While it was only published two days ago, I wrote the post about our kitchen plans nearly a week ago. That is to say, I’m knee deep in our first major house project: painting the kitchen cabinets. Here’s how we prepped the cabinets to ensure our paint job would be awesome to the max.
Clean Out The Cabinets
We started by filling some of those green reusable grocery bags with food and put them on the guest room bed. We did the same to our glasses, but put them in a box for more stability. Plates, bowls, and cookware were transferred without a bag or box. It was easier to just grab a stack of heavy plates than overload a box or bag.
Remove All The Cabinet Doors and Drawers
I whipped out the drill to help speed this along. There were 17 doors to remove, each had two hinges and each hinge had three screws. So, what I’m saying is, this took a while, haha. Oh, and if definitely helped to have the cabinets cleared at this stage – it was easier to maneuver the drill without plates getting in the way.
Ryan and I divided the work: he would remove a door from the cabinet, and I, sitting on the floor, would unscrew the remaining hardware to remove the hinges and scrape off the dampening pad (you know, the little rubber piece that prevents the wood from slamming against each other).
Prepare Your Work Space
I did not do this step, and I regret it. I highly advise anyone trying this to buy plastic tarp and tape off your doorways. Why? Because you’re about to…
Sand And Degloss
And sawdust gets everywhere. So again, prep your space and wear goggles and a mask. I used 60 grit sand paper to remove the shiny finish, then sanded it with high grit 220 paper to smooth it out. I took the cabinet doors outside for this task. As for the cabinets inside, we vacuumed the dust and wiped the cabinets down like seven times.
I wiped all the wood with liquid deglosser a couple of times. This helped open up the wood the next step. Warning: not an ad for BM. Haha. It’s just an oversized work shirt.
Here’s what the doors looked like, sans sheer (on the right).
Prime
We’re actually in the middle of priming everything right now. I want to give it all two coats, and with so many surfaces to paint, it’s going to take a while. We’re working with this water-based primer. I despise the smell of oil-based anything, so I’m taking a chance and using a water-based product that promises oil-based results. Words of advice: Don’t skip or skimp on the primer. Do it right. And when shopping for it, just make sure “stain blocker” is printed on the can.
I used an angled brush to apply the primer, then a high density foam roller to even it all out. Thin, even coats. So important.
Yeah, I know you’re jealous of my massive work space. What can I say? We don’t have a garage!
What do you think about painting cabinets? Would you ever try it?
