Cabinet Painting & Refinishing Tips

Disassemble and Clean

• Start by removing all doors, drawers and hardware from the cabinets. It would be a good idea to mark on each cabinet door and drawer where it came from. The screw holes and alignment may be slightly off, so knowing exactly where each door goes will save you a lot of frustration later. Find a large area to lay down a drop cloth and spread out all of the cabinet doors and drawers. Prepare the cabinetry by removing all dirt and residue with a commercial grade furniture cleaner. Even if you think your cabinets are clean, this is still a necessary step because even a tiny drop of grease will prevent the finish from adhering.

Fill the Holes

• Are you purchasing new hardware for your cabinets? This is another great way to refresh old cabinets. Picking out some shiny new door handles can freshen up the old look. If the new hardware that you pick out has different screw spacing, you're going to need to fill the old holes. Pick up some wood filler from a hardware store and follow the directions on the packaging.

Sanding

• You may or may not have to sand the cabinets. If your existing cabinets have a very glossy look to them, they probably have a thick layer of polyurethane varnish on them. This finish is smooth and it may be difficult for the paint and primer to stick. Remedy this problem by going over the finish with an electric sander to roughen up the surface a bit. If the surface isn't very glossy, you can usually get away with skipping the sanding.

Prime It

• Use an oil-based primer to prepare the surface for paint. An oil-based primer may be messier and hard to remove from skin and brushes, but it works much better at covering up any oil stains than its latex counterpart. One coat is plenty of primer, as its main job is to seal the wood and prevent any old stain from leaking through to the new paint. If you are working with metal cabinetry, you can skip the sanding and go straight to the primer step.

Paint It

• Now you are ready to paint. Usually, two coats of a latex-based paint will be plenty to ensure good coverage. Use a good quality roller or paint pad to cover large areas and use a smaller brush to get into corners and crevices. Clean up any drips to ensure a perfect surface. Check the paint label instructions for the recommended drying time between coats. Although the instructions say that the paint will be totally dry in a certain amount of time, it is a good idea to wait several days before rehanging the cabinetry to ensure that it is totally dry and won't suffer any scratches and chips in the rehanging process.