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How To Paint Your Cabinets (Hallelujah, They’re Done!)

Painting your kitchen cabinets is a perfect way to give a dated kitchen a fresh look, without splurging on a big overhaul. It doesn’t cost much and with the proper preparation, it’ll look great and last long. We’ve outlined each of the steps below, including a video recap of all of the steps that we used to updated our wood kitchen cabinets.

(Rolls up sleeves, looks into the mirror, smiles, fixes weird fly aways, and whispers “let’s do this.”)

how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets-proper-prep

It’s finally here. The day that we get to wake up and pad into a kitchen that used to look like this…

paint kitchen cabinets before wood kitchen

And see this…

paint kitchen cabinets after painted white

So here’s how we did it from soup to nuts. Wait, first let me gush a little more. Seriously, it doesn’t even feel like the same room. Scroll back up and picture yourself standing next to the fridge in the “before” shot. The cabinets felt about two feet away from you on all sides. I can’t explain it, but it was like the room didn’t respect my personal space and was always inching towards me. It was all up in my area. Now when I stand at the sink or pantry, I literally feel like I could perform a small musical number (with a minimum of six Glee backup dancers). It just feels so much roomier. Plus no weird cabinet knob-eyes are looking over my shoulder anymore. Bonus.

But let’s get back to the present. Ahh, much better.

Our big cabinet-painting victory hardly happened overnight. We’ve been slowly working up to this sucker for a while now. First we painted the paneling, the fireplace, and the beams. Then we rearranged our cabinets a bit, got new appliances and, oh yeah, got a big beautiful hole busted in the wall. Then some cabinets came in, others came down, and eventually new counters made their way to us. Finally, the painting project was upon us. So first came the primer…

paint kitchen cabinets primed

… and, at long last, the paint. Speaking of the paint, we used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Cloud Cover in a satin finish (it’s a soft tonal taupey-gray color, so it’s not quite as bright as our glacier white counters for a subtle layered look). Benjamin Moore Advance paint actually came recommended by a few pro cabinet painters that we know. We went with the satin finish because it’s specially formulated for cabinets (they actually came out with satin first and only added semi-gloss later to help folks who wanted more shine). We used it on our office cabinets a few months back (which still look great after Clara has beat on them relentlessly with wooden fruit) so it’s safe to say that we’ve been extremely happy with it. The fact that it’s low-VOC, self-leveling, and amazingly durable is pretty much the best thing ever.

paint kitchen cabinets white unfinished tile

Since a bunch of you have asked, here’s a rough timeline of the cabinet painting process (we just worked on nights after Clara went to bed and weekends during her naps, so it’s a good indication of what anyone with a day job might be able to follow):

  • Day 1: We removed the cabinet doors (including drawerfronts) and hardware (including hinges), applied wood filler to cracks and hardware holes, let everything dry for a few hours, lightly sanded the putty spots by hand, and refilled them with a second layer of wood filler wherever necessary. We did the same to the cabinet frames. Our wood filler of choice was Elmer’s ProBond Professional Strength Wood Filler.
  • Day 2: With the wood filler completely dry, we used a palm sander to smooth any putty spots and rough up all cabinet doors in the sealed off sunroom (it’s a dusty job). We then emptied out all the kitchen cabinets and covered appliances with drop cloths so we could also use the sander on our cabinet frames (roughing everything up = better adhesion). After everything was sanded, we wiped it down with a liquid deglosser (we like Next from Home Depot because it’s low-VOC and biodegradable). Read a lot more on the puttying, sanding, and deglossing steps of this process here (there are lots of pics too!).

paint kitchen cabinets prep materials

 

  • Day 3: Cabinet door backs and cabinet frames were primed (we love Zinsser Smart Prime which is high-quality, stain-blocking, and low-VOC – the primer trifecta). We applied it with a high quality 2″ angled brush to get into all the cracks and a small foam roller to smooth everything out and ensure that we were applying super thin and even coats (there’s a video of the application process a bit further down in this post)
  • Day 4: We flipped the cabinet doors over and primed the fronts, leaving them to dry another 24 hours, just like the backs. Read more about the priming steps of this process here (there are extra pics too!).

