Painting Your Cabinets White

Your cabinet color can transform your kitchen’s look in a few brush strokes. And since replacing cabinetry can be costly, a fresh paint color can be the perfect choice for your budget. Today, white equals elegance. A white kitchen is a clean kitchen. Also, painting your kitchen cabinets certain shades of white provides the designer in you freedom to add accent colors elsewhere. If you are looking to update your kitchen without spending a fortune, here are the steps and some tips on cleaning up your kitchen cabinets to help you out.

Choose Your Paint

Experts recommend that you use paint with a semi-gloss finish for ease of wiping the cabinets down. Flat color finishes tend to grab the cloth and give a chalky feel. If you do the project yourself, stay away from high-gloss paint because it will only highlight every brush stroke and roll mark.

Clean and Cover

Preparation is the biggest part of the project. Clean out your cabinets and tape plastic sheeting on your floors and countertops to protect finishes and avoid stains. Use a degreasing product to get the grease off all surfaces you intend to paint. Grease hides in places you haven’t thought about, like under the bottom of the edge, underneath the cabinet or around the handles. Wash and clean these spots to ensure that the paint will stick. Washing your cabinets is key so take time to clean.

Sand and Prime

After cleaning your cabinets, give them a light sand with 220 or 400 grit sandpaper (it depends on the finish of your cabinets). Mostly, open grained-type finish, like oak, uses a heavier grit sandpaper. After sanding, remove the cabinet doors if possible, lay them flat and brush them with a good primer. Make sure it’s dry to the touch before you flip it over to work on the other side. When the primer is dry, give the cupboards some light sanding to smooth the brush strokes. Wipe and vacuum the cabinets using a tack cloth to clean debris.

Time to Paint

It is best that you use a good quality roller or brush to get your paint evenly on the cupboards. Apply a thin coat and allow your white painted kitchen cabinets to dry out flat so there are no drip marks. Once dry to the touch, turn them over and continue painting on the other side. Wait a few hours before you apply the second coat.

Change the Hardware

To give your stylish white cabinets and your whole kitchen a completely new look, consider changing the knobs and pulls on the cabinets. These might seem like very small changes, but you will be surprised at how new and fresh your kitchen will look afterwards.

Know that arborite and melamine are good composite materials used in cabinets but can be a challenge to apply paints to these materials on your own. If you have stylish white cabinets with a high polish, you might want to consider hiring a professional painter or kitchen designer Hamilton NJ to do it for you.