Kitchen Cabinet Transformation - Rustoleum DIY

[couponvan]

We painted our kitchen cabinets on the lower part of the kitchen over the weekend.  The laminate on the bottom cabinets was peeling off and gross, and we had been thinking of getting all new cabinets.  I did rustoleum in our kids' bathroom about 5-6 months ago, and it's held up great.  I had two free days, so we decided to do the lowers in espresso and leave the uppers white.  After painting the island, we decided it would be too dark to paint all the cabinets espresso, so we bought the pure white for the lower cabinets.  The melamine peeled right off the fronts in about 10-15 minutes.  We didn't remove the melamine from the back of the doors because it was firmly attached and not peeling.  Here's our after photo.  Even though the directions said sanding wasn't required, I did some sanding because of the rough MDF cabinet fronts between the first and second coats.  The white cabinets took 3 coats on the MDF and 2 coats over the melamine.  The expresso only took 2 coats.

I didn't paint the white melamine (because I'm lazy) and we didn't even take off the doors....I used a detail paintbrush to paint around the hardware.  (Taking off the doors in the bathroom had proved to be a nightmare getting them back on.) Looking closely, you can tell a slight difference between the uppers and the lowers, but only if you know what  you are looking for.  I can have people over again without being embarrassed by my peeling MDF cabinets, and hopefully it buys us about 3-4 years before we do a full kitchen reno to sell our house and FIRE!  Total cost $125....Plus I have a TON of leftover rustoleum I might be able to sell on Craigslist or in my neighborhood.

Will edit to add pics.

[LifeHappens]

That's a great improvement! So, you can use this paint right over a laminate surface?

My 1986 kitchen is a lovely bisque color, with faux-wood grain formica counter tops. DH wants to tear the whole thing out, but the cabinets are actually quite good quality. I would rather save them if possible.

[couponvan]

That's a great improvement! So, you can use this paint right over a laminate surface?

My 1986 kitchen is a lovely bisque color, with faux-wood grain formica counter tops. DH wants to tear the whole thing out, but the cabinets are actually quite good quality. I would rather save them if possible.

Thanks!  Yes - you can paint right over the laminate. We did it in the bathroom and it has been fine. We waited the full 10 days before using it at all. I plan the same for the kitchen. We are washing dishes in the laundry room next door and doing more one pot meals so we don't need to do as much washing. It's a good paper plate excuse.

[LifeHappens]

Thanks! We will be discussing this in the near future.

[HipGnosis]

Rustoleum is a brand that makes many products.
Which product did you use?

[couponvan]

Rustoleum is a brand that makes many products.
Which product did you use?

We used the Rustoleum cabinet transformation kits in Espresso and Pure White (no decorative glazing was done).

Thanks! We will be discussing this in the near future.

You're welcome.  I love the helpfulness of the DIY forum group so I thought I'd share. :-)

[john6221]

Looks nice. The only downside is that now you have no melamine protecting that MDF. As long as you're careful it should be OK but you will definitely want to watch out for spills.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[couponvan]

Looks nice. The only downside is that now you have no melamine protecting that MDF. As long as you're careful it should be OK but you will definitely want to watch out for spills.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thanks - The Rustoleum has a protective top coat that is a clear coat which protects the MDF/wood.  The alternative was exposed MDF with no coating whatsoever as the melamine was peeled away from the top 1/2 of the cabinets and would have continued to peel.  We used it in our bathroom, and it has worked great so far in terms of spill cleanup.  We're not expecting this paint to last forever, but are hoping to get 3-4 more years out of these 20 year old cabinets. One bit item to note is this takes 7-10 days for the top coat to cure, so you have to stay out of the area for awhile.  We're currently washing dishes in the laundry room sink.

[Metric Mouse]

Looks nice. The only downside is that now you have no melamine protecting that MDF. As long as you're careful it should be OK but you will definitely want to watch out for spills.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thanks - The Rustoleum has a protective top coat that is a clear coat which protects the MDF/wood.  The alternative was exposed MDF with no coating whatsoever as the melamine was peeled away from the top 1/2 of the cabinets and would have continued to peel.  We used it in our bathroom, and it has worked great so far in terms of spill cleanup.  We're not expecting this paint to last forever, but are hoping to get 3-4 more years out of these 20 year old cabinets. One bit item to note is this takes 7-10 days for the top coat to cure, so you have to stay out of the area for awhile.  We're currently washing dishes in the laundry room sink.

Interesting. I have hand-me-down garage cabinets from a kitchen reno that need painting. I'll have to check out this product.

[slb59]

Nice! I've been wanting to do some painting on our kitchen cabinets, but I think mine might  be a bigger project.

The previous homeowners put the same kind of paint you would use on your walls over the original cabinets (which are wood but white in color). I know this because every time I clean them more paint peels off.

I'm going to have to sand that all off before I use a cabinet paint on it, right? I keep hearing great things about the rustoleum going over almost anything, but we've been paying for all the other shortcuts the previous homeowners took so it would make sense this one would cost us, too. Touching up the rough spots and painting is a weekend project, but sanding everything down properly <shudder> will take much longer. They are driving me nuts though, nothing worse than impossible-to-clean-perpetually-dirty white cabinetry. At least it matches the stained white laminate countertop...

[couponvan]

Nice! I've been wanting to do some painting on our kitchen cabinets, but I think mine might  be a bigger project.

The previous homeowners put the same kind of paint you would use on your walls over the original cabinets (which are wood but white in color). I know this because every time I clean them more paint peels off.

I'm going to have to sand that all off before I use a cabinet paint on it, right? I keep hearing great things about the rustoleum going over almost anything, but we've been paying for all the other shortcuts the previous homeowners took so it would make sense this one would cost us, too. Touching up the rough spots and painting is a weekend project, but sanding everything down properly <shudder> will take much longer. They are driving me nuts though, nothing worse than impossible-to-clean-perpetually-dirty white cabinetry. At least it matches the stained white laminate countertop...

I'm not sure whether you have to redo everything- if it's peeling I think you need to sand. If it is chipped, you may only need to sand those spots and paint. We opted to remove all peeling laminate from the front, but left the laminate on the door backs. It looks so much better than before.

[Quint]

Couponvan I used the same stuff to do our kitchen in 2014 and I skipped the decorative glaze step also.  Nearly 2.5 years later and it's still going strong so I think you'll be fine for 3-4 years if not more.

Oh and first post though I've been lurking for some time now.

[couponvan]

Couponvan I used the same stuff to do our kitchen in 2014 and I skipped the decorative glaze step also.  Nearly 2.5 years later and it's still going strong so I think you'll be fine for 3-4 years if not more.

Oh and first post though I've been lurking for some time now.

Welcome! Most of us lurked awhile before jumping in. :-)

Glad to hear yours is still going strong.

[AMandM]

The previous homeowners put the same kind of paint you would use on your walls over the original cabinets (which are wood but white in color). I know this because every time I clean them more paint peels off.

I'm going to have to sand that all off before I use a cabinet paint on it, right?

I'm afraid so.  It doesn't matter how well the Rustoleum sticks to the paint if the paint peels off the cabinetry.