Day-by-Day journal of a 2022 Kitchen Cabinet Painting Project

In February 2022, we had one of our clients keep a photo diary of her experience with us so you would know what to expect when we paint your kitchen cabinets:

Color consultation:

A few weeks before the painting started, I worked with free CertaPro’s designer to choose new colors for my “orange-tone” cherry kitchen cabinets.  To hide the black appliances (which I couldn’t afford to change) we chose Sherwin Williams’ Black Fox for the bottom cabinets.  The top cabinets would be white.

Ordered new cabinet handle & hardware

I also ordered new cabinet handles that fit the same “screw footprint” as my old handles.  This meant that I had to make sure the screw holes on the new handles matched the current holes in the cabinet doors and drawers. CertaPro told me that if I chose handles that didn’t have the same “footprint” they would have to fill the holes and they may become obvious as time went on and the wood filler “sunk” into the cabinets.

Some hindsight:

• Buy paper plates, keep utensils and essentials like coffee in an easy-to-reach place.
• If you have a small fridge, plug it in and stock it with easy to make meals like sandwiches
• It’s a great time to toss expired items – I had some sprinkles that were from 2011!
• While the painters did a great job cleaning up, the dust got everywhere – plan on wiping down horizontal surfaces after the painters leave.
• I had to be really careful opening and closing the doors and drawers because the paint will be “fragile” for a few weeks while it cures.
• From start to finish, this project took about 1 week.  I didn’t have use of my kitchen for about 5 days.

Overall, painting our builders-grade cabinets modernized the look of our home and saved me from an expensive kitchen renovation.

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You also might like:

Our kitchen cabinet painting services, including our average cabinet pricing

Our DIY instructions, including all of our favorite products – if you’d like to tackle this job yourself

Our color consulting services – we can help you choose new kitchen cabinet colors

Written by: Paige NeJame – Franchise Owner

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Meredith “Paige” NeJame is a 1988 graduate of Boston College and is still surprised by how much she enjoys running a painting business. “It’s always fun to surprise customers with great service. They don’t expect it from a contractor”