Kitchen Cabinet Refacing: Using Wall Paper!

Dawn Gagnon
by Dawn Gagnon
3 Materials
I always have to give each project I take on a good six months to test before I share with the general public. This idea was one of those projects and I think you'll want to give it a try.
As seen in the photograph above, this kitchen had dark, heavily lacquered cabinets. While some may like this look, for me it made the kitchen feel dark, dated and oppressive. The most inexpensive solution was to paint. However, I love bead board cabinetry but certainly did not want to go to the work and trouble of adding bead board to each and every cabinet face.
We decided to go with a high gloss paint to give the cabinets the bright cheerful feel, and to each panel, we used textured, paintable, pre-pasted wall paper.
Cabinets are holding up beautifully
Rather than soak each piece of measured to fit piece of wall paper, we simply painted on wall paper paste to the cabinet and pressed on to it our wall paper pieces. I know in many of you think soaking wall paper is easier for applying to walls instead of using wall paper paste, but I'm telling you it isn't. You don'get the breakage, and tears applying paste first and using the wall paper dry. It's much faster than you think.
This technique saved us a ton of money!
This technique has held up beautifully in a kitchen I cook in every single day. The project was inexpensive and I got the look I wanted at a fraction of the cost. The best part was, the cabinets needed no special preparation prior to doing this. I didn't even wipe them down, sand or strip them. Easy peasy!!
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  • Mary Coakley Mary Coakley on Jun 16, 2020

    Why paint.and.then.paper over it is it special.paper

    I Love your results and.hope.to brighten my kitchen

  • Carol S. Grap Carol S. Grap on Mar 03, 2022

    Is there anyway to remove the “painted-over wallpaper” when you want to change your back your cabinet doors? I love this idea!

  • Naomi Naomi on Nov 14, 2023

    Did you add the trim to the doors? My cabinet doors are just plain planks, but I really like the look of yours with the wall paper and the trim.

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