How do you paint side of Kitchen Cabinets if not wood?

Since you have apparently already peeled enough of the wood print to see that there is cork beneath, I think you have a series of quick decisions to make. 1. Do you want to paint over the wood print? Then glue down any torn or rough edges, lightly sand any glue or other edges, and paint as you wish. 2. Do you want to remove the wood print but keep the cork? Use a hot hair dryer or a liquid remover like GooGone to peel the print adhesive off. Cover the cork with Gesso. Paint with chalk paint. 3. Is the cork thick enough to use as a low level bulletin board? Maybe you could display children's artwork at their eye level. 4. Do you want to remove the print and the cork? The cork is probably glued onto thin board for the side of the counter. You may have to use a chisel, paint scraper, sander, GooGone or other tools. Then sand the thin siding. Either paint or add new wood, removing and replacing the trim, too. Those are enough choices. Pick a treatment and try it. If that doesn't work, pick another! Best wishes.

Thank you so much for your reply. I was leaning toward removing the paper and painting but thought it would look to rough. I may try the gesso. Replacing with a thin piece of wood is also a good idea. Thanks again.

I had cabinets made of MDF covered in a white "plastic-like" covering. I removed the white plastic on the doors and sanded the MDF and then faux painted the cabinets with a tool that makes it look like wood grain. For areas that were too rough or difficult to remove (the boxes of the cabinets), I applied luan (it's like a thin rigid veneer used to make inexpensive doors) and trim moldings to look like routed cabinets. Then I painted/stained them to match the doors. Don't forget to add several coats of polyurethane to seal them and make them washable. Many people think they are real wood.

Mix 1/3 cup of plaster of Paris and 1/3 cup of cool water; stir until completely smooth. Mix that with 1 cup of latex paint and stir thoroughly. This will make enoughchalk-finish paint for one coat on a six-drawer dresser. Chalk-finish paint should not be stored and reused.