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.”)
It’s finally here. The day that we get to wake up and pad into a kitchen that used to look like this…
And see this…
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…
… 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.
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!).
- 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!).
- 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!).
- 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.
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.
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…
… for marking each door with a 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.
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.
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…
… 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).
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!).
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.
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.
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.
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!
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…
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.
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.
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:
Catherine M. says
Beautiful!! Did you guys buy a new tea kettle to match the new white decor? Or were you able to DIY the blue into white?
Congrats!
YoungHouseLove says
LOL. We’re not that hardcore – it was a new purchase. :)
-John
Harmony says
The change here is incredible! It truly doesn’t look like the same house. I am blown away, I know the change would be massive, but the before and after pictures give me chills. May I say I am in awe of your vision and hope you enjoy it once its all said and done. Just… wow.
Leilani says
It looks incredible! It has been so exciting to watch the progress and I can’t wait to see when the flooring goes in and the tile backsplash- c’mon work faster!! Kidding :). You are very inspirational!
Erin says
I was checking often to see this post! Looks so good you guys :) My husband and I have been slowly upgrading our house and kitchen bit by bit and I think because we’re between having kids that I want to tackle painting our cabinets this summer before we TTC again. I cannot tell you how helpful your step by step directions and product recs are going to help us. We may be able to come down to Portland for your home show visit too, so if we see you we’ll say hi! (and probably ask you a few questions on this very subject)
Kelly McK says
OMG John and Sherry this is INCREDIBLE!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let us into your lives for this process- what an incredible transformation!! Love it, love it, love it.
PS All your tips and tricks are so helpful, and easy to follow!
Elizabeth says
The post we’ve all been waiting for!!! The kitchen looks fantastic!
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama says
WOW, looks fabulous! One of our goals this year is to paint our kitchen cabinets. Thanks for the tutorial! You two are proof that a marriage can survive renovating!
Kath says
I LOVE WHITE!!
Kathy says
It’s amazing how bright it is–and you haven’t even put any new lighting in yet! You may have mentioned it before, but what style of lighting are you leaning towards?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re planning to do some can lights for general lighting, plus some pendants over the peninsula.
-John
Sarah says
I apologize if someone has already asked this, but where is the outlet for the vent over your stove? Does it terminate on an outer wall or in the attic? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hi Sarah, It goes up through the attic.
-John
statia says
You’re hysterical. The faux practice painting, while highly amusing, is probably the smartest tip. And also, I can’t even tell you my love for Benjamin Moore. I love that paint almost as much as my children. Though, I will say, that the Advance doesn’t really do all that well on laminate. Or I missed a step somewhere.
Tania says
Love! It looks beautiful and I love the citrus mixed with the white.
Robin says
It looks AMAZING! And yay for balance! You deserve it!
Kristie says
So I clicked on the source link for your drawer and door hardware. Is it wrong that I just want to sing “My knobs. My knobs. My lovely kitchen knobs” to the tune of Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps”?
Seriously though- your work is sheer awesomeness! xoxo
YoungHouseLove says
REMIX!
-John
mallory says
Just realized I have the same ugly knobs in my kitchen. ugh!! Now they are watching me!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- tell them we say hi!
xo,
s
Zoe says
looks great! well done.
Just wondering if you are going to change the flurescent lights? Every time I see the long shot of the kitchen my eye is drawn to those lights and I am really wondering if you have a nice new (or re-styled) plan for lighting comming up?
YoungHouseLove says
Yep, we’re planning to replace those guys with some can lights soon!
-John
Kacie says
It looks so great. What awesome progress! Nice job.
Kacie
http://www.acollectionofpassions.com/
Sandra says
How did you keep which door goes with which cab straight? Sorry if you already answered this question, I didn’t backread comments.
YoungHouseLove says
This fortunately wasn’t a challenge for us because all of our cabinets were so uniquely shaped that there was no mistaking what went where. But we did lay them out in the sunroom in a certain order to make it easier on us!
-John
becah says
love love love the cabinets! i’m about to embark on a similar (okay, the same) project and a quick jaunt over to amazon left me stymied about the wood filler. i think they’ve re-named it? or does home depot carry an elmer’s line that’s special? any clues if the carpenter’s filler is the same stuff (you know, since carpenters are professionals and all…)?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=elmer+wood+filler&x=0&y=0
anyway, amazing and inspiring! can’t wait to brighten up my kitchen!!
