Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Painting kitchen cabinets should be left for the pros. I'm talking if you are in need of painting kitchen cabinets that are new. The hardest finish to make look good is painting kitchen cabinets from scratch....even for some pros.

The painting materials for kitchen cabinets, should be applied with an air sprayer as any imperfection will show on painted kitchen cabinets (and how many do-it-yourselfers out there can use an air sprayer good enough to paint kitchen cabinets like a pro?). I have a painter sub who always used to give me weird looks & his shoulders would sag when I told him I needed him to paint some more kitchen cabinets for me.....that's because painting kitchen cabinets (or any cabinet(s) for that matter) are very difficult to do.

If you are ordering &/or installing painted kitchen cabinets (or any other painted cabinets), the best thing to do is to order them pre-finished from a cabinet company. Some cabinet makers finish & paint their own cabinets (kitchen cabinets included) in a paint booth they have at their warehouse. Let them paint the kitchen cabinets for you then they can deliver & install the painted kitchen cabinets on-site for you.

Having a cabinet company schedule for painting your kitchen cabinets at their warehouse, can save you time & money (in some cases) rather than painting kitchen cabinets after they have been installed.

Another good idea is to purchase the painted kitchen cabinets from one of the big "box" stores or someplace like that. Of course, you may only get a few paint color choices that way so that might not work for you.

If you have some existing painted kitchen cabinets, & you want to re-paint them, then that's a whole other ball of wax. You have to ask yourself a few questions:

* Question #1: How good does the finish paint look on the existing painted kitchen cabinets?
* Question #2: Are there any paint runs on the existing painted kitchen cabinets?
* Question #3: What kind of shape are the hinges & pull handles in on your kitchen cabinets?
* Question #4: Will you be replacing the hinges &/or pull handles of your kitchen cabinets?
* Question #5: Will you be painting around the existing hinges on your kitchen cabinets?
* Question #6: Will you be removing your doors & drawers & removing all of the hardware before painting your kitchen cabinets?
* Question #7: Are there any paint brush "lines" in the finished paint on the existing kitchen cabinets?
* Question #8: How good of a job are you trying to achieve when painting the kitchen cabinets?
* Question #9: How much time & effort are you willing to put into painting the kitchen cabinets?
* Question #10: How much money will you be saving by painting the kitchen cabinets yourself?

Answering the above questions, and maybe some others that you now will come across, will decide for you if painting the kitchen cabinets is what you really want done and....more importantly.....who will be the one painting the kitchen cabinets & how good of a paint finish, on the kitchen cabinets, are you willing to live with.

If you still decide that painting the kitchen cabinets yourself is what you want to do (or maybe you don't have a choice), please consider discussing your project with your local paint store.
They will help you decide on the type of paint & they can also give you some pointers on the right type of paint brush (or mini roller) to use,etc..

Answering the above 10 questions will also help you in making your decisions for painting the kitchen cabinets yourself. Make sure you take a kitchen cabinet drawer &/or kitchen cabinet door to the paint store so they can see what existing type of paint you have on the cabinets as the cabinets could've been painted with an oil based paint as opposed to a latex based paint. Knowing this will greatly help the paint store determine alot of variables for your paint project.

Good luck with your decision.

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