Tips for Painting Melamin (Laminate?) Kitchen Cabinets

[AJDZee]

Has anyone undertaken painting melamine cabinets?
I'm just looking to get my place looking a bit nicer for sale, but don't want to spend $1,300 when it "looks" simple when I look online.
Some sanding, a good quality primer and paint.

Any success or horror stories from DIY this? Any tips or advice?

Thanks.

[pbkmaine]

Two things if you want to produce a good result when painting laminate:
1) An oil-based primer like Zinsser. Follow the directions on the can scrupulously.
2) A clean room, or as close as you can get it. The room you paint in needs to be as free as humanly possible of dirt, grease, hair and lint.

[Greg]

Melamine isn't wood, it's a plastic film.  So don't go overboard with sanding.  You may want to treat it more like plastic, using primer and paint for plastic.  Any places where the film is cracked or torn, or otherwise worn through will be a problem.  Use non-water-based primer and paint to avoid swelling the particle board under the film.

[AJDZee]

thanks guys
Hopefully this turns out successful!

[cshaw]

Might consider using this: http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/transformations/cabinet-transformations-dark-kit

Pretty easy to find them.