How to Spray Paint Kitchen Cabinets

Go a pro-quality look with a DIY upkeep

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Time

Multiple Days

Complexity

Intermediate

Cost

$101–250

Introduction

Instead of replacing your old kitchen cabinets, brand them new by repainting them. With an inexpensive pigment sprayer and a few gallons of paint, you tin can transform your kitchen in a weekend.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • ane mil plastic driblet cloth
  • 320 grit sandpaper
  • Paper-thin
  • Floetrol
  • Latex enamel
  • Masking newspaper
  • Painter's tape
  • Rosin newspaper
  • Spackling compound
  • Stain-blocking primer

You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on new cabinets to give your kitchen a stunning new look. If your cabinets are in good shape, yous can requite them a fresh face up with paint. Everything yous need to requite your drab cabinets a silky smooth painted terminate costs less than $250—including the spray painter.

Professional person painters typically spray-paint doors considering it produces an ultra-smooth finish. In this article, we'll bear witness yous how to spray-paint your doors and drawers to look like professional kitchen cabinet painting. There'southward just a short learning curve to utilise the spray painter finer. You could besides spray the pigment chiffonier frames, sides and trim, just masking off the chiffonier openings (and the residue of the kitchen) takes a lot of time, and then just use a brush for those areas.

Despite our enthusiasm, there are downsides to a painted cease. The paint isn't as tough as a factory terminate, and even if you're conscientious, you tin can still end upwards with paint runs and take castor marks on your paint cabinet sides.

All the materials you need to paint your cabinets are available at home centers and pigment stores. Plan to spend 4 or five days to consummate the chore—you'll have to let the paint dry out overnight between coats, and yous can only paint 1 side of the doors per day.

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Projection footstep-past-step (xiii)

Pace 1

New-Looking Cabinets in 3 Steps

Clean the erstwhile paint cabinets thoroughly, prime with a stain-blocking primer, so pigment with a high-quality latex enamel.

3 steps to Paint Cabinets Graphic Copy

Is painting right for you?

Not all cabinets are worth painting. They must be structurally sound—paint plainly isn't a cure for doors that are falling apart or don't shut properly. If your cabinets are oak or some other species with coarse grain and you desire a shine cease, you'll have to fill the grain on the door panels, chiffonier frames and cabinet sides with spackling chemical compound. That most doubles the length of this project because sanding the chemical compound takes a long, long time (but if you don't mind a coarse finish, you can skip this step). If you lot like the mode of your cabinets and they're in good shape, and you're willing to invest the time to paint them, this project is for you.

Step ii

Make clean the Cabinets

  • Label the doors as y'all remove them then you'll know where to reinstall them.
    • Pro tip: Writing a number in the hinge hole (for Euro hinges) or where the hinge attaches works bang-up—it'southward the but office that'south non painted.
  • Take the doors and drawers to the garage or another work area and spread them out on a piece of work surface.
  • Using warm water and dish detergent., launder the front and the back of the doors and the drawer fronts to remove grease.
  • Clean away all the grease or the primer and paint won't attach.
  • Rinse clean with water.
  • Stick tape in the hinge holes or where the hinges attach to keep out the paint.

Clean the Cabinets

Step 3

Protect Adjoining Surfaces

  • Wash the grease off the cabinet frames in the kitchen.
  • Tape off everything that abuts the cabinet frames.
  • Record off the walls, ceiling and flooring, and cover the countertops with rosin paper.
  • Wrap appliances and the vent hood with plastic sheeting or masking paper.

Protect Adjoining Surfaces

Footstep four

Repair Problem Spots and Prep Cabinets

  • Sand whatever damaged areas on the doors or paint cabinet frames with 320-grit sandpaper to remove burrs or ridges.
  • Fix scratches, holes and dings with spackling chemical compound.
  • Work the compound into the damaged expanse with a putty knife.
  • Fill in holes from handles and hardware if y'all're replacing the hardware and need holes in different places.
    • Notation: Some paint cabinets have a catalyzed lacquer stop that's very difficult. Primer won't form a good bail to this surface unless you lot scuff information technology upwardly starting time.
  • Lightly sand the doors and cabinet frames, trim and sides with 320-grit sandpaper.
    • Pro tip: Sand just enough to have off the shine—you don't need to sand off the finish.
  • Vacuum the dust off the wood using a bristle zipper.
  • Correct before you're set to utilise the primer, wipe down the doors and frames with a tack cloth.
    • Annotation: Running the cloth over the surface is enough—you don't demand to scrub to remove the fine dust particles.

Repair Problem Spots and Prep Cabinets

Footstep 5

Prime the Cabinets

  • Using a paintbrush, prime the doors and cabinet frames with a stain-blocking primer.
    • Pro tip: Don't utilise a roller. It leaves a texture that will affect the cease. Besides, brushing is almost as fast as rolling, and you can use the bristles to work the primer into crevices.
  • Prime number one side of all the doors, let them dry while you prime the cabinet face frames and sides.
  • Then prime the other side of the doors.

