Paint your kitchen cabinets. Quick and easy!

Have you painted your kitchen cabinets? If not, do you want to? If so, why haven’t you? It’s not a difficult process, although it can be time-consuming. I painted our cabinets about 9 years ago and they have held up really, really well! And, it only took a day to do the project! (That would not be the case this time, though…..)

Recently, I have fallen in love with a new paint color – teal – so I thought it was a good time to change it up in the kitchen! I started using teal as an accent color outside to warm up our light grey house because I prefer warmer colors. I had used burgundy which helped a little but I wanted something ‘warmer’; that’s when I found teal! I used it outside in several areas on several pieces and just loved the pop of color! I’ll link those projects below this post.

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Newest teal color

I used two different shades of teal on our outside pieces and thought I’d use one of those for the cabinets but I had run out of both of the paint colors. Instead of driving into town to get more at Lowes, I thought I’d check out the local hardware stores to see what they offered. That’s when I found my new favorite teal color! It’s a nice, warm teal and I’m in love! It is very similar to the color on the deck but just a little warmer.

The hardware store didn’t sell Valspar, which is what I used before. They had their own brand and Pratt & Lambert. I hadn’t tried either before but decided to go with the name brand. What I discovered with this brand of paint, Pratt & Lambert, is that I needed to have a wet leading edge when painting as it dried quickly.

The first project with the new color

Before investing in a gallon, I bought a sample of the teal. The sample was quart size. Before painting the kitchen cabinets, I used my new color on an antique hoosier. Now, before you freak out that I painted an antique, this is the 3rd time I’ve done so. What?? Why?! Well, 30 years ago when we bought the hoosier at an antique/junk shop, it had water damage at the bottom and the veneer was badly warped. Painting it was the option I chose to use at the time.

I did, though, leave the doors and drawers wood since they were in great shape. I simply applied a little stain and polyurethane after some sanding and loved how they looked with the painted base.You can read all about that transformation here.

Now onto the kitchen cabinet project…..

Original cabinet color

When we moved into the house, all the trim and wood were a light oak color. While I like light oak, it just didn’t look good with the warmer colors in my decor, paint, or the countertop in the kitchen. Over the years, I have been removing traces of the light oak. I have either painted, stained, or replaced it. The only light oak left in the house is in the room that hubby uses as a home office. I’d like to change it but he says it’s a reminder of what we started with; so, for now, it remains 🙂

Starting the cabinet project-taping

The sample quart of paint was 1/2 gone after painting the hoosier so I headed to the hardware store to buy a gallon. The salesman asked what I was painting and when I told him kitchen cabinets, he suggested I buy gloss. I don’t like gloss paint and asked for eggshell instead. He raised his brow but mixed the paint in eggshell. I know this is a risky choice for the kitchen but I took it anyway – time will tell if I made a bad decision.

I started painting the lower cabinets & removed the doors & drawers as I went along. I have become pretty good with a 1 1/2″ angled paintbrush and usually paint without using painter’s tape. For this project, though, I decided to use tape. I taped along the baseboards, along the top of the wooden backsplash, and along the ceiling. Once everything was taped, I used a wet microfiber cloth and wiped down all the surfaces. This time, I did not sand before painting.

Painting the lower cabinets

I did find that once the taping was done, the painting went a lot faster than when I paint without tape. Using both a small a regular-sized painting pad, I applied two coats of paint (I went back later and applied a 3rd coat on several areas), allowing the first coat to dry & cure for a couple of days while I worked on the doors & drawers, before applying the 2nd coat. While painting the lower cabinets, I also painted along the edge of the counter since that is also wood.

Painting the upper cabinets

Several years after I painted the cabinets, I built a soffit. That’s one of the reasons this painting job took longer than the first – more area to paint. The flat surface of the soffit is 1/8″ plywood and I felt that it needed 3 coats of paint. To paint the trim along the ceiling, I used a 1 1/2″ angled brush. To paint the rest of the soffit, I used a 2 1/2″ angled brush, and a small artist brush around the wood filigree accents. The face of the cabinets was painted with a small painting pad & the cabinet sides with a regular-sized painting pad.

Painting the backsplash

I don’t know if the wood that runs along the top of the counter can actually be called a backsplash but that’s what I call it 🙂 I also applied 3 coats of paint to it using a painting pad on the flat surface & a small angled brush along the top.

Stripping the doors & drawers

This is the part of the project that took the most time. There are 15 cabinet doors and 7 drawer fronts. The first time I painted the kitchen cabinets, I painted the inset part of the doors & front of the drawers but left the wood that framed the doors/drawers the light oak. I then applied lacquer over both the paint and the wood. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to strip the lacquer! Since it was March and still cold outside, I was working on these pieces in the family room. Because I was working inside, I didn’t want to use a harsh stripper so I used Citristrip. In order to remove all the lacquer from the doors & drawers, it took 3 applications of the stripper, each sitting overnight. It was quite messy and time-consuming but I wanted to make sure all the old finish had been removed. I used an inexpensive paintbrush to apply the stripper. To remove the stripper, I used a couple of different putty knives.

Sanding the doors & drawers

Once I had all the lacquer & paint scraped off a few pieces, I bundled up in sweats & took the pieces to the garage. With steel wool & mineral spirits, I wiped down each piece down to remove any leftover stripper.

**I have read that if you are going to be using water-based paint or stain, that you should not use steel wool as it can leave little bits of steel in the wood and those could rust….because my paint and stain are dark I took my chances and used it anyway**.

