How to Paint your Kitchen Cabinets Like a Pro: Step-by-Step Instructions Nov 27, 2023

Have you considered painting your cabinets? Or are you in the market for a professional cabinet painting company to do the work for you? Either way it is very important to do your research before moving forward whether it be researching DIY or on which company to hire to do the job for you.Refinishing kitchen cabinets is an art form that takes years and years to master! It can be a very tedious and daunting task. With that being said, it is very important to do it properly because mistakes can be very costly. If you do not refinish your cabinets properly, you may end up having to call a professional to fix them (which will cost more than having them do it from the beginning) or having to replace them entirely. Both of which can end up being a very costly mistake. That is where this article comes in handy. To help the diyer’s and homeowners looking to save some money and transform their kitchen space.If you follow these steps precisely you may find yourself with a very rewarding outcome. I will explain our process and also go over the tools and products that our company uses.Step 1: Label and Remove hardwareIt is important to label each door, drawer, and the boxes that the doors and drawers go to. This will save a lot of time and confusion throughout the process. For example, we start left to right so the first upper cabinet door from the left can be labeled T1 as well as the box it belongs in. Lower cabinets are labeled B1 and so forth. D1 and on for the drawers. You will also want to label each hinge for each door so they all go back in the same exact spot. We use blue painters tape and a black sharpie. Once everything is properly labeled, it is time to remove the doors and drawer fronts. We stage our cabinet doors and drawers in our shop on drying racks. You can use bakers racks or even DIY some drying racks.Step 2: CleanWhen I say clean the cabinets, I mean CLEAN the cabinets. You want to remove all residue including hand oils and hard to see grease. We use Krud Kutter and warm water. Once everything is cleaned, we reclean with a chemical called Naptha. Make sure to wear gloves during this process.Step 3: SandOnce the cabinets are dry, it is time to sand them. This is a very tedious step as you do not want to oversand or not sand enough. We use a Surfprep sander that has squishy sanding pads which contour to the surface. Make sure that you use a fine grit such as 220. This can be a messy step so make sure you are using plastic drops to protect your countertops and floors. Our company hooks our sander to a Festool dust extractor which eliminates dust particles from the process.Step 4: Clean AgainAfter the sanding process, there will be a lot of fine dust everywhere. My process is to take each door outside and blow it off with some type of blower. I use a battery powered small leaf blower. After all the dust has been blown off its time to repeat step 2 and clean them again very thoroughly.Step 5: PrimePriming is a must. I recommend having your primer tinted as close to the topcoat as possible and using a good primer. Rule of thumb about priming, your topcoat will only be as durable as your primer. With that being said, you can not skip this step and it is extremely important to use a proper product for the surface you are priming. I use Renner Wood Coatings 083 1k blocking primer. This product has incredible adhesion and stain blocking properties. Make sure that you prime both sides with very light coats. We use a Graco 595 Air Assisted Airless sprayer to achieve an incredibly fine finish. If you do not have a sprayer, you can brush as roll them as long as you are using a foam roller. DO NOT use a wall nap to paint your cabinets or the finish will look terrible. Depending on your color, this may take 2 full coats.Step 6: Sand and clean AGAINOnce your prime coat is dry on both sides, you want to sand again using a fine grit such as 220 or 240. This process should be a very light sand to remove any particulates and scuff the primer for better topcoat adhesion. Do not oversand and take the primer down to a bare surface. After everything is sanded, you will now have to clean them again to remove any and all debris from the cabinets.Step 7: TopcoatNow you are finally ready to apply your topcoat. We use Renner C005 1K topcoat. Spraying is always preferred but not always possible, especially for a DIY’er. Always paint the back side first and always plan on 2 coats. More lighter coats are better than 1 thick coat as applying these products to thick can cause major issues and destroy the finished product. Which is the last thing you want after putting all that work into it.Step 8: FinishNow you want to make sure that you have allowed plenty of dry time before you start hanging your cabinets back up. Renner takes less than 24 hours to dry completely. Take into consideration the humidity and temperatures where your cabinets are drying because this plays a major role in dry time. Some products can take up to 2 weeks to fully dry and over 30 days to cure. That is why it is important to not cheap out on the product you use. That and durability. Now you want each hinge to go back on each door in the same exact spot and the doors and drawers to be rehung in all the same spots. Finally, you can put your hardware back on as well as a clear bumper on the back of each piece so that it does not damage the finish when you close your doors and drawers.After reading this tutorial do you still want to paint your own cabinets? Are you confident enough to take on this task and do you have the time? If you are hesitant at all, please consider consulting with a professional cabinet refinisher. Not just any painter, but someone that has mastered the art of cabinet refinishing. Feel free to reach out to Hearts and Hands Painting and Restoration for a free consultation!