Painting Kitchen Cabinets (Step-by-Step Guide)

Remove Hardware

1/6

Remove the cabinet doors, drawers, and all cabinet hardware. (Do not kid yourself into believing you can achieve a professional result without doing this.)

Joe Provey

Apply Quality Primer

2/6

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets - Apply Primer

If your cabinets are stained, apply at least two coats of a quality primer. For me, there’s nothing better than BIN, Zinsser’s shellac-based pigmented primer. It dries fast and flat, without brush marks (unlike most oil-based primers).

Joe Provey

Sand Primed Surface

3/6

Lightly sand the primer coat, wipe with a tack cloth, and prepare for applying the finish coats. You’ll need a lot of dust-free space for this. A two-car garage is ideal. Several pairs of sawhorses (or old chairs) and a large drop cloth are helpful, too.

Joe Provey

Thinning Agent

4/6

Mix a thinning agent into an alkyd-based enamel paint according to the manufacturer’s directions. For this job, we used Benjamin Moore’s Impervo semi-gloss paint. Avoid using water-based paint unless you’re okay with visible brush strokes. For the thinner, I’ve have had excellent results with Penetrol.

Joe Provey

Painting

5/6

Paint the backs of the cabinet doors first. Do the fronts last; they’ll be less likely to be marred by drips. Apply paint with the grain (in the direction of the longest dimension).

Joe Provey

The Finished Cabinet

6/6

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets - Reinstall Hardware

Reinstall doors and drawers, with hinges and catches. Then proceed to install the new drawers, door pulls or knobs.

Joe Provey

Don't Miss!

If you have the money to hire a handyman for every household woe, go ahead. But if you want to hang on to your cash and exercise some self-sufficiency, check out these clever products that solve a million and one little problems around the house. Go now!