how not to paint your kitchen cabinets

so the new house had very basic/no-hardware light wood cabinets when we moved in.  they are solid wood, but just really didn’t fit the style or feel we were going for.

my mom and sister wasted no time (as in the day we moved in) to start the process of painting our kitchen cabinets white.

here are a few things we learned the hard way.

How NOT To Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets:

1. Do NOT rush this process.—take your time and sand one night, paint the first coat another, etc.  you will be much happier and the final product will turn out better as well.  i know because i rushed it and i was stressed and also made things harder on myself (see below).

2.  Do NOT choose the wrong paint finish the first time–at first, we painted them all with the satin finish, but we ended up doing a final coat of the behr semi-gloss white primer/paint all in one from Lowes because the satin (although it is fairly easy to clean, didn’t seem cleanable to me).  it was white right off the shelf with no added coloring.  i’ve had them for over two months and any dirt or grim wipes off really easily with a wet rag.

3.  Do NOT think sanding is uncool and unneeded—we used a paint with primer already in it which did help the preparation stages, but sandpaper was a definite must especially between coats and around the edges.  remember to wipe them clean with a damp cloth after sanding.

4.  Do NOT use “clear” polyurethane (especially the oil-based kind).  yuck!–after the first two coats of satin white, i wanted something clear that would help ensure they would be durable and easy to clean (i do have two little kids).  so i went to the store and asked some punk kid what to use.  he recommended a “clear” polyurethane coat which i promptly went home and applied–thankfully only to a couple of doors.  they turned the most hideous shade of yellow and it was impossible to apply evenly.  i HATED them and wanted to cry.  after a few days of grumbling, i re-sanded them and painted the final coat of semi-gloss and they were perfectly fine.   lots of extra, unnecessary work though.

5.  Do NOT paint your cabinets white and then expect them to stay clean without hardware–hardware is an absolute must with white cabinets (in my opinion).  after weeks of looking in every store magazine and website for some vintage-inspired knobs and pulls, i finally found these at target of all places!  they were over half as expensive as any of the other ones i had been looking at.  4 knobs for $14.99 instead of $8.00 each!  the hardware was SO easy to install and i’m planning to have a little tutorial on that coming soon!

i’m kicking myself for not getting a real “before” shot

for more info on painting your own cabinets, check out these sites/videos:

**Miss Mustard Seed: http://missmustardseed.com/2011/06/painted-cabinets-revealed-video/

**Curbly: http://www.curbly.com/users/capreek/posts/13532-how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets-a-step-by-step-guide-to-diy-bliss

**Evolution of Style:  http://evolutionofstyleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets-like.html

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