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ORC Week 3 - My Foolproof Method for Painting Cabinets

Erika Conner

How to Paint Cabinets in 4 Steps

I can’t believe it’s already week 3 of the One Room Challenge! So far, I’ve figured out my overall design, painted my laundry room a beautiful terracotta color (Kitchen Terracotta by Valspar), and last week I painted the cabinets for the laundry room!

What’s the One Room Challenge?

If you’re new here, the One Room Challenge is an event where DIYers from all around encourage and motivate one another to makeover one room in their homes over a period of 8 weeks. In my case, I’m finally tackling our laundry room remodel.

Each Wednesday during the challenge I'll share a post with the previous week's progress until the final reveal on November 16th!

At this point, I've painted 4 kitchens worth of cabinets and have learned A LOT along the way. Since I was painting the cabinets for the laundry room this week anyway, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to share my process for painting cabinets - breaking down what does and doesn't work so you get the best finished product.

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Materials

Step 1: Prep

I know, I know, “Prep work is sooooo boring! Can’t I just skip it all and jump to painting already?” NO! I mean, you could, but your cabinets probably won’t look that great and won’t stand the test of time.

As dull as prep work is, it’s really important. So just do it already, okay?

Take it all apart

Start by removing doors, drawers, hinges, and hardware. If you’re planning on switching up the handles, knobs, or hinges, you might need to fill the old holes with some wood filler.

Clean it real good

Next, I recommend wiping everything down with TSP (or at the very least with some soap and water, you filthy animal) to get it nice and clean. TSP is especially good at degreasing all those yucky kitchen cabinets.

Sand

Before you mention it, I too have seen the copious amounts of Pins for articles touting methods of painting cabinets that don’t require any sanding. And to that I say, “Lies!” I don’t believe it for a second. But I do have my own little alternative methods here.

In the case of my laundry room makeover, my cabinets were new so I sanded them entirely in the garage the old-fashioned way. BUT, if I’m painting cabinets that are already installed, I typically use liquid sandpaper on the cabinet boxes to keep from making a giant dusty mess in the house.

Since doors and drawers are touched so much more, however, I recommend using an orbital sander and 150-grit sandpaper to scuff up all your surfaces to get them nice and grippy. You can sand by hand as well - it just takes longer.

Once everything is sanded, wipe off all that dust.

Step 2: Prime

Now we’re getting closer to the real party - it’s time to prime! I guess you can consider this the appetizer. The pre-game, if you will.

I’ll say it ‘til I die - I hate oil-based primer. BUT, I always recommend using it when painting cabinets. As smelly and messy as it is, once it cures it holds up amazingly well. I like to use this kind by Zinsser.

I start by cutting in with an on-it’s-way-out brush wherever my roller won’t be able to reach. Then, I use a small foam roller to roll primer onto the rest of the surfaces.

Cabinet doors are the most tedious part because you have to wait for one side to dry before you can flip them over. To keep the doors off the ground, you can prop them up on these little mini cone stands.

If I ever have the foresight, I’ll have to grab some to try next time I paint cabinets. I’ve always resorted to using Solo cups, which also work well.

While I’m waiting for each side of my doors to dry, I simply store my brush and roller in Zip-loc bags so they don’t dry out. Once everything has one coat of primer, I just throw the brush and roller away instead of trying to clean off the primer with mineral spirits.

Step 3: Paint!

FINALLY, it’s time to party paint! The most important part of this step is using the right kind of paint.

I’ve found over the years that enamel-based paint holds up better than any other. I painted our kitchen cabinets TWO YEARS ago and although they’re abused daily by two little kids, the only damage they show is one tiny chip in one of the doors. So, naturally, I chose the same kind of paint for our laundry room. The color is Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige in satin.

Also, please enjoy my ever-impressive modeling skills in the still shot below. I’m practically Vanna White.

The process here is exactly the same as when you prime, except you’ll want to do two coats of paint on everything. Remember, two thin coats are WAY better than one thick gloppy coat.

To get a smoother finish, you can do a quick sanding with 220 grit between coats of paint too.

Step 4: Reinstall and Admire

And as they say, after the party is the afterparty. (Do they still say that? Did I just age myself?)

Once you’ve given everything ample time to dry (waiting a couple of days is a good idea!), you can reinstall your doors and drawers. Or, in my case, you can install the cabinet entirely since ours were brand spanking new.

Oh, and if you’re drilling for new hardware, these templates make that task a breeze.

I finished my cabinets off with these cute little knobs.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it: beautifully painted cabinets that will stand the test of time!

I’m really happy with how my cabinets turned out and I especially love the color. You can see how I decided on Kilim Beige in last week’s post.

Next up: actually installing these bad boys, switching out the door, and finishing the trim. I can’t wait to see this room come together! Don’t forget to follow along every week as I share my progress of the laundry room makeover for the One Room Challenge!

Don’t forget to check out the other weeks of my One Room Challenge progress:

How to Paint Cabinets That Last