YoungHouseLove says
I think Home Depot just carries the stuff we mentioned so maybe get it there? We just got it a few weeks ago so they still sell it!
xo,
s
Rebecca of Beck's Chic Life says
It looks amazing!!! You must be so excited every time you walk into that space! All of that hard work, but now reward forever! Great way to bring in the New Year!
Kacey says
You all had me at hello. Your work is fantastic and I am constantly in awe of what you’re doing in your home. There’s no way that I would’ve looked at your original kitchen and seen the amazing possibilities that y’all did. Keep the inspiration/motivation coming!
Melissa says
Congrats you guys! Looks amazing and must feel great to have that huge part of the project behind you! At least you’ve done a lot of the prep for the other parts so it won’t be that bad. My hubs built our stove hood and we love it but the angles made it a bit challenging! Good luck!
Nicole says
What a transformation. Congrats, you two. And to think, the room isn’t even finished yet!
Marcie says
Hi Sherry and John,
First of all, congratulations on the amazing transformation! White cabinets are the bomb, right? I do have a question for you about your paint selection. I’m planning to paint kitchen cabinets too, and the salespeople at the local Benjamin Moore store tried to steer me toward their Satin Impervo line – they said that it has many of the qualities of oil paint (like self-leveling), but is a regular water-based enamel. So it’s highly recommended for cabinets. Did you consider that paint too? If so, what made you choose the Advance instead? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we heard great things about Impervo and you probably can’t go wrong with either! We just met two actual pro cabinet painters and they both said they used Advance so we went for it!
xo,
s
Steph Stimson says
Feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment FOREVER! lol And I don’t even live there! Looks awesome, love the slight off white/grey color with those “gawjus” white countertops. Cannot wait to see the rest of the reno’s appear on my screen!!!!
Jen says
you guys did a fantastic job! i hope you guys stay in this house a long time to enjoy it and clara can reap the benefits of her parents ?
congrats on the amazing transformation that looks seamless & flawless.
jen
http://www.fauxtreschic.blogspot.com
Joy Franks says
Fabulous! Gorgeous! Can’t wait to see the backsplash next!
Casey Cope says
I’ve been reading posts for several months but just recently started skimming comments (knowing I can get extra info there and I’m nosy). I just want to say it’s a testament to your character that you repeat yourself with patience, truly enjoy seeing work of other readers linked on their blogs, follow up on research from unsolicited advice, and respond kindly to criticism. I think there’s many reasons you have loyal following (creative ideas, clean code, consistent post times, etc), but I think a chief reason is you’re people we want to cheer for: sweet, likeable, and gracious. So simply put, thanks for being you.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw Casey, that is so sweet of you to say. Thanks so much!
xo,
s
Brandi says
It looks incredible!!
Caitlin says
I’m trying to decide between staining and painting my kitchen cabinets. I like the look of wood grain, but the light oak color doesn’t seem to mesh with the color scheme in my kitchen. On one hand painting would probably be easier (I’m thinking a light gray would be perfect), but I think I would prefer to have the cabinets stained gray.
Jennifer B. says
All those beautiful close-ups! What sexy cabinets! My oak cabinets are totes jeal of your cabinets’ new facelift! ;)
Jennifer B.
Jennifer B. says
P.S. I’m guessing $her-dog must be working on a crafty project. I don’t usually see John comment this much! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
We were taking turns between book manuscript editing. Not sure that counts as a craft project, unfortunately. :)
-John
melody says
Wow! That looks amazing. I am so impressed with the way you were able to reuse all of those old cabinets.
Stacey says
Looking at those before and after pics dare I say this is your most dramatic transformation to date? Well done – your kitchen is magnificent! And thank you for the breakdown – I will be revisiting these posts when I tackle the gross pine vanity in my bathroom. I have before and after pics of my laundry makeover (inspired by ‘Spin City’) and was wondering which would be the best way to get them to you? Facebook?
YoungHouseLove says
You got it! You can upload them to share on Facebook. Looking forward to spotting them over there soon!
