Kitchen Cabinets

Welcome to our community Jenhangan,

My name is Christine and I work in the paint department at The Home Depot in Atlanta. There are a few options you have as far as redoing your cabinets. I understand not wanting to sand the old paint off, it does tend to become laborious. As long as the paint that is on there isn’t chipping, peeling or flaking off, you don’t have to sand it off if you paint. However, if you wanted to stain them, that would be a different story. But, from the sound if it, you would like to paint them, so, you don’t have to worry about it. :smileyhappy:

Let’s first talk about primer. Primer is going to be very important for proper adhesion in this situation. I like to recommend using oil based primer when painting cabinets. Oil based primer will stick to anything and will ensure that you get many years out of your top coat. Since you are doing cabinets and drawers, taking them down to work on a horizontal surface would be most ideal.

You will want to make sure that they all go back to their proper location. Draw a map of your kitchen and number each cabinet and drawer on the map. Then, when you take them down, place a piece of painters tape on the cabinet and write the corresponding number on it. This is a good way to make sure everything gets back home safely.

After your primer has dried it is time to paint. You can use either oil or latex based paint, in whichever sheen you would like. People typically use a satin or semi-gloss finish for cabinets. They are both easy to clean. One gallon of paint will cover about 300-400 square feet per gallon.

You mentioned wanting to do a texture on the cabinets. What kind of texture where you thinking? 

I have one more suggestion for you. Are you familiar with Rust-Oleum’s Cabinet Transformation kit? This would be a great alternative to painting your cabinets and drawers. Since you are wanting to have two different colors, painting the frames black would be most ideal and then you can use this kit for the door and drawers.

Allow me to tell you a little bit about this kit. The kit includes everything that you need to cover 100 square feet. There is a deglosser included, so no need to prime the cabinets or drawers if you use this kit. I have heard many positive things about this kit and the durability of it is pretty awesome. There is also an glaze included in the kit that may give the texture you are looking for. Since you are considering doing a cherry or walnut color, I went to the Rust-Oleum website and pulled some colors that you may like.

Stop by your local store and pick up a brochure about this kit. There is also a video and a pretty extensive thread here on the community discussing this kit. Click here for that discussion.

I’m so glad that you are updating your kitchen! Please send us before and after pictures, we would love to see how everything turned out.

If you have any more questions or concerns, feel free to ask!

Happy Painting,

Christine :smileyhappy:    

Thanks everyone!  I'm very happy with them.  Jenhagen - Have you decided what you're going to do?

WOW!!!  Spongebobsmom...your kitchen looks amazing!!   I have bee super busy at work ..but I'm going to start planning the time off to start this project...was hoping to have it done by 5/25 in time for my little girls bday party but..it doesnt look like that is going to happen...thanks for all the input...I will keep you posted once I begin...

Can't wait to see your result Jenhangan!

Hope your schedule slows enough to allow you to meet that B'day Party goal!

I am working on wall painting for the family room in the half basement. The door to the basement also needs painting. Is there difference between wall paint and door paint? How to choose proper paint type?Thanks.

Painterkelly,

Acrylic wall and trim paints are essentially the same. The main difference is that the higher sheen "enamelized" paints are generally used for woodwork and cabinetry. The higher sheens form a more dense, washable coating than flat or low sheen paints. Satin and Semi-gloss are the most commonly used woodwork paint sheens.

Higher sheen paints utilized pigments which are milled much finer and therefore are packed closer together in the paint film. This denseness causes light rays to bounce off them and travel directly to your eye where they are perceived as shiney. Conversely, flat paints use large, coursely ground pigments which scatter the light rays and your eye perceives it as being flat or having  no sheen. This courseness also is why flat paints generally do not wash as well as shiney paints. Woodwork tends to get lots of handling and therefore flat paints are not suitable for it.

Hello PainterKelly!

The main difference between paints recommended for walls and paints recommended for trim is the sheen ... or how shiny they appear.

Most often, manufacturers recommend Flat, Eggshell, and Satin for walls and they recommend Semi-Gloss and Gloss for trim.

The difference is the shiny trim paint resists stains and wipes off easily. In most homes these paints are considered too shiny to be used on walls. You will, however, frequently see shiny paint on the walls of schools, meeting places, etc.

Flat wall paints show fewer imperfections because they do not reflect much light. Flat paints also touch up easier because the brush marks blend into the existing paint.

Eggshell paints clean easily and only reflect a little light ... showing only modest imperfections on the wall.

Satin paints can be scrubbed, but reflect light and show imperfections like nail-pops or waves in the wall.

Like every general discussion, there are exceptions.

On most paint brochures, you will find a sheen chart as well as a list of sheen recommendations by room type.

You Paint Associate can show you these tools.

Hey there, SpongBobsMom.

Your kitchen upgrade is getting a big response over on the Apron Blog, where I reposted your photos. 

A reader has asked what colors are for the paint and the cabinets. Do you remember?

(And thanks for posting your photos... that's quite a nice job you did.)

And if any of you amazing Home Depot associates have a good guess as to what those colors are, please speak up!

-Craig, from the Apron Blog