How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets in 8 Simple Steps 2024

To maintain the freshness of the entire outlook, it is essential to paint not only your walls but repaint or polish your furniture as well. So, for people on a budget, it can be extremely fruitful to know how to paint kitchen cabinets to lose a little burden from themselves.

As the prices of the latest kitchen appliances, countertops, and even cabinets are too high, we won’t hesitate if you say it costs you a fortune to renovate your kitchen. Everyone has their own way of revamping the interiors. Some change the exterior of their fridge, others give their containers a new spin after a while.

However, we believe that repainting the cabinets can contribute a lot to giving a clean look to your visual space. In this blog, we’ll be suggesting a simpler way of painting your cabinets.

8 Steps to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets

There are many ways of painting cabinets and everyone has their own style of getting the job done. We have compiled a list of steps to make the process easy and effective.

1. Gather Materials

Before getting started with the job, it is important to get the materials under your workspace. This way you won’t be rushing here and there which often results in getting tired before finishing off the job. For this painting process, you need roller sleeves, latex primer, degreasing sprays, paint having water-based trim and suited for cabinets.

2. Get the room ready

Another part of the process is preparing the room as every successful DIY process is often followed by some effective prep work. Initially, you should remove all the stuff from the kitchen cabinets, removing every appliance and utensils lying on your countertops.

These preprocessing measures can sort everything and can also work as a precautionary measure. Getting every hindrance aside can resist any mishap.

3. Detach the Cabinets

Start by marking every drawer and door with the number so that you don’t mix them up with detached. You can choose any location but sticking a tape behind the hinges and marking them as A1, A2, etc. can sort your task. Remove the doors and hinges screws from the cabinet frames.

Starting from top all the way to bottom, you have to label every piece with numbered tape. Numbering the shelves, and the bottom part is also necessary when working with a series of the same cabinets. Remove all the hook, handles, and knobs so that you can use it later again.

4. Prep the boxes

The first and foremost step before getting started with painting is to dip the abrasive pad in the deglosser or get the degreasing spray and scrub it around every surface. Place a cloth or line plastic wrap below to avoid it reaching the floor. Side by side, you can clean the remaining liquid with a clean piece of cloth.

You also have to sand the cabinets, doors, and drawer’s surface with a foam block to scuff it. The basic reason behind it is to provide a sticking surface to the primer as it slips off the bare wood. As you make progress with sanding, just wipe the wood dust.

After you’re done, just vacuum the cabinets’ exterior and interior to ensure it doesn’t have any dust particles left that can also stick while painting.

5. Prime the cabinet boxes

After removing all the dust particles, you can prime the cabinets. If you’re dealing with cabinets having heavy stains then you can use the special blocking primer that can quickly dry and seal every surface knot. Moreover, there are several primers with an oil base known to be latex primer that works the best in every situation.

Just spread an even coat of this primer on every surface and let it dry for a while.

6. Sand surfaces & fill crack

After letting the primer dry for a while, you have to sand the surfaces so that every surface feels smoother than ever. You can use 220-grit paper for flat surfaces and medium-grit sponges for designed and curved surfaces.

As you go, you can fill up any crack, scratch, dent, or ding with vinyl spackle. Once you see the spackle being all dried out, just sand it with the paper and clean the surface.

7. Paint the cabinet boxes

After all these measures, you can go ahead with the paint you want. It is necessary to note that if you’re using almost the same color then only two coats would be fine. However, if you’re going with lighter color when you have a darker one underneath then you should apply three even coats.

It is important to either wash the brush or use a new one for every coat. Just pour some paint on the tray and dip the brush completely in it. After that it’s all about your creativity, just don’t forget to apply every layer as evenly as you can.

Don’t miss any corner or curve as once you’re done, they’re going to pop out. Apply the second coat if you need it or a third as well.

8. Reattach every piece at the right place

Finally, after the second coating is completely dried off, your painting job is finished. Now you have to reattach the drawers and doors with the screws you’ve set aside.

Just remove the tap with the door’s number on it and reinstall the old knobs, drawer handles, and hinges back to where they belong or try out new ones suiting the new color. Lastly, push back all the drawers. When you’ll see the cabinets being tucked at their places, you’ll feel a sense of achievement that all your efforts were worth it.

As we’ve about to end this blog, we want to cater to some of your queries by answering below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to paint over the cabinets?

No, you can not paint over the cabinets because not only can it create air bubbles between the two painted layers but it will also look a bit ugly.

Is it necessary to strip the paint?

According to the experts, if your existing paint coat is clear then the best thing you can do before painting is to strip it down until you see the bare wood. This way any stickiness won’t be left between the two layers. However, as good of an idea, it looks to be, it isn’t entirely necessary and in most cases, it isn’t even practical.

What’s the correct way of preparing the cabinets with existing paint?

The best way of prepping is just to clean it thoroughly, after which you can lightly sand it to make it ready for a finish of clear coating.

What gives the best results: spray paint or brush?

If you want the smoothest option then clearly spray paints can be best but the only thing it lacks is on the curvy areas especially in the corners. Moreover, you have to buy different nozzles and many cans to get just one cabinet done, causing you a hefty amount of money. So, if you want to stay on a budget then using soft bristle brushes can get the work done easily.