Painting My Kitchen Cabinets
April 30th, 2021
When we moved into our new house, everything was nearly perfect. That is, with the exception of the wood kitchen cabinets which I already knew I wanted to paint white from the first day we did our walk-through. Against the insistence of my fiancé that the cabinets were “fine the way they are,” I decided that if I wanted my modern kitchen vision to come true, I’d have to do the damn thing myself. And I did just that.
Repainting kitchen cabinets is a hell of a job.
When I started this project, I knew it would be a bit of work. What I didn’t know is that my manicure would be destroyed in the the first few hours of labor. And yet, I kept going. I had to unscrew, sand, clean, prime, paint, paint again, and paint AGAIN for days on end. Did I say days? I meant weeks. The whole project took about 3 weeks of full-time work but believe me, it felt like more.
When I want something, nothing can stop me, and I’ll work hard to figure out a way to get it. Painting these cabinets was my goal and while I worked and the weeks passed by, I grew impatient and anxious for my project to be finished with already. But patience is a MUST for this type of project. If you rush it, it’s going to show in the craftsmanship and you’ll regret it. Take your time, do it right.
One thing I learned the hard way was to clean dust/dirt from the grooves and corners of each door really well after sanding and before painting.
Once or twice in the beginning, I didn’t wipe the cabinet door down well enough and I noticed the paint didn’t go on smoothly. There were little tiny grainy bits mixed in with the paint that did not look right. I fixed it moving forward but it’s one of those things you don’t think about.
Another tip, go section by section.
Meaning, rather than attack the whole kitchen at once, section the project up. I am so glad I did this because I realized that by working in sections, I still had the use of my kitchen during the length of the project. It was messy, sure, but I was still able to cook and get dinner on the table which saved us any huge disruptions in our daily routine.
The finished product was WELL worth it!
After the ruined manicure and weeks of wearing hobo-looking painters clothes, now, I wake up every day to a gorgeous, bright kitchen that I am absolutely in love with! All said and done, those 3 weeks of hell is giving me years of happiness in a kitchen that feels like me. And that is what I told myself over and over again while I was in the midst of cabinet-hell lol.
Are you repainting cabinetry at your house? Let me know below in the comments!
With love,
Ashley Jo
