Your kitchen is probably the most industrious room in your home.
So it’s understandable that your kitchen cabinets are looking a little dated
and worn out. Applying a fresh coat of paint to your cabinets is a priceless
way to restore their great looks and protect them from rapid
deterioration.
If you’re planning for a cabinet repaint project, here are five
tips to help you make the process efficient, fast and outstanding;
Don’t use regular wall paints to paint the kitchen cabinets
because they’re not suited for the surface. Regular wall paint will chip, fade
and won’t stand up well to the repeated cleaning usually subjected to kitchen
cabinets. There’re paints specifically designed for kitchen cabinets and
woodwork. For instance, alkyd enamels like the Sherwin-Williams ProClassic will
hold up better against regular washing. If you’re hiring a painting contractor,
they can help you choose the best paint for your project.
You’re going to have a hard time trying to paint your kitchen
cabinets while the doors and drawers are still attached. You will probably get
the paint in areas you shouldn’t paint, such as the hinges and handles.
Besides, painting the narrow edges and corners can be tricky if the doors are
still attached. Consider detaching the doors, drawers, and hardware to make it
easy to clean, sand, and paint.
Using a primer is not a must for every kitchen cabinet painting project.
However, if you’re dealing with older cabinets that still have traces of the
previous paint, priming is vital. The primer creates a fresh canvas for the new
paint. Besides being your first step to blocking that base color from showing
through, it will also help the paint stick and protect the wood from moisture.
Kitchen cabinets may look clean at a glance, and it can be quite
tempting to start painting right away without cleaning them. Your kitchen
cabinets have a thin layer on the surface consisting of a mixture of oil,
smoke, dust, and other particles.
Painting over dirty surfaces directly translates to inadequate
paint coverage, poor adhesion, and an inferior finish. Thoroughly clean the
cabinet doors, drawers, boxes, and hardware using warm soapy water or mineral
spirits to remove the surface dirt.
This a common mistake many DIY painters make – applying too
heavy of a coat at a time. Heavy applications usually cause drips, and if
you’re using enamel paint, it will cure fast. You will spend a lot of time
scrubbing off paint drips and repainting the affected areas. Additionally,
low-nap rollers used to paint kitchen cabinets are not designed to handle a lot
of paint at a time. If you attempt to apply heavy coats, the roller will become
squishy and leave a stippled finish behind.
Bonus Tip: Hire a Professional
Kitchen cabinet painting is quite an involving project that
needs skills, experience, the right tools, and patience. If you don’t have a
generous supply of the said items, you’re bound to make plenty of expensive
mistakes. Hiring a professional will ensure that your paint job is of
high-quality, attractive, and durable.
If you need any professional assistance on updating your kitchen
cabinets in Omaha, NE, our team at Brush & Roll Painting can help. To get
started, book a FREE estimate below or call us today
on 402-932-9764 for more details.