paint kitchen cabinets priming

  • Day 5: With the primer all done and dry (be sure to read the can – ours said not to over-prime, so one coat did the trick), during Clara’s nap we flipped the cabinet doors over again and painted one coat of paint on the backs (we used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Cloud Cover). We applied it with a high quality 2″ angled brush to get into all the cracks and a small foam roller to smooth everything out and ensure that we were applying super thin and even coats (there’s a video of the application process a bit further down in this post). Clara woke up before we could paint the frames, so after she went to bed that night we put a first coat on the cabinet frames.
  • Day 6: We applied a second coat of paint on the back of the cabinet doors and the frames after Clara went to bed. As for applying any sealer or topcoat, the general pro recommendation for cabinet painting is to use high quality stain blocking primer and 2-3 thin and even coats of super high quality paint with ample drying time between coats (Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint is meant for cabinets without any top coat, since sealers can drip, yellow, and even cause things to stick/crack since they thicken the application).
  • Day 7: We gave the doors a full day to dry before flipping them over and applying a first coat to the fronts (the reason we did the backs first was that just in case the backs got marked up while we painted the front, at least the front would remain pristine). The day of drying time did the trick though, so the backs look as good as the fronts.
  • Days 8 & 9: We applied the first and second coat of paint to the front of the doors over these two days. Read a lot more on the puttying, sanding, and deglossing steps of this process here (there are lots of pics too!).

paint kitchen cabinets foam roller

  • Days 10 – 13: We let the doors dry and cure for the recommended time on the can (always read the can!).
  • Day 14: We drilled for and installed the hardware on all of the doors (more on that in a sec). We also hung the doors but ran out of time before getting to the drawer fronts.
  • Day 15: We installed hardware on the drawer fronts, put the drawers back in, and restocked the kitchen. A droopy but spirited happy dance also ensued.

paint kitchen cabinets closer after

All that info above (and those three bolded links to the previous posts on puttying/sanding/deglossing, priming, & painting) should be enough to get you going on any cabinet-painting project – but just because I always think a video is worth a thousand pics, here’s a quick one that runs through the process for you. Although at some points I’m so delirious that I make up words (putty brush?) and refer to primer as paint about a dozen times. But it definitely can be helpful to see exactly how to putty a hardware hole or how to prime and paint a cabinet door. Enjoy!

As for the hardware installation details that we promised in our timeline above, we bought these handy Liberty Hardware guides at Home Depot for $7 to help us place everything evenly (centered side to side, and consistently at the same height so all the doors match up). Let’s call it the best seven beans we’ve ever spent (it’s incredibly nerve-wracking to drill through your freshly painted cabinet doors, to say the least – so any tool to make it more of a science is a friend of mine). My only tip is to double check everything ten times before drilling. And see those white blobs on the template on the left? Those are small pieces of masking tape that we used to surround “the good holes” (the ones we were using) so we didn’t accidentally drill into the one to the left or the right.

paint kitchen cabinets attach hardware with guide template

We also realized that using a small piece of scrap wood would shift all of the handles a smidge closer to the edge of the door, which we realized we liked best (after holding the handle in various places on the template). So we used this scrap wood piece…

paint kitchen cabinets hardware installation template

… for marking each door with a pencil…

paint kitchen cabinets mark hardware placement with pencil

Then John drilled a small pilot hole first (to make sure he was going straight into our marked dot and ensure the wood wouldn’t crack or splinter). Then we went back through with a larger drill bit that would allow the screw that was provided with our hardware to slide right on through.

