Kitchen Cabinets.

[suzieq728]

How hard is it to re-paint kitchen cabinets? I have a huge kitchen with a lot of cabinets but they are bright neon blue, I would like to tone them down a bit. I thought I would buy primer, then pick a color and paint them. But Doug tells me there is so much more involved, that I dont know what I am getting into, and he is scareing me. Maybe thats what he wants to do :rolleyes:
Well anyway, any ideas?

[heather6773]

I painted over mine. I had to prime them first and put about 3 coats of paint to cover up the dark color of the cupboards

[Turtleheadfred]

Hi Suzi! There is a lot involved, but if you do it right the first time - it will last forever! I asked the cabinet guys at my work (when we bought our house) how to do my cabinets and I only now need to repaint, and it's been over 12 years!

You'll need to wash them down with something like TPS and sand them well to remove any residue from cooking. Also, I would take the door off (just number them so you get them back up in the proper order). Oh, and take the hardwear off... it's easier than painting around it!

The other think is to use an OIL BASED primer and paint! YES IT STINKS! And it is a mess - but it will be worth it in the long run... I promise! Do a base coat in the primer. A second base coat - then lightly sand. Then do a split coat (1/2 primer and 1/2 paint). Then 2-3 coats of paint. If at any time it looks lumpy... sand lightly between the coats.

You can even apply a clear coat as a final finish to completely seal it if you REALLY want to be professional. This WILL take a long time - but again, it will be worth it in the long run because you won't have to redo them for a long, long time!

Good Luck!!!!:beer:

[jana]

Ha, hey, THF! We were posting at the same time! :D

I haven't done cabinets before, but I want to do our kitchen. It doesn't seem like there would be all that much involved (but we have a small kitchen!)....like you said, prime & then paint...maybe more than 1 or 2 coats, though, depending on how light/dark the new/old paint is. You're "supposed" to sand the doors strip everything down to bare wood before you prime, but you don't really *have* to do that (esp if they've been painted before, which it sounds like your neon blue ones have!). Just clean them really well and maybe sand them lightly & wipe down before you prime.

I would take the doors off their hinges (and the knobs/handles off the doors) to get a good covering without painting over all the hardware. Make sure you label the doors with a number or something (on an edge that isn't visible) so you know which doors go where when you put them back. Once everything is all painted, you could replace the hardware with new stuff if you wanted.

Are you painting the insides, too? That would take more time, for sure.

[suzieq728]

Yesterday I went and looked at colors for my cabinets, I just cant make up my mind. And, my son pointed out to me that the insides of the cabs are peeling :rolleyes: . So now I guess yes I am doing the inside too. Which I would like to make a eggshell color, but now I guess I have to sand, or scrape or stuff like that. OMG I dont know if I want to do this, I am telling you I have a million cabinets. To be honest, the whole kitchen is like a time machine, when I first looked at it I felt like I was 5 again and had just stepped into my mothers kitchen in 1960 :rolleyes: . It has really really really old wallpaper on the walls that I have to get down, big time flowers, neon blue, the only good thing is they wake me up in the morning LOL.. I am renting so I dont want to put to much money into it, but umm I dont want to have to wear sunglasses everytime I walk into my kitchen. Oh, and what about back splashes? Anybody ever do them? A friend of mine made her own out of floor tiles, and it looks great. I am afraid I am not creative enough, and that doug maybe right, I would get in over my head.. H E L P!!!

[suzieq728]

:clap: Good news everyone, you know that horrid flower wall paper in my kitchen, well, it's coming down :clap: I will take it down myself, and then my uncle is going to come over and check the walls out to see if anything special needs to be done to them, and then off to painting. I am still trying to make up my mind on colors but I am so happy to be able to start taking that paper down. :beer:

[ParagonEos]

Suzie, I sure wished I was closer because I'd come and help you! I know there is someone out there that wouldn't mind helping you that has done it before.. I hope you find them :)

[suzieq728]

Yes I have a few family member that r just dying to rip this crap off my walls, its just a matter of getting them here at a decent time. But I am just so happy to get this stuff done already..

[suzieq728]

As I was cooking tonight I was peeling off wall paper. Even though doug keeps telling me to leave it alone. He says I should put a day aside to do just that peel wall paper, and I know he's right, but looking at the spots that dont have those flowers is such a good feeling, I just cant help myself now, I just find a patch and I pull :rolleyes: