· Michael Blair
Painting cabinets costs a fraction of replacing them and is the single highest-impact change in most kitchens. It also fails visibly and quickly when the preparation is rushed, because cabinet doors get touched, cleaned and knocked more than any other painted surface in the house.
What makes a kitchen a candidate
Solid boxes in good order, doors that are not delaminating, and a layout you are happy to keep. The finish is what you are changing; the geometry stays.
Thermofoil doors that are peeling and particleboard boxes with water damage at the sink base are not candidates. Paint does not fix substrate failure.
Where the work actually is
Degreasing. Kitchen cabinets carry cooking film that is invisible and completely prevents adhesion, particularly around the range and above the extractor. This step is skipped more than any other and causes most failures.
Then scuff sanding every surface, then a bonding primer suited to the existing finish. Factory finishes are cured and slick, and ordinary primer will not hold on them.
- Degrease thoroughly, twice around the range
- Remove doors, drawers and all hardware
- Scuff sand every surface to be coated
- Bonding or shellac primer appropriate to the existing finish
- Two thin finish coats, sanded between
Product matters more here than anywhere
Wall paint on cabinets stays soft and marks. What holds up is a cabinet-specific enamel — waterborne alkyd or a two-component product — which cures hard rather than simply drying.
Cure time is not dry time. Most cabinet enamels are handleable in a day and fully cured in two to four weeks, and treating them gently during that period is what preserves the finish.
Spraying versus brushing
Sprayed doors give the factory-smooth result people are actually picturing. Brush and roller work leaves texture that reads as painted, however carefully it is done.
That is why most professional cabinet work involves removing doors to a shop or a spray booth. A quote that involves brushing everything in place is a different product at a different price, and it should be priced as one.