paint kitchen cabinets drill hole for hardware

By some miracle, everything ended up looking nice and even. Whew. You know how sometimes when you reuse something (ex: our oak cabinets from the early 80’s) you think it’ll somehow be wonky or look cheap after something like a paint job? I’m happy to report that they look so solid and amazing. We had completely new cabinets in our first house’s kitchen (to the tune of 7K – ouch!) and we’re just as happy with these. I guess sometimes solid oak from 30 years ago is just as good as solid oak from today. Haha.

paint kitchen cabinets white with nickel hardware

Oh and our new hardware is from here for $3.24 per handle. We love the way the satin nickel looks with our stainless appliances (and we think the soft gray backsplash will only add to the fun. We got all the same hardware for every door and drawer, but just placed them horizontally on drawers and vertically on doors. Speaking of money, here’s our entire budget breakdown:

  • Wood filler (Elmer’s ProBond Professional Strength Wood Filler from Home Depot): $7
  • Primer (we used Zinsser’s Smart Prime from a local Benjamin Moore store: $22
  • Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint (in Cloud Cover in a satin finish): $40 (thanks to a coupon)
  • All new hardware (see that link above): $84
  • All new hinges (from a local hardware store here called Pleasant’s): $89
  • Hardware templates (by Liberty Hardware from Home Depot): $7
  • Total cabinet makeover total: $249

Not bad when you compare that to the 7K total of the new white cabs that we selected for our first house’s much smaller kitchen. Le yikes. And we love that we added an entire peninsula with secondhand cabinets for under $95 (one of them was even free) – which is definitely one of those DIY coups that makes ya proud. All that storage and extra workspace is already coming in handy.

Anyway, to get back the whole putting-the-room-back-together thing, after we added the hardware, we just needed to reattach the hinges…

paint kitchen cabinets attached doors back on

… and enjoy the view (don’t mind the clashy dishwasher- we’ll install our stainless one after we lay the cork floors so they’ll run underneath it).

paint kitchen cabinets benjamin moore cloud cover

I’ve totally been doing that thing where you spend way more time in a room than necessary, just staring at things. I keep gravitating towards the kitchen (ex: Clara, let’s go read this book on the floor next to the refrigerator!).

paint kitchen cabinets old appliances

Oh and here’s a shot of how things look with the natural oak color inside the cabinets while the doors and fronts are painted. We don’t mind the two tone look at all, and this way we can toss things in there and pull them out without worrying about scratching or peeling paint (we did the same thing in our first kitchen and in our office built-in cabinets, and they really hold up nicely). Our tip would be to just keep a nice clean line around the frames when you prime/paint them (using a small foam roller sort of does that for you). That way it looks intentionally two-toned and not crazy-sloppy when you open the door. And yes, that is a slide out cutting board. Our cabinets may be old, but they still have their tricks. Haha.

paint kitchen cabinets interiors unpainted

For those who can’t watch the video above to see my shot of the painted cabinets up close, the picture below might shed a little light on the whole oak-grain thing. Using high quality primer and good self-leveling paint helps hide a lot although it doesn’t guarantee 100% invisible grain (we don’t see any evidence of grain on the oak cabinets in the office but do see a hint of it on the kitchen cabinets, so it probably just depends how much grain your cabinets have to begin with). We don’t mind painted wood that looks like painted wood though, so a little grain is ok with us, as long as the paint is nice and even and glossy.

paint kitchen cabinets hardware detail smooth finish

Words can’t express how much additional function/workspace our little peninsula added to the kitchen. It’s amazing to think that none of these cabinets were here before our makeover! And the fact that we gained a 3 x 5′ counter on that peninsula already makes eating/baking/spreading out and doing crafts there a regular occurrence.

paint kitchen cabinets peninsula

We mentioned in this post that two of the retrofitted cabinets were 100% seamless, and it’s these babies in the corner. We don’t think Sherlock Holmes himself could tell, even with his nose an inch away from them. Hurrah!

