Painting Kitchen Cabinets?
Question:I'd like to repaint the white kitchen cabinets in my new house. I suspect these have a coat of 50's green underneath several coats of white.
I'd like to go with a darker "woodier" color. Should I paint them, or stain them? [I don't want to replace due to insufficient resources - otherwise I'd gut the kitchen]
What are the steps to follow in painting or staining? I have read that I need to be stripping the paint, or at minimum, sanding the top coat. But, I realize that I would need to completely strip the paint to stain (and, is staining possible on these types of cabinets)?
Answers:
If you want it to resemble wood, I think you should have all of the paint removed. It might be very hard to do, but they could very well be beautiful cabinets underneath all of that paint. Staining is only going to work if you remove all of the paint and sand them sufficiently to expose the wood grain. This isn't going to be a do it yourself job. It might be a good idea to get the paint removed by a professonal.
The second option would be to clean the cabinets thoroughly followed by a light sanding and them paint them a nice chocolate brown. This is something that would take your a while by yourself, but it would definitely be manageable. I painted my cabinets about 2 weeks ago and it most of the work in an hour and a half. Just be sure to take the doors off. I think painting them chocolate brown and buying stainless steel appliances would look really elegant.
The third option would be for you to just have the cabinets professionally refaced. It would be like getting new cabinets without the huge expense.
Honestly, if you shopped around and took measurements, you might be able to have the kitchen gutted. I know someone whoe gutted their kitchen and rebuilt it for about 6000 and it looks much more expensive.
I just finished painting my kitchen cabinets...what I did was to clean the cabinets with a TSP subsititute cleaner (gets all the grime off easily), sanded the gloss off, and primed with two coats of an oil based primer (you can request that the primer be tinted towards the color you want the top coat to be)...then I followed with two coats of the color of my choice (high gloss or semi gloss is best for kitchen cabinets because it's easy to clean).
I don't know exactly how to stain cabinets, but you'd have to strip off all the old paint, sand the surface down to bare wood, then restain. If you are going to go this route, I suggest you try it on a small area first. There's no way to tell if the cabinets are even of a quality enough wood to consider staining until you try a little corner first.
Hope this helps...
Rita had good advice. Can you find a spot on a cabinet to test? See how many layers of paint are on the cabinets?
Maybe you can remove the doors, and strip and sand those, then stain them. Then paint the cabinet portion in a color that suits the stain color or the wall color. I painted the insides of my kitchen cabinets, and it was a lot of work! I didn't have to strip and sand, just wash them and then put on various coats of primer and paint. And we were trying to live there at the same time, so I could only do one at a time. Good Luck!
Because of insufficient resources ... I would suggest paint
If you do try stain... there is alot of time and money you will invest trying to get a like-able job. that is if the wood is even worth staining. Painting is less work and there are numerous ways to give you that stain look. ask your local paint dealer or painter ,you will be surprised.
My first question is how much time do you have to commit to this project? Are you willing to spend a weekend, a week, a month, or even a year? Are you going to be able to live in conditions that are considerably less desirable than you are used to? If you are ok with a lengthy time-frame, and you don't mind making a few sacrifices in comfort and convenience, maybe they would be worth stripping and staining. Be warned, however, that it will be a serious undertaking, and you might find, once you get all the paint off that you are working with a wood that is not suitable for staining - definitely test a spot first. Unless you put the existing top coat of paint on yourself, I strongly discourage any sanding, as there could be lead in the paint, and the more layers you go through, the better the odds of the presence of that dangerous substance. If you decide to go the route of stripping down to bare wood, keep in mind there are several products available, and they all have their own purpose. There are 'green' products available (mostly citrus based), but they are significantly slower than the more noxious varieties. Please contact your local hazardous waste collection facility for advice on the handling of the stripped paint. If you decide to go the route of painting, get them clean - a tsp substitute would be a good choice - then follow with a chemical deglosser. I would recommend applying 2 thin coats of a premium latex primer, and allow 24 hours between coats. As far as the paint goes, I like Behr's kitchen and bath paint because it is not obnoxiously shiny, but is approximately the equivalent of rolling on liquid steel (it's tough stuff). Again, two coats, 24 hours between. For the smoothest finish, use a high-density foam roller wherever possible. Keep in mind that latex paint requires 30 days to fully cure, so use care when handling for the first month. Have fun and good luck.
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