One of my goals for the year included painting my bathroom cabinets. They were too modern and an ugly oak color that did not match my personal taste. But I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars buying and installing new ones. So the next best option was to paint them. If you google bathroom cabinet DIY you will find tons of blog posts and “how tos” that are very inspirational. The only problem? I was terrified to take on this project. I knew that if I failed – it would be a very expensive fail.  But in the end, my hatred of these cabinets was stronger than my fear. And now, at the end of August,  I am so excited to show off the results and hopefully inspire someone else to paint their bathroom cabinets. I learned a lot along the way so I’m sharing my cabinet painting tips.

And yes, it took me one whole month to finish. What can I say I move slow 🙂. In hindsight painting really wouldn’t take that long if I could dedicate myself to a week of work.  But, with a full time job and waiting for paint to dry, there’s only so much time to work on this project. So I painted whenever I had a moment or energy to spare. On the bright side, the Olympics were on TV for most of the month and I had a steady stream of gymnastics playing in the background to keep me entertained!

Here were my supplies:

• Palm Sander – I bought this one for another project (see here) and once again it came in handy – every household needs one of these!
• Sanding Blocks – Hand held sanding blocks help you get in the places the palm sander can’t reach.
• Painter’s Tape and a Tarp – Use painter’s tape and cover everything. The floors, the walls, the cabinet interiors, everything. Paint has a habit of splattering, at least when I use it. So cover more surface than  you think you need.
• Foam Brushes , Quality Brushes, Mohair Roller – I used a combination of these. Since I’m new to painting I was learning what worked best for me and what helped me keep things smooth. The foam brushes worked best with my primer, which was really thick. But I found that the roller, followed by feathering with a brush, yielded the best results when working with the actual paint.
• 1 qt. Zinsser Cover Stain Primer – I needed to use the best primer out there because the base of my cabinets were laminate, which requires a stronger than average oil-based primer. The doors themselves were wood, so they accepted paint better. This primer is strong but so stinky. The fumes from this gave me a headache but that’s what happens when you try to paint in a condo!
• 1 qt Benjamin Moore Advance Paint in Stonington Gray – From what I was reading I needed to get a “self-leveling” paint to get a smooth painted finish. It apparently dries very slow and “levels” as it dries and I have to say this paint was awesome. It went on beautifully and even my inexperienced hands could tell it was a quality paint the minute I started working with it.
• New hardware – This is of course optional, but when you redo cabinets its nice to give them an entire facelift. An affordable upgrade was these $3 knobs from Home Depot that I thought looked very classy!
• New faucets – Again, changing this is optional. But ours were moldy and gross from the previous owners. I wanted shiny old fashioned looking faucets. Ted and I spent a Sunday night installing these before the paint job – during this process I developed a new found appreciation for plumbers and the work they do.

Top Five Cabinet Painting Tips

1. Identify Your Cabinet Material – 

   This is so important. You need to know what material your cabinets are – wood, laminate, MFD, plastic, etc. Each material type affects what kind of prep, primer, and paint you should buy. If you mess up and buy the wrong one – you could do the best paint job in the world and the paint won’t adhere properly and your going to be very sad.  I knew my cabinet doors were actual wood, but could not figure out what material the frame of my cabinets was. On the outside it looked like wood but when I went to investigate the underbelly of the frame it was made of what look like compressed mulch. Most people would probably be able to identify what their material is pretty quickly but I’m still learning these things so I had to spend some time googling and looking at pictures online of cabinets (thrilling work) to figure it out. In the end it turned out to be laminated MFD board which meant I needed a special primer.

2. Sand – 

   When I set out to paint my cabinets I had no idea that I would actually spend so little of my time painting. Most of the work went into prep – and that meant sanding, sanding, and more sanding. You have to sand the frame and cabinets before you prime. Then after the second coat of prime. Then after the first coat of paint. I don’t know, maybe I over sanded, but from my research it seemed the best way to get a smooth cabinet finish and I was paranoid.  So I sanded a lot – which also meant I created a lot of dust and clean up for myself. Oh well. The cabinets look good and I’m convinced it’s because I sanded.

3. Invest In Good Paint – 

   After all the exhausting prep I did not want to ruin my hard work by purchasing the wrong paint. I spent hours research the right kind and finally settled on Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint series. It went on like glass and was perfect for a new DIYer like me.

4. Don’t Touch The Paint As It Levels –

   Because the paint I used was self leveling it took a long time to dry. However the paint does get sticky very quickly – which means that if you don’t work fast and decide to go over a sticky area with your brush again, you are going to ruin the paint’s leveling benefits. Its is very tempting to want to touch up additional areas with the paint. But, I found that it’s best to wait and fix imperfections with the second coat. Just remember to walk away as the paint is drying and don’t touch it! Trust that it will level.

5. Just Keep Moving Forward – 

   The scariest thing about this project is that there is no turning back once you start. After the sanding and the first coat of primer –  that’s it – you are committed! To make matters worse, the cabinets actually started to look worse before they got better. I didn’t know this at the time, but primer doesn’t typically cover a paint surface 100%. Meaning you can see through bits of it and mine actually dried a little rough. I panicked and spent an evening laying on the floor frantically googling what I did wrong.  But I kept moving forward, kept sanding, and had faith that I did my research. In the end it was NOT  a disaster and even Ted admitted that the mess I made was worth it!

And finally here are the before and after shots — voila!!!!

All in all this project cost me under $100 and a lot of time, but it was fun and well worth it in the end. I hope my cabinet painting tips are helpful and inspire someone to take on a project of their own. I’d love to see the results and offer any advice if I can. Just don’t be scared, if I can do it, anyone can do it. 🙂 Best of luck and happy painting !

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