paint kitchen cabinets corner cabinet

As I mentioned here, the three other retrofitted doors are tad less than perfect. By this I mean if you look at them from an inch away for five minutes (bobbing your head back and forth to catch the light bouncing off of them) two out of ten people might notice a tiny seam. The cabinet hanging above the cereal jars in the photo below is one of them. See how it’s almost impossible to pick up from far away…

paint kitchen cabinets tall pantry cabinet

But when you get super close and the light hits it just the right way you might be able to catch a super subtle horizontal line? In person it’s so unnoticeable that we can’t decide if it’s worth doing anything about, but we’ll keep you posted if we decide to sand them one more time and use some sort of buildable primer and a few more coats of paint to hopefully make them as perfect as the two corner cabinet doors are.

paint kitchen cabinets wall cabinet

I don’t know why I love this shot but I do. John’s totally my hero for figuring out how to build in the fridge like that. Mah man.

paint kitchen cabinet refrigerator built in

 

Oh my gosh, can you even believe that room looked like this last December when we moved in? In case you can’t tell, it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around that.

The doorway to the dining room definitely helps bring the light in – and the glossier cabinets and bright white counters definitely brighten things up too.

Here’s the other side of Dark City:

And the same view now that I’m the Mayor of BrightVille!

Of course there’s still tons to do, like…

  • hang our backsplash tile
  • add floating shelves & a range hood
  • redo all the lighting (two pendant lights over the peninsula + inset lights in the cooking area)
  • install our mocha cork floors (can’t wait to balance out the brightness with some rich contrast!)
  • install the new dishwasher
  • add quarter-round and crown molding
  • possibly tweak our stools (we’re waiting for the room to take shape a bit more)

…but it’s definitely progress. Hooray, progress. So who’s about to embark on a cabinet painting adventure of their very own? I hope this post full of details (and especially that little video we whipped up) come in handy! Have fun and don’t forget to make up words (might I recommend putty brush?).

Update: Our painted cabinets are still holding up great. Check out a little update post here.

Psst – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button: 

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Comments

  5. WOW! I’m a bit speechless right now….I was going to say the wind was knocked out of me but that’s not fun nor a good thing so I’m at a loss for words! So gorgeous! Going from the before to the after was insane! Sorry I don’t have anything better to say….just know it’s AH-MAZING!

    <3

    Reply

  6. Wow! It looks amazing. I really want to redo a kitchen now! The only thing I’ve ever painted are a few crates and that was with spray paint! Love it though!

    ~Katy

    Reply

  9. Holy cow it’s bright in there. You’re going to have to start wearing sunglasses at night. Ha, song reference. Love the new hardware, too!

    Earlier this month, we finally finished our cabinets and installed the drawer fronts of our completely DIY cabinets: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/i-like-big-drawers-and-i-cannot-lie-2/ We spent $844.70 for everything to make our cabinets. That saved us about $6500! Definitely waaaaay more work than store bought, but so worth it!

    Reply

  10. So pretty! I’ve been begging my husband to let me paint our kitchen cabinets. He says no so far because he thinks I’ll quit halfway and he’ll have to finish (which is true..but still.)

    I’m going to show him your pictures though..see if he changes his mind (spoiler alert: he won’t.)

    Reply

  11. Woo to the hoo! It looks totally fab and brand spanking new!

    Do you think you’ll go for lighting under the penisula? It looks a tad dark right now but I don’t know if all the new lighting you have planned (or newly upholstered stools) will do the trick?

    Reply

  18. Wow, just wow. You guys did an awesome job!!!! I’m generally not one to want white cabinets, but this is making me itch to grab that paint brush for my own kitchen cabinets!

    Reply

  20. It looks AMMAZZINGG!
    I really can’t wait to see what it will look like with the cork floor installed. I’m hoping it looks awesome with those stools so you don’t have to do a thing to them, because I love them just the way they are. :)

    Reply

  21. hahaha…when i got to the picture close-up of the retrofit cabinet door with the subtle seam, i was like “geez, that’s not subtle at all–that’s HUGE!!” then I realized there was a big old horizontal line of dirt on my laptop screen from my silicone keyboard cover. whoops!

    looks absolutely incredible! wish I could do the same–unfortch my house came with those thermofoil ones :(

    Reply

  22. I can’t wait for the floors and back splash to go in because I think that will make the change in the cabinets even more dramatic, but for now this is am-az-ing.

