How To Paint Cabinets The Right Way

So, I’ve shared that we wanted to redo our kitchen on a budget since we’re not planning on being here for too long, and painting our 90s style oak cabinets was at the top of my list! I had never painted cabinets before, so I enlisted the advice of a friend who has painted cabinets many times. I wanted them to LAST and not look painted or get chipped easily. I’m happy to report that after nearly three months there is NOT ONE chip on any cabinet and I have not been careful – ha!

PS. Head HERE to check out my DIY paint and Epoxy Marble Countertops – also in this kitchen!

So, I thought I’d share my knowledge since I LOVE, LOVE how they turned out! You can see the before and after below… I mean, painting the cabinets made the BIGGEST difference and for a low cost!

Before & After:

Okay, let’s get started! BUT first shout out to my lower cabinets – I AM OBSESSED with the color we chose, and it’s now a joke that I just want to paint everything that color, so I’m here to tell you that it’s ‘Ash Blonde’ by Behr!!

SUPPLIES:

Benjamin Moore Fresh Start Oil Primer
We used only one can for our entire kitchen and both bathrooms

Benjamin Moore Advance Interior Paint – Semi Gloss
I used Benjamin Moore Paint, but with Behr colors, you can just ask them to mix it for you.

Top Cabinets: Behr Palais White
Bottom Cabinets: Behr Ash Blonde

Tip for white cabinets:
If you are wanting white cabinets, and your walls are white you should paint your cabinets the same color as the wall – which is what we did with Palais White. We just used different types of paint, but the same color.

Shelf Brackets (For open shelving – we removed a cabinet)

Cabinet Door Pulls

Cabinet Drawer Pulls

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove your cabinet doors. Do a scuff sanding by hand with sandpaper or a sanding block. The take a damp cloth and wipe down the doors so that there is no dust left when you go to paint.
2. Paint one coat with primer. We used a roller to paint the flat areas and then a brush to get into the crevices. It takes about 6 hours to dry so definitely wait the full time. The flip your cabinet doors and prime the other side, then wait again to start on the actual paint.
3. We painted our upper cabinets a different color than our lowers, if you are doing this make sure to label them so that you don’t get them mixed up. We started with a brush to paint the crevices of the cabinet doors, then ended with a roller so that we had as little brush strokes as possible. We had to paint more coats than I anticipated, I think it was 3 or 4. There is also a long drying time between each coat before you can flip and paint the other side of the door. So, it is very time consuming, BUT worth it!
4. Repeat these steps with the actual cabinets that the doors go on in the kitchen. This was much less work than painting the doors!
5. Attach the finished and dried cabinet doors and add new hardware if you desire (I linked what we used in the supplies list).
6. Yay!! It’s done AND looks beautiful!! I cannot express how well these have held up – but make sure to use the products I linked and NEVER regular wall paint – that’s where you’ll get tacky and chipping doors.

It’s really a very simple process, but just time consuming due to the long drying times of the cabinet paint. For many days my dad and I would go out in the garage first thing in the morning and do a coat of paint on the cabinet doors – ha! Again, so worth it!

If you have any questions or do this project yourself PLEASE DM me @mikylacreates on Instagram, or you can follow me for more house projects! Yay! Talk to you soon!