I have old 70's metal cupboards in my kitchen and want to paint them...any suggestions on how?
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Answers:
If you can remove the doors do so. Then you can paint them outside.
Also remove any hardware and either replace or save to put back on when finished painting.
Light sand any areas you want to paint with fine grit sand paper 400 grit or more. Wash throughly to remove grease and dust. Tape and mask off areas around the cabinet parts you couldn't remove.
Prime everything. Then spray with either a Lacquer based paint or a good Enamel based paint in the color of your choice.
You can get by without the primer coat if you want to skip that step but it will make the paint last much longer. If you do prime make sure the primer matches the type of paint you plan on using.
You'll have to have very good ventilation when you paint. So wait till its cool enough to have the windows open.
You will have to clean and sand them for the paint to stick. I would use a primer first and since they are in a kitchen, I would use an enamal paint even though it is messier to deal with. If you aren't going to be there forever, use a latex paint. For easy clean up, get at least a semi-gloss.
Been there.
Sand them to give you something to stick to. Clean them with Ammonia. (BE CAREFUL_) They have to be spotless.
I used "KILZ" to prime mine because they were dark and streaked. I painted them 2 coats of latex enamal-inside and out. Then I glued off-white lacey ribbon to face the shelves inside.
The color was off-white to match my old furniture.(before shabby was chic-) I sprayed the first coat, and brush painted the second to have "texture." New Wooden knobs in RED.(Matched my curtains.).
They looked great and everyone thought they were wood. Even my landlord was amazed.
Clean them real good first, get any grease and oil off. Sand all the rough spots down smooth, especially the edges so you wont have any marks.
If it's one small metal cabinet get a coupe of cans of enamel spray from Wal-Mart, pick the gloss you want, "High, "satin" or "Low" in the kitchen I would go with a high gloss.
Take it outside if possible, the garage would be best where there are no insects to get caught in the fresh paint. Otherwise you'll smell up the entire house, go from there, follow directions on the can if you have never sprayed before.
Take your time, go slow.
lightly sand and use any good spray paint for metal.
Clean, sand, and wipe down the dust. Spraying will give the best finish. Otherwise there are small foam rollers the leave a nice smooth finish, I wouldn't brush them. Definitely use primer if you expose bare metal sanding, the paint won't stick.
Remove the handles even if they are to be the same color and paint seperately to avoid runs around them.
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