If you painted your kitchen cabinets... (floor, paint color, cleaning, kitchens)

[Walthree]

What color did you paint them. I just moved into a home and the cabinets are in bad shape but I want the kitchen to look bright and clean so I will be painting them until I get the kitchen redone in the summer. Looking for ideas.

Thanks.

[NCN]

We painted our brown cabinets white. We could not find new handles for the doors and had to clean up the antique gold handles. It gave us a real country look and I love them. I would rather have this than any new cabinets.

I don't think I ever want any other color for cabinets in the kitchen. Anything that gets on them shows up immediately so I can just wash it off. I love, love, love my country kitchen. It is not large but it is country all the way.

I have a couple of places where the paint has chipped off, but it just makes it look even more country. You have to use primer, so it required two coats--primer and flat white washable paint.

[ansky]

I would definitely go with white, especially if you want your kitchen to be bright.

[desertsun41]

Here we go with another white VS other war again. I'm glad to hear you plan on putting in nice new cabinets in the spring. When I hear people wanting to paint cabinets as a permanant thing I just cringe. You can't paint cabinets, well you can but that dont make it right. Since we seem to have a cease fire and a truce with an agreement that white kitchens still have an interest in New England, perhaps you should stay away from out of style white since you are not in New England.

If there ever is a proper way to paint cabinets, it most certainly is difficult and time consuming and the result is most offten disapointing. Is it really worth it for half a year till you do a real kitchen remodel?

Whatever the case if you want to paint them I am going to say go ahead and do white since all other paint colors look far worse on cabinets then white does. But if indeed you are putting in new next spring then just give them a quicky paint rather then spending weeks sanding and preping them.

Read my posts on how to purchase cabinets an not get ripped off.

[Uconn97]

You can do it successfully. Frankly you need a Type A personality to do it, lots of patience and time. If you plan to replace your kitchen in less than 2 years I wouldn't put the effort in. If your cabinets are functional and it good shape, go for it.

We did ours in an off white called Macademia (SW) with a brown glaze over it. Still look as good today as it did 3 years ago when we had it done and thats with 2 kids under the age of 4 and we frequently wipe them down. I did have one tiny chip in a corner which i recently touched up with some leftover paint.

[Hopes]

Theres more prep work than just primer.

You have to scrub them clean, sand them to create a rough surface for the primer, and you need to scrub it clean again before applying primer.

Don't use cleaning products! You don't want chemicals to get into the wood.

If they have varnish, you'll need to strip them first.

Do your homework first. I have no idea what type of kitchen cabinets you're wanting to paint so I can't give detailed advice.

[Walthree]

Thank everyone. I have done my homework and research. I'm ok with the work. These cabinets were caked on with grease and such. Just need some color ideas. I was think of a butter cream color. I don't think I can do white. Just a nice simple color. The cabinets are currently a dark brown

[kodaka]

That's a lot of work if you are going to be remodeling in six months anyway.

First you need to really scrub every edge of the doors and cabinets with a degreaser. Even if you think your cabinets are clean. Then sand them. Then prime them. Then paint. The doors are pretty easy, the cabinets themselves, are much harder--many small surfaces and they can't be taken out for easy access to those surfaces.

You might think about painting just the doors. It's not an aesthetic I would choose over just living with the old look for a few months longer, but if you are really itching to make a change, this might satisfy you. Doors are much easier to paint because you can take them down to do all the work.

Here's an example of painted doors.

And another one.

Here's another example. This one uses stencils for a dark look on white but you could do the reverse to brighten up dark cabinets.

And another example

As for exact colors, it really is impossible to say over the internet. Even if you posted photos, it wouldn't be enough. What shade of dark brown? Is it a greyish brown, or a reddish brown? Or (gawd) orangish? I wouldn't pick a color with too much yellow in it. There are so many other factors--lighting (both color rendering and light levels), wall color, floor color, etc.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by kodaka

That's a lot of work if you are going to be remodeling in six months anyway.

First you need to really scrub every edge of the doors and cabinets with a degreaser. Even if you think your cabinets are clean. Then sand them. Then prime them. Then paint. The doors are pretty easy, the cabinets themselves, are much harder--many small surfaces and they can't be taken out for easy access to those surfaces.

You might think about painting just the doors. It's not an aesthetic I would choose over just living with the old look for a few months longer, but if you are really itching to make a change, this might satisfy you. Doors are much easier to paint because you can take them down to do all the work.

Here's an example of painted doors.

And another one.

Here's another example. This one uses stencils for a dark look on white but you could do the reverse to brighten up dark cabinets.

And another example

As for exact colors, it really is impossible to say over the internet. Even if you posted photos, it wouldn't be enough. What shade of dark brown? Is it a greyish brown, or a reddish brown? Or (gawd) orangish? I wouldn't pick a color with too much yellow in it. There are so many other factors--lighting (both color rendering and light levels), wall color, floor color, etc.

Kodaka your advice is good but stenciling doors? They are not attractive at all. What I really want to say I can not because I don't want to insult you. The remaining wood on those doors look just fine. From a photo we all see one thing. But knowing there is a grainy oak I can just imagine how aweful a close up with the naked eye would be. Nice stencil job but it does not belong on cabinets nor does a potential home buyer want to see it.

The OP later said they would go buttercream color. I will run with that thought.

[South Jersey Styx]

I am not a fan of the stencils either. It's just too busy. If you have to paint, just use a solid color.