Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Tip #2

Kitchen Cabinets

Thinking of giving your Kitchen Cabinets a new face?

It all depends on what you have now – Do you have oak cabinets with a varnish finish or are they painted already?

Next you have to determine is the finish latex or oil based – because Latex paint will not adhere well to Oil. Latex will adhere to Latex but you’ll need to clean the cabinets first to remove the grease.

Next – What color do you want? ** Caution** darker colors require a lot of tint, paint will not last as well.

First clean the food and grease off, we like Mr. Clean, (an ounce in a 1/2 gallon hot water) for lower cabinets mostly food. The tops usually are more greasy and straight Varsol or paint thinner will cut the grease. then patch the hinge, handle screw holes and defects if you plan on changing them, with wood filler, sand smooth. Apply a coat or 2 of BIN, Shellac based primer coat with spray, brush or roller, then 2 coats finish spray, brush or roller (talk to your paint supplier for finish coat.) Many people prefer the spray finish to the rolled finish as it could leave the finish with a slight Orange Peel texture. We mostly spray the doors in our shop and hand paint and roll the frames in the house. We also sometimes spray but it costs more and we can get a very good finish from brush and roller.- a good painter can get a smooth finish without spraying. Make sure to read the labels for paint dry time needed between coats.