Can I Paint My Kitchen Cabinets?

Painting kitchen cabinets isn’t especially difficult, but if done incorrectly, it can be an expensive mistake. In many situations, we paint our kitchen cabinets so we won’t have to replace them. However, using the wrong techniques and materials can cause less than satisfactory results. Today, we will offer a few helpful tips the pros use to make painting kitchen cabinets relatively easy and attractive.

What Kinds of Kitchen Cabinets Are Easy to Paint?

In most instances, if the cabinet can be sanded it can be painted. Wood cabinets are probably the most obvious, but some laminates can also be successfully painted as well as veneers. It might seem surprising, but most kitchen cabinets are not made from solid natural wood. Many manufacturers claim to provide solid wood cabinets, but in most cases, they really mean solid plywood. This is a good thing because otherwise, the cabinets would likely warp in the future.

Any wood cabinet can be painted, but adequate prep work will be required in some cases. For example, if you are preparing oak veneer cabinets for paint, you will want to seal and prime the surface first. In the factory, kitchen cabinets are often finished with an oil-based lacquer for their durability. However, most DIY painters will be using latex paints, which will likely struggle to bond with the lacquer. By lightly sanding and applying the primer first, the paint will have a much easier time giving you the look you want.

What Kinds of Kitchen Cabinets Are Hard to Paint?

Opinions vary, but in most situations, there are kitchen cabinets that should probably not be painted. These include vinyl, stainless steel, most laminates, and thermofoil. This is due to the texture and porosity of the surface, which are very smooth and thin. Nearly all paints stick better to rough surfaces, so part of the prep work involved in painting kitchen cabinets is sanding. These materials are not friendly to sanding, so more often than not paint will have difficulty adhering to the surface.

There are a few options however when working with these materials. Laminates like melamine have a hard, plastic-like surface that accepts primer fairly well, especially those primers designed for plastics. In most instances, melamine can be brush-painted, but because the surface is smooth it will leave brush marks. A better alternative is to spray paint them using a paint sprayer. If no sprayer is available, the next best option is to use a foam roller. These rollers are often small and leave no brush marks.

Thermofoil cabinets can sometimes be painted using sprayed paint as long as the surface is intact and not peeling. It is not recommended to brush paint thermofoil because the brush can cause unnecessary friction that could lift the thermofoil. Foam rollers also do a better job on thermofoil as they offer little friction as they move across the surface. Using paint and primer designed for use on plastics is recommended, however, to increase the chemical bond to the surface.