How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets - DIY Network

[Music] kitchen cabinets take a lot of abuse and they can be expensive to replace but no worries i'm going to show you how to take your dated or worn cabinets and make them look new again with a coat of paint [Music] first you want to know that everything is structurally sound if they're not don't bother painting them if the doors are warped or splitting you may just be able to replace the doors and then paint everything else to match if the boxes look like they're in good shape it's important to know what material your cabinets are made of wood cabinets like these are easy to paint as long as you scuff up the surface but there are certain cabinet materials that aren't as easy to work with it's important that you have the right product for the job wood laminate and metal cabinets can usually be repainted pretty easily plastic laminate cabinets on the other hand can be hard to work with and require special paint most professional painters are going to use a paint sprayer when they're working on cabinets it covers a lot of cabinets in a short amount of time but these things work best with oil-based enamel paint and today we're going to be using latex we want to use latex because it's an easier cleanup and it's a shorter drying time so our best bet for an applicator for the latex is the foam roller these are great we've also got some little foam brushes that we're going to use now the last resort for applicator is going to be your good old brush the only problem with the brush is that you're going to have a lot of brush strokes it's hard to get a nice smooth finish so you're going to spend a lot of time in between coats sanding it down to try and get the look that you want best bet for today is baby [Music] now that you've sized up your job and cleaned out your cabinets it's time to get started start by removing the cabinet poles and then take off the doors and drawers along with the hinges if you plan to reuse the same hardware store the pieces inside plastic bags and place them inside the corresponding cabinets where they'll be easy to locate later this is where a little attention to detail makes your life a lot easier in the long run number each one of the doors and stick a piece of tape with that number on it on the back of the door and then also on the inside of the cabinet that way you know exactly where everything goes when you're all done number one [Music] the next step is probably the most important you're not going to get a good paint finish on your cabinets unless your cabinets are absolutely clean and in the kitchen these things are covered with grease food i don't know probably even some spaghetti sauce you want to make sure that stuff is all off of there you can use any cleaner that you want but the most important thing is you don't want to use a cleaner that leaves any residue on the surface now most people are going to use a tsp it's a trisodium phosphate it comes in a powdered form you mix it with water and you put it on the cabinet it takes off all of that grease we're using a pre-mixed form it's actually phosphate free and we're going to spray it on but keep in mind that any of these things that you're using can dull the finish on any shiny surface including glass aluminum so make sure you cover it up and if you get any drips on there that you rinse it off immediately now you're going to need to have gloves on and definitely some sassy glasses like mine [Music] spray the solution over the entire surface of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts let it sit for a few minutes then wipe it off with a clean towel there's a lot of gunk coming off here so you can see how much nicer your cabinets are going to look without that on them some cleansers may need to be rinsed off with water but ours just requires a good wipe down be sure to read the packaging of the cleaner you choose if you have a lot of gunk on your cabinets just like these did you might want to use like a six in one paint tool and get in there really gently in the corners and take all that excess out and you can see on this particular cabinet i'm getting a lot of stuff cover up countertops backsplash and appliances with a drop cloth and then hit the cabinet boxes with the same cleanser [Music] so now that we've got these cabinets all cleaned off we're ready to start sanding them and the idea is we just want to scuff the surface so it accepts paint easier i'm also taping off any areas on the interior that we don't want to paint so we have a nice clean finish [Music] so when it comes to sanding these tools are going to make easy work for you we've got a random orbital sander with a finer grit sandpaper on here 200 to 220. really what we're doing is just scuffing the surface you don't need to take all of the stain off or if you have painted cabinets you don't need to take all the paint off you just want to scuff it so that that new paint can adhere to something so this is going to be used for the flat surfaces here and here and then we're going to use the sanding sponge or soft sanding block with the same grit 200 to 220 for these edges any edges that are beveled where you need to get in there and work it the most important thing is you don't want to change the profile of your cabinet doors and you don't want to make any gouges [Music] so once you get all that sanding done you got to get rid of the dust before you start any painting so get your vacuum get all the dust gone and then go over it again with the tack cloth to make sure you have a nice smooth finish a small handheld vacuum or a wet dry vac works great especially when it comes to the cabinets themselves when it comes to the face fronts a pneumatic air compressor works really well especially if you're dealing with crevices or molding details [Music] when you finish prepping the cabinets take one final look if there's any areas with stubborn stains you can use denatured alcohol to remove that stain and also if you've got a material that you can't sand down like this paper veneer because you'd ruin the material you can use the denatured alcohol and a little bit of steel wool to take down that sheen [Music] so you've cleaned your cabinets you've sanded you are pretty much ready to paint but what you don't want to forget to do now is prime the primer is going to do three things for you number one it's going to help the paint adhere to the cabinet better number two it's going to give you a better finish with fewer coats of paint and it's going to prevent that wood grain from showing through and lastly these things take a beating you want your new paint job to last a really long time and that primer is going to help that happen i'm using a water-based primer which is going to be a perfect base for the semi-gloss water-based paint we're putting on next people used to say oil-based paints were the only way to go in a kitchen but today's water-based finishes are easier to work with and just as durable as their messier and smellier oil-based cousins plus they're a lot greener so if you're repainting cabinets that are already painted you can probably skip the primer unless you're changing color if you're going from a red to a white you'll probably want to prime it or if you've sanded it all the way down to bare natural wood you'll probably want to prime it as well if you're painting the cabinets a color ask to have your primer tinted the same color and don't forget to check for the drying time on the can of primer to let you know how long this needs to set up before you start painting typically if it's very humid or very cold it will take a little longer to dry [Music] so you've laid your groundwork the primer is finally dry and now you're ready to take it to the finish line start by painting the inside edges and openings of the face frames first then the outer cabinet sides and finally the face frame fronts this allows you to work quickly in the less critical areas and enables you to see and correct any drips or smudges on the most visible areas next you're painting any of your doors and your drawer fronts and any trim that you might have if these parts have raised or routed features be sure to flow the paint into crevices and corners but don't allow it to accumulate in these spots this color is going to totally brighten up the kitchen and get rid of that old nasty dated oak a foam brush works well to get into any creases it's best to start with the back of the door and once that's dry flip the door to paint the front this way the front of the door will be able to dry face up with no possibility of smudging the finish we're also using some risers we made from finished nails and scrap wood that allows us to flip the doors when they're still wet or tacky leaving nearly invisible marks no matter what applicator you're using brush roller or sprayer always apply paint in thin light coats but be sure to cover all areas [Music] drying time varies with your first coat but generally it should be dry in about four hours once you know it's completely dry you want to take a fine grit sandpaper and go over the top now you're not trying to take off any of your new paint you just want to make sure you have a great smooth surface for your final coat of paint so little spots like this one are what you're looking for they should come right off with the sandpaper [Music] be sure to wipe away all the dust with a tack cloth apply the second coat just like the first in a nice thin layer two coats of paint plus your primer should be enough but if you're not getting the finish that you're looking for don't hesitate to put on a third coat looks pretty nice eh total time for this job two days price tag just 100 and that's a lot cheaper than new cabinets [Music]

Channel: DIY Network

Views: 2,232,592

Keywords: painting, kitchens, cabinets, refinishing, amy matthews, ultimate how-tos, expert, tips, diy, DIY Network (TV Network), Kitchen Cabinet, Paint (Visual Art Medium), How-to (Website Category), Do It Yourself (Hobby), paint, tutorial, design, tricks, Interior Design (Industry)

Id: WtYrlVnVRVw

Length: 10min 25sec (625 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 07 2012