    I love the photo of the fridge too.

    How did you choose the hardware? I like chunkier handles, but those look good. I was just wondering how the process of elimination went…

    Reply

    • John and I went to a cool local place with tooooons of hardware options and poked around. We both loved these when we saw them but were bummed that they were special order (would take 3-4 weeks) and were a bit pricy (we hoped to stay under $4 a pop). We were so happy to find them online for less (and available right away!). A site like myknobs.com has about a million options so maybe just browse around and see what you like? My process is always just see what I like best and hope John agrees!

      xo,
      s

  23. Looks amazing. I love the before and after looking over the new peninsula and into the gallery hall. Probably because that side is more finished than the other view. It just has…. …. LIFE now. Night and day. Night AND day.

    And about your little announcement. You’ll be missed on Babycenter for sure, but that just means I’ll have to hang out right here more. I applaud you in your balancing quest. :D

    Reply

  24. oh my goodness! from a dungeon to blinding, bright light! wonderful! and the retrofitted cabinets are pure genius. Now, when are you coming to my place to do MY cabinets?

    Reply

  26. This looks amazing! I can’t believe how quickly the kitchen has changed (although it’s probably felt like an enternity for you guys)! I am even more excited to paint our kitchen cabinets this summer now – thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  28. Love the progress! Not sure if this is up for debate, but I would love to see the beams back in a wood tone. Maybe to help round out the floors. In their current white state they sorta resemble soffits. Otherwise, I’m loving all the choices, especially that hardware!

    Reply

    • Since the beams are gray in the adjoined living room and run the other way, we decided that in person it would look weird to accent them because when you look through the dining room to see both rooms it’ll be this crazy criss-cross beam thing that competes- so that’s why we’re happy to let them fall back in the kitchen and be the stars in the living room! Hope that makes sense!

      xo,
      s

    • I was going to ask you if you had considered making the beams grey like the livingroom. Your explanation makes total sense. Looks awesome!!

  32. Things are looking great! You have my sympathies with painting the cabinets, that’s for absolute sure! Whenever I think about painting cabinet doors again I always let my mind wander to buying an inexpensive sprayer that can hook up to our compressor. But it looks like you sure achieved a smooth finish using the brush/roller. Well done!

    It looks great and all feels wonderful when it’s done, but you still have my sympathies for the effort I’m sure you exerted mid project ;-)

    Reply

    • Aw thanks Alex! I may have had a mild breakdown once or twice! I think the whole Christmas/guests coming/book manuscript due/trying to make a play kitchen thing got me in a tizzy!

      xo,
      s

  34. So I am doing a similar job in my house right now, except I’m using oil paint. We didn’t have the ability to paint the cabinet boxes because they are laminate, so we bought new doors only and matched the laminate color (BM’s Manchester Tan).

    Any suggestions or tips for oil painting? Or does anyone have any awesome links? I know that you must use natural brushes, no rollers, and the priming process is a little different (more sanding, as in, between every coat, and using tact cloths). I say “I know” like I am some sore of expert which I am obviously not so any ideas are super.

    Oh I wish that video came out sooner and then maybe I wouldn’t have been sooo set on getting oil paint. Using the Advance paint seems to cut out many of the steps I have to take. I even had to drive out of state to get my paint! I live in Indiana, and only Kentucky (good ol’ Kentucky) continues to sell oil paints.

    Reply

    • I love oil based paint and only use latex on walls. I would make sure you use a brush and NOT a roller. You’ll put on a thin coat of primer, but pretty thick (compared to latex) coats of oil after that. You’ll want to wait 24 hours between coats, and you’ll want to make sure you sand with steel wool between coats as well. I would do a coat of primer, and then two coats of the finish. Sanding between the coat of primer and again before the final coat.