Prime the Cabinets

Step half dozen

Sand Smoothen

  • Sand the doors and pigment cabinets with fine-grit sandpaper.
    • Pro tip: Sand with the grain, and be careful not to round over corners.
  • Wipe the surface make clean with a tack cloth.
  • If you lot have doors with coarse forest grain (like oak) and want a smooth cease, fill in the grain with spackling compound.
  • Use a putty knife to skim-coat the door with compound, working information technology into the woods grain.
  • Expect for it to dry, sand it with medium-dust sandpaper, and so prime information technology once again.

Sand Smooth

Immaculate Finish in ninety Minutes

For this project, we used a Wagner Control Spray Double Duty spray gun. The high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) sprayer gives the doors a thin, even coat of paint and makes quick work of painting. We sprayed our 18 doors and four drawers in less than xc minutes per glaze. The sprayer occasionally "spits" paint, only the Floetrol that you mix in levels out the finish. You lot can clean the sprayer in about 10 minutes.

The paint experts nosotros talked to say yous can get a nice-looking terminate with not-HVLP sprayers also. Just the advantages of an HVLP sprayer are that the low pressure produces little overspray, then most of your pigment ends up where you want information technology—on the doors—and the spray is easy to control.

Wagner Control Spray Double Duty spray gun

Step 7

Employ a Castor for Frames

  • Pour a gallon of the paint into a bucket and thin it with half a cup of water and half a quart of Floetrol pigment additive (available at paint dealers).
    • Notation: The h2o and the Floetrol level out the paint when it's applied and slow the drying process, which helps eliminate brush and lap marks. The thinner paint besides provides a more even coat when you're spraying.
  • Pigment any exposed sides of cabinets with a castor. Most light brush marks will disappear every bit the pigment dries (thanks to the Floetrol).
  • Start in a corner to pigment the cabinet frames.
  • Employ a loftier-quality paintbrush to paint an entire runway or stile, including the inside border, before moving to an adjacent rail or stile.
    • Pro tip: Use a gloss or semigloss latex enamel paint for your pigment cabinets. Its hard, shiny finish resists stains and fingerprints.

Use a Brush for Frames

Footstep eight

Practice First

  • Before spray painting, construct a makeshift booth to contain the airborne spray.
  • Assemble a work surface (putting boards over sawhorses works great), then hang plastic sheeting effectually the piece of work surface area.
  • Make sure to ventilate the room—even if it's but a fan blowing out an open window.
  • Fill up the spray container with the paint mixed with Floetrol and h2o.
  • Wear a mask respirator when spray painting.
  • Exercise spray painting on cardboard, keeping the nozzle x to 12 inches from the surface.
    • Pro tip: Sweep your entire arm back and along across the door panel; don't merely use your wrist.
  • Arrange the nozzle to get a vertical fan pattern.
  • Accommodate the flow rate and then the paint covers the surface without running.

Practice First

Step 9

Rotate the Doors While Painting

  • When you lot're ready to paint, set a block of wood or a cardboard box on the work surface to drag the doors.
  • Place a lazy Susan turntable over the box, then set up the door on superlative of information technology.
  • Stand up in one spot and rotate the door to pigment each side.
  • Go along the nozzle ten to 12 inches from the door and maintain a consequent angle while spraying.

Rotate the Doors While Painting

Step ten

Paint the Edges

  • Pigment the edge and item work on ane side.
  • Plough the door to pigment the adjacent edges and details.
  • Start the spray before the door, and continue spraying past the edge.
    • Pro tip: Don't worry if y'all missed a spot. You can grab it on the second coat.
  • Permit the paint dry overnight.
  • The side by side mean solar day, give the paint cabinet frames, sides and trim a 2d coat.
  • Spray a first coat on the door fronts.

Paint the Edges

Step 11

Paint the Drawers

  • After wrapping the inside with plastic or paper, paint the drawers with the sprayer.
  • Paint the backs showtime, then the edges and so the faces, starting at the acme and working down.
  • Start and stop the spray past the sides of the drawer.
  • Let the doors and drawers dry out overnight, then give them a 2nd glaze.

Paint the Drawers

Step 12

Touch Upwardly Runs

  • Prepare paint runs with a paintbrush while the paint is still wet.
  • If the paint is dry or tacky, await until the next day, then sand out the run or imperfection and repaint.

Touch Up Runs

Step thirteen

Put Everything Back Together

  • Reinstall the doors and drawers in the kitchen.
  • Attach the hinges to the doors starting time, so screw them to the cabinet frames.
  • If any paint seeped into the hinge holes, scrape it out so the hinges will fit snugly.

Put Everything Back Together

Painting Doors

Spray the door edges kickoff. Then spray whatever detail work. And so spray the entire door, starting at the top and sweeping your arm back and forth until you accomplish the bottom. Go along the angle of the spray gun consistent as you spray.