How to Paint a Beadboard Cabinet to a Gloss Finish

Remove the doors from the cabinet using a drill/driver. Place the door across a pair of sawhorses, and remove the hinges from the door.

Spray the back and sides of the door with aerosol enamel primer. While the door is drying, spray inside the cabinet until its wet with primer.

Spray the face of the door, the face and sides of the cabinet with aerosol enamel primer. Hold the can 8 inches from the wood, tilted at 15 degrees. Spray a band of primer across the surface of the wood so that the spray covers or enters any profiles, depressions or beads to cover them.

Tilt the can the opposite direction and spray another overlapping band to cover the opposite side of the beads, depressions or profile lines. Continue on in this manner until the face and sides of the cabinet are covered. Allow the primer to dry according to manufacturer's directions printed on the can.

Sand everything smooth using a 220-grit sanding sponge. Sand lightly to prevent sanding through the primer. Use short strokes parallel with the beads and grain of the wood, and wipe all the dust and debris from the surface of the wood using a tack cloth when finished.

Spray a small amount of high-gloss enamel paint into a small can. Dip the tip of an angled sponge brush into the paint. Drag the knife-like tip of the brush along narrow depressions and beads to ensure that paint gets inside the tight spaces. Apply paint to the sponge brush as needed and do each bead line, cut or depression until they're all saturated with paint.

Hold a can of high-gloss aerosol enamel paint inside the cabinet. Spray lightly to coat the inside of the cabinet with paint. Spray the back of the door and the face of the cabinet with the high-gloss aerosol paint until everything has an even, consistent wet coat of paint to finish. Allow the paint to dry on the back of the door, flip it over and repeat spraying it on the face. Wait overnight for the paint to dry before hanging the door or cabinet.