried the doors and drawers into my dining room to paint.
I also moved some kitchen appliances into the office. I had a 1-year-old, and she loved playing in the bottom cabinets once the doors were off, so it was simpler to have them mostly emptied.
Step 2: Remove All Doors & Hardware
Oh my word, y'all. This step took me forever. I should have asked my husband to help, so learn from my mistake. Any capable adult can help pull off the doors and hardware, so recruit someone.
Now, you DO want to do a bit of extra prep when you take off the doors and hardware so reinstalling them is easier. Putting cabinet doors back where they belong gets tricky if you don't note where each one goes. Trust me. When they're all sitting in a pile in your dining room, they look (mostly) the same.
Pick a starting spot in your kitchen or room and number each door as you remove it. I wrote the number where the hinge goes and covered it with a strip of tape. That way, if paint gets down in there, it won't matter. Just peel back the tape to see the number!
Then I labeled the inside of each cabinet with a matching sticker. I also numbered each hinge, as you can see on the stickers below.
I numbered all the hardware, put each door's pieces in their own plastic baggie and taped the baggie inside the cabinet. Keep in mind I didn't paint the cabinet interiors, so I could store them there. If you're painting the insides, you'll need a different system. (I didn't tape the hardware inside the bottom cabinets because of my 1-year-old.)
Step 3: Clean with a Degreaser
If you're painting kitchen cabinets, in particular, give them a thorough cleaning with a degreaser. I used a natural, organic product from the store for a general wipe-down and some lemon essential oil for the really sticky spots.
The rubber bumpers on some of my doors and drawers had crumbled into a sticky mess!
I had no idea how grimy my cabinets really were. They were gross. You don't want three-year-old spaghetti sauce hiding under your nice new coat of paint. Don't skip this step!
Step 4: Fill and Drill Hardware Holes
If you're swapping out the hardware on any doors or drawers, fill the old holes with filler (this is my favorite) and then sand them smooth.
I knew I was changing the hardware, but I didn't know yet what I'd use on the drawers, so I just filled those holes. I'll drill new ones when the new hardware arrives. #stilldeciding
Step 5: Patch, Caulk or Repair Cabinets
If your cabinet boxes, doors or drawers have any cosmetic or structural problems, fix them now. One drawer front was coming loose, and a few minutes with my brad nailer solved that. I also caulked any cracks in the corners and filled holes in the toe kicks.
Holes and cracks are much easier to spot on white cabinets, so take the time to make everything look nice.
Step 6: Sand (or Degloss) All the Things
Settle in, because you'll be at this for a while. (Are we there yet?!?)
Sand all of the doors, both front and back, with a finishing sander. Trust me, you want an electric sander. Doing this by hand is not a good idea.
Swap your sandpaper often, because dull paper wastes your time and doesn't work well. You'll go through a lot of it, but it's worth it.
Don't try to reach raw wood. Just rough up the slick finish so the primer has something to grip. I use medium-grit sandpaper for this step.
When you're done sanding, wipe everything down with a tack cloth.
For the cabinet boxes in the kitchen, I did something different this time. I didn't sand them, because:
- I didn't want to empty all the cabinets.
- I didn't want to seal off the rest of my house or clean up sanding dust for the rest of my life.
So I used a liquid deglosser instead. Fair warning, it's a smelly product with some harsh chemicals. You simply wipe it on the cabinets and let it dry. Don't wipe it off before you paint.
Be warned, y'all. The chemicals are very strong. I wore the recommended rubber gloves while applying it, but when I was almost finished I noticed my hands felt like they were burning.
I pulled my gloves off and had a rash across the tops of my hands. I think the latex in the gloves reacted with the chemicals in the deglosser. Yuck.
The deglosser works fairly well, but I think sanding is better. I'd probably use the deglosser again to save time, but I'd apply it in stages so my hands don't break out. I have noticed some chipping on the cabinet boxes where we bump them while putting dishes away, but I haven't had any chips on my doors. I wonder if the deglosser made the difference?
Step 7: Tape the Cabinets
Now that everything is repaired, sanded and filled, grab your painter's tape and start taping off the floors and walls next to the cabinet boxes.
Can you see why prep takes forever??
Step 8: Prime Everything
Prime everything. Don't try to save time with a primer-and-paint combo. Use a high-quality primer, like the one shown in the photo above.
RELATED: How to Get a Smooth Finish with Primer
Because primer is oil-based, I use a cheap, disposable brush and a foam roller. Check out this post to see how I get a beautiful, smooth finish without spraying! My favorite primer is Zinsser's Cover Stain. It's fantastic.
Since I was painting my cabinets white, I used the off-the-shelf white primer. But if you're painting a dark color, I recommend having the primer tinted to match your paint.
Step 9: Sand Away Any Drips or Runs
If the primer leaves any rough spots, drips or runs, sand them very lightly with fine sandpaper. You don't want to sand off the primer itself. I didn't need to sand mine because I used my trick for a smooth finish.
Step 10: Paint (Finally!)
After all that prep, which feels like it will never end, it's finally time to paint. Hallelujah!!
I start with the backs of the cabinets and paint every coat I plan to apply. So if I'm doing two coats, I paint two coats on the back before moving to the front. That way, when I flip them over to paint the front, any mistake lands on the back. No problem.
On the front, I paint the beveled areas first with a brush (Purdy brushes are my favorites!), then the flat areas with a foam roller. This keeps brush marks and potential drips or pooling to a minimum. Be careful not to load on too much paint, or it will pool in the corners.
Don't worry, my cabinets aren't gray. I grabbed this photo from when I painted my bathroom cabinets.
Step 11: Sand Again
Follow the directions on your paint for when you can add a second coat. Wait that long, then check for drips and lightly sand them away. I had a couple of spots from the first coat that needed sanding.
If there were no trouble spots, I skipped the sanding.
Step 12: Repeat steps 10 and 11.
My cabinet doors needed three coats, so judge how they look after two coats, then decide whether you need more.
Let them dry, then rehang them! Woohoo! I was so excited to get my doors back on before Christmas. Tackling them over the holidays was crazy, but all the pain and struggle was worth it!
I'm so glad to finally cross this project off the list that has been hanging around for four years!!
Do you have any advice for painting cabinets, like getting your best friend to move in and watch your kids so you can finish faster?
Or any warnings about what to avoid, like using paint conditioner so you don't see brush strokes?
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