      The clean up can be a pain, but I buy a good brush, and make sure it sits in a jelly jar of new turpentine between coats. Then I’m lazy and chuck the brush when I’m done.

      It will look AWESOME. I really believe it holds up like no other, and you’ll never have brush strokes because it is naturally self levelling. Good luck!

    • Naturally self leveling! That is exactly what I needed to hear! I was so worried about brush strokes, thanks!

  35. Looks lovely! I can see the faint thin line on the cabinet, but that’s probably because I have a well trained eye… Don’t change anything!

    Reply

  36. You have both done an amazing job. I would be curious to see the back of the extreme retro-fitted doors. The ones you cut into fourths? I was wondering how those would work out. Also, are you planning on keeping the ceiling fan in the kitchen?

    Reply

    • Ironically the backs of all the retrofitted doors look seamless! Haha. Filling those pocket holes was simple and since they don’t have the bevel detail like the front the seams are just invisible now that we primed and painted! Will have to shoot some more pics for a future post soon! As for the fan- it’s gone! We’re doing a whole new lighting plan and can’t wait!

      xo,
      s

  40. whoa!!! it looks awesome! when i squint, i can picture your dark cork floors in the space and that looks awesome too! :)
    i’m excited for you guys!
    do you have a schedule for when the backsplash, shelves, and floor will be accomplished? because, you know, you’re doing this renovation for our enjoyment and not for your own purposes! :)

    Reply

    • Haha, we hope to be there putting in the finishing touches within 6-8 weeks, but since we’ve never laid penny tile or built a range hood or laid cork it’s all sort of a wild card!

      xo,
      s

  41. Those door (and drawer) handles make me smile so much. I keep scrolling back to look at them!

    If we ever get around to replacing ours (we have those horrible little knobs everywhere) it might be for some just like that.

    Reply

  42. can’t stop looking at the before and after pics! seriously amazing!! it’s crazy how much bigger the kitchen looks now. great job!

    Reply

  43. your kitchen looks fantastic!!! Can’t wait to see it all completed!

    P.S. you keep saying you painted your first kitchen’s cabinets but then you said you got all new white ones at Home Depot….so then, what did you paint??

    Reply

    • We painted the original cabinets since we had to live with them for a year or so before any reno (they were crazy knotty pine, so they had to change right away!). Then after our wedding and some getting-settled we planned the new kitchen (which meant closing off a door, a completely new layout, etc) so we sprung for new cabinets since we couldn’t use the existing ones from the 50’s (the uppers were so shallow our regular plates didn’t fit in them).

      xo,
      s

  44. Did you guy buy a frigidaire gallery fridge? We are in the market to buy one but i was curious if the model you have shows a lot of fingerprints.

    Reply

    • We got the one with whatever their fingerprint technology is (it’s not “stainless look” – it’s real stainless, but it’s coated with some sort of poly that blocks fingerprints). Even with a sticky fingered toddler I never have to wipe down the fridge. It’s sort of miraculous actually because our old Frigidaire showed so many prints!

      xo,
      s

  46. WOWWWW! I’ve been checking every day to see the progress, but I must admit that this is the most exciting post for me so far. Probably for you guys too, eh? =D Congrats on a shiny new kitchen!

    Reply

  48. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off of the floor. Amazing. I can’t even think of anything else to say—other than I love your peninsula more and more time I see it. I want one!

    Reply

  49. You guys are amazing. Our kitchen reno is at least 2 years away. Right now I am just trying to think what to do with our 9 X 12, paneled, foam tile ceiling, only 2 awning window, master bedroom lol

    Reply

  50. Bookmarked! This will come in quite handy for me when the time comes to refinish our cabinets. It looks stunning! Your hard work has certainly paid off. Congrats! I can’t wait to see it with the tile installed!
    -Diana

    Reply

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