Author Topic: Professional-looking painted cabinets?  (Read 8001 times)

Simple Abundant Living

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Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« on: August 24, 2013, 08:03:53 AM »
Has anyone done this?  I have a lovely home with a lot of beautiful woodwork, so I don't want to screw this up.  I'm just more of a white cabinet girl at heart, and now we've decided to make this house our home, I'd love it to have the look I like.

So latex or oil?  Brush or spray?  I would only attempt this if I could make it look professional, not DIY!!!  Thanks in advance for any advice!

kevin78

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2013, 04:12:48 PM »
As far as oil vs latex, not sure but I painted my grandmas' cabinets white about 5 years ago.  I don't remember what type of paint it was.  I'm thinking it was latex.  She had a friend who was a pro painter and he told her to put on several coats and sand in between each coat.

I think I must have used 10 sanding blocks.  I sanded the old paint lightly, put on a coat of paint, may have been primer, don't remember.  Let it dry.  Sand again.  Put on another coat.  Sand again.  Sand after every coat for however many coats you want.  It removes any brushstrokes that you may not want and makes the paint flat. When you rub your hand across it it is very smooth.  You would want a fine sanding block for the most part except for any heavy sanding that needs to be done initially.

I spent about 4-5 days doing this but it came out great.  Still looks good to this day. 

geekette

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2013, 04:17:27 PM »
These guys give good info - Young House Love

SexyTurtle

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2013, 06:40:23 PM »
I just painted all of my kitchen cabinets a few months ago. They were wood that was already painted, but it's still the same even if they have never been painted:

I used a 2in wide slanted paint brush on the narrower areas and a 4in. wide slanted paint brush on every other area. It's worth it to invest in a quality brush. There are plenty of DIY guides on how to properly paint with a brush and how to wash them properly.

I bought Sherwin Williams paint during their 30% and 40% off sales which they have pretty much every other week. If you join their free Preferred Customer group on their website you get an extra 10% off. They also have $10 off of $50 coupons on their website that you can print out and use in conjunction with the 30% off sale. I got the ProClassic Interior Acrylic Latex Enamel, Semi-Gloss (I don't like paint to reflect light as much as Gloss and High Gloss do) for the cabinets. It's thicker than normal paint so it's a little more work to get it painted on, but it settles and doesn't leave brush lines after it dries.

1. Remove all the cabinet hinges and door handles and lay all the doors on top of painter's canvas in a less used area of the house. Obviously it's going to take longer to get the doors done than the actual cabinets since you have to wait for them to dry before you can flip them.
2. Clean the cabinets & doors with water or soap and water.
3. Sand the cabinets & doors (this is so the paint clings better to the surface).
4. Clean the cabinets & doors again with water or soap and water.
5 Use painter's tape around the edges of the cabinets.
6. Paint a white primer on the cabinets & doors (optional, but I like being thorough)
7. Wait 4 hours minimum then put on your first layer of paint.
8. Wait 4 hours minimum then put on your second layer of paint (also potentially optional, but I think it makes the paint job last longer).
9. Carefully remove the tape from the edges of the walls.
10. Re-install your old hardware or install new hardware on your cabinets (I changed out all the handles and opted for semi-closing hinges over our previous loose hinges)

I don't know if I forgot any steps. I think that's about it.

SexyTurtle

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2013, 06:47:04 PM »
Another thing! If you paint the interior of the cabinets I suggest

a) Use a normal interior paint, such as SuperPaint Interior Acrylic Latex Paint (I used Satin, but you could do Flat or Eggshell). It's cheaper.

b) You would also want to put some cabinet liners in them because everything will stick to the paint otherwise. If the liners stick to the paint it's not a big deal since they should be there for a long time anyway.

Simple Abundant Living

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2013, 08:57:36 PM »
Has anyone used this?
http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/

I saw a this old house promo where they used it, but I wondered if they really recommended it, or if they were just selling it for a sponsor?!

And the kitchen looks great sexyturtle!  Thanks for the tips!

SexyTurtle

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2013, 07:36:56 AM »
I have never used Rust-Oleum, but if I had had unpainted cabinets I would have used it. There are a lot of really positive reviews on the net about it and I can't imagine it's much more difficult than painting on enamel paint. Seems like a great way to spruce up boring wood.

Simple Abundant Living

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2013, 02:56:12 PM »
I have never used Rust-Oleum, but if I had had unpainted cabinets I would have used it. There are a lot of really positive reviews on the net about it and I can't imagine it's much more difficult than painting on enamel paint. Seems like a great way to spruce up boring wood.

Yes, the reviews look good.  I'd love to hear how people feel about it 1-2 years after painting.

Abe

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2013, 03:31:42 PM »
I've used it on some wood trim several years ago and it looks nice still. No flaking or blistering.

notquitefrugal

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2013, 09:30:32 PM »
When I renovated my kitchen earlier this year, I recognized that I'm not good at painting and hired a pro to repaint the cabinets (they are inexpensive prefab cabinets with a factory finish which was showing wear, but were still structurally sound). They took the doors off and sprayed them, so those have an extremely smooth finish. They brushed the rest of the cabinets, and they look good as well. Kilz primer and two coats of an oil based Porter Paint. They've held up very well. I did not have the inside of the cabinets painted, only the outside.

Simple Abundant Living

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2013, 09:45:15 PM »
I've used it on some wood trim several years ago and it looks nice still. No flaking or blistering.
Thanks, that's good to hear!

Simple Abundant Living

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2013, 09:48:00 PM »
When I renovated my kitchen earlier this year, I recognized that I'm not good at painting and hired a pro to repaint the cabinets (they are inexpensive prefab cabinets with a factory finish which was showing wear, but were still structurally sound). They took the doors off and sprayed them, so those have an extremely smooth finish. They brushed the rest of the cabinets, and they look good as well. Kilz primer and two coats of an oil based Porter Paint. They've held up very well. I did not have the inside of the cabinets painted, only the outside.

That would be my dh's choice. He would like to hire someone to do it, both for quality and speed. We use our kitchen A LOT and it can't be out of commission for long!

notquitefrugal

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Re: Professional-looking painted cabinets?
« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2013, 06:35:34 AM »
That would be my dh's choice. He would like to hire someone to do it, both for quality and speed. We use our kitchen A LOT and it can't be out of commission for long!

It was around $1500 for (I'm guessing) 20 linear feet of cabinets, some of which have an exposed backside. And, they also repainted my front door, which I had attempted to paint myself several times and made a complete mess of. I didn't think it was a bad price for roughly three days of labor for two painters.