-John
Joe Adelaide says
Just Fab you all must be so proud and pleased, cant wait to see the floors in and all the little warm delicate touches that are so much fun to add at the end.
Kaytie @ GardenKitchenHome says
Hooooray! Congrats, guys!
A couple thoughts:
1.) If this DIY blog thing doesn’t work out for you, you might have a career in cartoon faces. Loved the old cabinet hardware once there were faces to go with the googley eyes.
2.) Beautiful work!!!
3.) The cabinets look seamless from here in Philly.
4.) BEAUTIFUL WORK!!!
Jessica says
It looks fantastic, I love how you tried to re-use and re-purpose as much as the old kitchen as possible. Very eco-friendly :)
Johanna says
I really had to tilt my laptop screen to be able to see the join mark on the cabinet.
Definitely bookmarking this (and the future completed kitchen blog post) to show my sister-in-law. The house she is looking at buying has two dungeon rooms exactly like your kitchen.
Can’t wait to pull out the inside-out jammies and paint :D
Karla says
That is a million, no a billion times better!!! You must be so happy with it!!!
Jenn Ski says
I love that feeling… The…
I can’t believe we did this and it looks amazing feeling!
jen says
Way too lovely, Sherry! The cabinets and the walls are just sooooo amazing! I’m planning to redecorate our living room when I resigned form work, so wish me luck! :)
Julie says
THANK YOU! This is precisely my 1st project for the new year and I’ve been collecting tutorials/ ideas. Now I am scrapping all of those and am simply going to follow yours (right down to the color!).
Fran Short says
Looks great —-can’t wait for the penny tile. I love the light color floor —-hard to picture dark (just my 2 cents)
Allison says
I have to tell you that I absolutely love your blog!! You have inspired me to do some much needed work on my own house. I was slacking and making excuses because I’m pregnant and already have a 3 year old, just never thought I had time.
My husband and I have already started on our hideous basement.!!
Katie says
Thanks for the followup on the Rustoleum Transformations kits question. I also thought those kits seemed a little too good to be true with skipping sanding, etc. I think your “method” sounds pretty thorough and should hold up for years. It looks spectacular guys! And low VOC is a great plus with little kids around.
Magdalene says
Inspirational. Love your transformation of the kitchen. Now, I have all the right information to start our cabinets.
Congrats!! Bless you.
Anna says
Alleluia! The cabinets look fabulous! well done you two. Finishing the cabinets and a book manuscript in one week is a huge achievement! That champagne better be chillin’ ;)
tjack says
So I’ve been looking through your kitchen archives and saw y’alls old kitchen. Your old kitchen was so cute.
Then I started noticing the similarities between your old and new kitchens.
Steel appliances, white cabinets, open shelving, light countertops, dark floors…the color scheme is basically the same.
Actually the backsplash and stool chairs have to be the most different things in the space. I am really excited to see the backsplash go in.
So my question is, are you trying to recreate your old kitchen? Or maybe you weren’t even aware that so many things were so similar. Either way they both look good.
YoungHouseLove says
We definitely know we’re a lot of the same finishes because they’re what we like, and it felt silly to do something different just for different’s sake. Also, stainless appliances + white cabinets + light counters + dark floors are such a classic combination it just kinda fit. But we are excited for lots of the new things like layout (never had a peninsula before!), backsplash, open shelves (or last kitchen just had one glass fronted cabinet, but no true open shelves), and new materials (Corian counters and cork floors). So we’re definitely not trying to recreate our old kitchen, just borrow the things we loved most from it.
-John
Emma E says
I love the video. I want to paint my cabinets, this was the perfect help! Thanks. Your kitchen is looking better and better.
Leanne says
you guys need to invest in a spray gun and air compressor. I did this a couple of years ago. (my home was my grandparents, had that orangey-stain wood cabinets) and (With help from my dad) we primed and painted the cabinet doors. This process makes it flawless! Like painting a car. Just spray, dry and flip…. repeat. I had about 25+ cabinets to do, so this was a lifesaver! (i will admit the compressor is a little scarey to me, but i haven’t learned too much about it. I’m sure it isnt rocket science :))
Laura says
I love the new look!!! White kitchen lover here. You guys have incredible vision because there’s no way I would have bought that house with it’s dark depressing wood paneled kitchen.
Laura says
*its*