Painting (redoing) kitchen cabinets

Donna Collins
by Donna Collins
Is it possible to paint your kitchen cabinets, mine are 20 yrs old, yellowed, and originally a "white pickled oak"? I personally cannot tackle all of the sanding but would be happy to remove, prime, and paint. Any firm yes, no's, or anyone who has tried this? Thank you very much!
  5 answers
  • Karyn Lisk Karyn Lisk on Oct 27, 2013
    YEP! I did it! I have not posted my kitchen update as of yet, but…The short answer is yes! I had oak cabinets that were original to our home built in 1971! I made my own chalk paint and painted all of them. They look fantastic, cheap and very durable! No sanding, priming or major prep work!
  • Jenn Jenn on Oct 27, 2013
    Yes you can! There is no reason why you cannot redo you cabinets. We are planning on redoing ours as soon as funds are available. I plan on looking up many different ideas to see what I want to paint or how I want to decorate the wood. 1) http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/?gclid=CO64vqvKt7oCFWzxOgodv3wAZQ 2) http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets/index.html 3) http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/cabinets/makeovers/kitchen-cabinet-paint/
    • Donna Collins Donna Collins on Oct 27, 2013
      @Jenn Thanks so much for your advice and super websites! You don't know how much this helps!!
  • Jenn Jenn on Oct 27, 2013
    @Donna... You're welcome. I love looking up things online on how to do different things around the house. Hope you have fun with your kitchen! :-)
  • Karyn Lisk Karyn Lisk on Oct 27, 2013
    Below is the kitchen cabinets before, that are the original oak cabinets. I painted them with homemade chalk paint in "Behr" polar bear white. I added a layer of a homemade mix of aqua that was color matched to my shutters made into lighting, then put another coat of the white. After that I distressed them so the aqua would show through!
  • Donna the key with painting is cleaning the area first. If you want to paint, then you can buy a liquid deglosser and wipe down the cabinets and doors (be sure to take the doors and hardware off first!). A good primer, do not skimp on this (I use Zinsser and there is one specifically for this), and a good paint. Light coats of paint and primer and let dry between coats and let cure for a few days before putting hardware back on. Invest in good paint brush and good rollers. Take your time and try to do it in a place with out a lot of dust (I have had my cat jump up once and caused me all kinds of grief LOL). Good luck