Re-painting kitchen cabinets

Frith

My kitchen must be 20+ years old and is wood look, dark units with various non-matching shelves.

What I want to know is: how do I go about re-painting them? Thought I would paint all the woodwork in a lighter colour and update things a bit.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

nickj_2

1st thing is preparation , the doors must be given a good sand down - i would use a 120 grade paper , then washed down with sugar soap - the surface must be very clean , no grease etc , then give them a coat of either supergrip primer or zinsser BIN primer http://www.zinsseruk.com/shop/Product.aspx?cId=130&pgId=354then 2 coats of waterbased satinwood would be ideal

Leif

nickj wrote: »

then give them a coat of either supergrip primer or zinsser BIN primer

I used BIN on some architraves and I think it is horrible stuff to apply. It dries rapidly and so you have to work fast, and the brush becomes a mess. Perhaps there is a better method of application, but I would try t'other suggestion. As far as I know BIN is basically knotting (shellac) with a white dye, and I applied knotting with a cloth, so perhaps a cloth is the better way to apply BIN.

nickj_2

you can thin bin primer with meths , and clean your brush out with it as well

Waterlily24

Frith, when you say wood look what do you mean?

retepetsir

Subscribed to this thread as I'm also considering painting ours! Can't afford a replacement kitchen at the moment.

bishboshbluebell

I am currently living through painting my melanine cupboard doors! Firstly, it will take far far longer then you planned, painting and drying the doors is a real pain BUT the results are looking really good. I've painted 2 coats of melanine base cover and 3 coats of white eggshell. Already finished my kick boards and they look fab. The most important thing is preping the doors properly. We gave ourselves a budget to replace the worktops, fit new handles and the paint - the total cost is an absolute fraction of the price of a new kitchen - this buys us a couple more years to save up. Good luck!

mmy

Hi I was very apprehensive about painting my kitchen cuPboards after reading so much about it, but I painted them yesterday and am absolutely thrilled with them. The kitchen is about 17 years old, and the doors were White MDF, with a raised centre section and a thin grey line around, with the grain of the 'wood' visible. I used Ronseal one coat kitchen cupboard paint and it was so easy to use. Must admit, it was the 'one coat' which attracted me! I did spent a day on preparing, sugar soaping the whole kitchen, sanding the doors, wiping down again - in fact, my kitchen had never looked so clean! The painting is just like painting gloss paint and it's touch dry within 2 hours. Today am fitting handles ( nice posh ones from my friend's old kitchen, which have been sitting in my shed for a year!) - and I have a new looking kitchen for very little money.
Wish I had done this before; I have hated my kitchen for years, but not any more!!

mishmogs

hello,

DH and I painted and overhauled our kitchen last year and am very pleased with the results. We used the ronseal kitchen cupboard paint (2 tins) and as others have said, prepping is the key. You really must sand the doors down for a key. Bought some new handles to fit the existing holes (no extra filling of holes or drilling new ones), bought new kick boards and achitrave and it looks fab. We ended up buying good old sticky back plastic to do some of the end panels and applied new sealant. Total cost of all materials was about £500 (got loads of units). It did take us some time tho, about 4 weekends but it was worth it. Take your time and enjoy your new kitchen at the end. :D

retepetsir

Can any of you post some pictures? Very interested in doing this to our kitchen in our first house as we can't afford to drop thousands on a new one!

It's a late 80's kitchen so could do with updating.

Thanks