I brought the pieces back inside and allowed them to dry well before taking them back to the garage to be sanded. I used my orbital sander with 150 grit for the flat surfaces and a sanding block with the same grit for the area where the sander didn’t fit. I then used 220 grit on all the areas. When each set was sanded, I vacuumed up the sawdust then wiped them down with a soft cloth, followed by a tack cloth. My hope is that the sanding has removed any bits of steel wool that may have been in the wood 🙂

Taping the doors

I was SO happy when all the stripping & sanding was done on the doors/drawer fronts! Now I could get down to finishing them! I had decided to keep the ‘framed’ look but use a darker stain. The one that I have been using in the house is Minwax Provincial. I usually use an oil-based stain, but because I was working in the house, I looked for Provincial in a water-based formula but couldn’t find it. So, I bought a pint of water-based stain/poly mix by Varathayne in Dark Walnut. Well, that was too red. So, I bought a pint of Behr water-based stain in Jacobean. That was too black. No problem, I’ll use them both! I applied some to a sample piece of wood, the Walnut first followed by the Jacobean. The color was perfect! I taped the inset area of the doors before starting to stain.

Staining the doors & drawers

Before applying the stain, I used a wood conditioner. I’ve not used a conditioner for wood before but it is supposed to help the stain go on evenly. Using a brush, I applied a coat of wood conditioner to all the frames on the doors and the outer edges of the drawers. When the conditioner was dry, I started applying the stain. Here is where I realized the mistake I made by buying a stain that had poly mixed in….if I waited more than a few minutes after applying the Walnut before applying the Jacobean, the Walnut was sticky! Ugh! I quickly learned to move quickly and once I got into a rhythm, the staining process went more smoothly. As I stained, I noticed spots where the stain did not soak in as well as the rest of the wood. I figure those areas are where not all of the previous finish was removed. I could have done another application of stripper but I wasn’t sure that would even work. Besides, it gives the doors a more rustic look and I’m good with that.

*Note: I stained the frames before painting the insets because I did the opposite with the doors on the hoosier where I painted first. What I discovered was that any paint that got on the bare wood didn’t come off entirely so when I stained, you could see the paint. By staining first, any paint that got on the stain wiped off easier.

Painting the backs

The first time I painted the cabinets, I left the back of the doors and drawers alone. I did no painting or sealing. This time, I decided to paint them. I used two paintbrush sizes, a 1 1/2″ & a 2 1/2″. I applied 3 coats on all the pieces with a light sanding between coats using a sanding block in 220 grit. Before painting the back of the doors & drawers, I removed the silicone stoppers using a putty knife. I bought replacement ones since the old ones had yellowed. I also allowed the stain to dry overnight even though it is water-based and dries quickly.

Painting the front of the doors/drawers

After the backs were dry, it was time to paint the front of the drawers & the insets on the doors. I removed the tape I had applied for the staining process and considered taping off the stained areas but then chose not to. After having to be SO careful or wiping up paint that got onto the stain, it would have been easier to take the time to tape. (I learned a lot of lessons on this project!) I also applied 3 coats of paint on this step. For the drawer fronts, I used a painting pad; for the insets, I used the 2 1/2″ paintbrush.

Polyurethane

The last step on these pieces was to apply a water-based polyurethane in satin to the stained areas. I waited to do this step last because if the poly had gotten on the bare wood where I’d be painting, even though that was not likely with the tape, it would soak right in and prevent the paint from sticking well. I used a small angled brush to apply the polyurethane. I could have also applied it to the painted sections but that would have changed the sheen. Since the handles are attached to the stained/poly’d areas on the doors, and not the painted surface, it will be easy to wipe any fingerprints.

Hardware

When I painted the cabinets last time, I changed the antique gold hardware to bronze using spray paint. This time, I decided to buy new knobs and pulls. I originally thought I would be using brushed silver like the hoosier and if I did that, I was going to replace the hinges. I started looking for replacements and found that because they are the type that slip into the doors, they are very expensive so I kept the hinges that we have and bought new knobs & handles that are bronze with a hint of copper.

Finished Cabinets

Well, after TWO weeks of working on them every day, the cabinets are done! They came out beautifully! Hubby and I love the color! My oldest son said the new look is ‘intense’ and ‘rich’. I would have to agree 🙂

Why did it take longer?

When I painted the cabinets the first time, it took me a day! This time, 2 weeks! There were several reasons for this:

The addition of the soffit
Applying 3 coats to almost all surfaces
Using the stain with poly and then trying to add another stain on top
Doing the project in the Spring as opposed to the Summer
Allowing additional drying time for curing
Taping off all the areas
Not taping off the frames before painting
Applying wood conditioner before staining
Difficulty in removing the previous finish

Oh! Mystery solved on my favorite stain……I found out why I couldn’t find Provincial in the water-based formula on the shelves – it has to be mixed. Mixwax only sells a few of their stain colors pre-mixed. Aha! I had a quart of Provincial mixed and now have it on hand for future projects!

Original, 1st Painting, 2nd Painting

Let me know what you think

Have you painted your kitchen cabinets? If so, what was your experience? If not, would you consider doing it? Let me know in the Comment section below. Don’t let my experience this time deter you! Painting kitchen cabinets is not difficult and making them unique is so much fun! I’d also love to hear what you think of our richly intense cabinets 🙂

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