SW Dapper Tan

I would go with the almond since the counter and backsplash are dark. Maybe spray paint the hinges to match so they blend in for a cleaner look.

I like them white, but I do agree about painting the hinges.

Painted hinges will look terrible in a very short time - they should NEVER be painted - plated or powder coated okay, but not paint. There is little that I hate worse than painted hinges, especially when they have two or three coats of paint.

If she must paint the cabinets, matching the hood is a good idea. Matching the wall would make the room too boring.

I would repaint them white and replace the gold knobs for now. The hinges can stay black. She can bring in color with a rug in front of the sink and with accessories.

Perhaps you can find almond hinges, but I've spray painted them and they were OK....might be worth a try before you spend the $ on new hinges. Maybe a spray coat of poly would prevent any chipping.

If I were you, I'd try to persuade her to leave well enough alone. Clean the cabinets and save time and money for a makeover. To do a good job on all those cabinets, all the doors should be removed, all the hardware and hinges taken off and *marked* as to their location. It's a bear of a job and the return on investment (T and M) isn't worth it for a difference in color for 3 or 4 years. And I agree with publickman: Never paint hinges.

Thanks for all your comments. She is considering leaving everything as is, but I can't imagine it would be that hard to paint the cabinets. I've done a lot of painting myself.
If she does decide to paint, she would probably do the off white color even though the hinges show more. 4 years would be a long time looking at chipped paint on cabs!

Change the knobs to ORB, the hinges will blend right in. I agree on not putting the time and effort into painting the cabinets.

if she takes off a hinge and examines it, she may find the name of the manufacturer and be able to get new ones in a chrome metal. I personally do not like ORB on white, I prefer chrome or nickle color with white. I you wash them down with hot TSP water, and use a liquid sandpaper product, then wash down and dry, they may clean up well enough to do the one coat paint/primer all in one.

it is still a big to-do, and a few hundred dollars to do this, and I would agree with leaving them alone, and maybe just washing with TSP. especially if the real goal is to gut the place.

Clean the cabs and leave as-is or clean and repaint to match the hood. Don't paint hinges! Already, there are pops of black in the room with the appliances, so the black hinges don't seem out of place. I'd replace the gold knobs.

Painting the cabinets the right way is a lot of work. Sure, you can slap a coat of any old paint on, but if you want it to look good, and not chip you have to do the prep work first. That is always the most tedious job. If she's going to remodel the kitchen in 3 or 4 yrs, I'd just scrub everything really well and leave it alone.

I agree that 4 years is a long time to be looking at chipped cabinets. If she's willing to put in the time and cost of paint then there's no reason to hold off painting because they want to do a more extensive remodel in 3 or 4 years. Also, as an owner of a fixer upper that has been under a near constant state of remodel during the last 14 years, I know those "3-4" year projects sometimes get delayed even longer.

I think using a creamy white paint would work well if she's keeping the bisque appliances.

I have to agree with Juddgirl - paint a creamy white, but don't try to match the existing almond. Flat panel doors are the easiest to paint.

Definitely clean/degrease them well; TSP is awesome for that. Lightly sand the existing sheen off and any old paint runs/drips. Use a good primer (very important) and two coats of good paint. Lightly sand after the primer and between coats of paint - you may need 3 coats. I personally had great luck with SW Proclassic water based paint when I used it on a BR vanity - levels well.

Use good quality small foam rollers. If you don't like to see the slight "stipple" look from the roller, quickly go behind the roller with a good brush.

You CAN spray paint those hinges. My daughter replaced her knobs with a brushed nickel and could not find the right hinges and needed them in a hurry. She bought a can of Rustoleum brushed nickel paint - they still look perfect after 4 years.

The key is good prep, good products, and good assembly line organization :).

" I can't imagine it would be that hard to paint the cabinets."

It isn't hard to paint cabinets. It is a ton of work to paint a kitchen-full of cabinets well.

The doors must be removed. The hinges & knobs must be removed. The hinges & knobs need to go back on the same door in the same position, so they must be meticulously marked & stored. The doors and frames need to be sanded. They should be primed. Then the primer needs to be sanded. Then you need to wipe off the sanding dust, and put on a first coat of paint. That coat needs to be sanded & wiped before putting on a second coat. Sanding/priming/sanding/painting/sanding/painting frames is not as easy as sanding/priming/sanding/painting/sanding/painting doors.

We painted a former kitchen many years ago. Between raising young kids & jobs, it took us about a month. But the results were beautiful and lasted many years (sanding & primer were key to a nice finish and no chipping).

Tibbrix, that Dapper Tan looks fabulous. You have such a sophisticated eye for color.

This post was edited by awm03 on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 13:26

Thanks Awm! Lol, everyone else bypassed it! I thought it would look wonderful with black hardware, with the black appliances, the brown and black granite, and the light tan wall, not to mention the white sink, stovetop, and window trim.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again, but here is something else to consider.

Temporary fixes sometimes turn into long, long term or permanent fixes.

A few years go by, you fully intend to redo it but then -

you have other expenses pulling at your wallet and it stills looks okay so why change it?

or 1/2 of the couple (and I'm not pointing the finger at any one gender) thinks didn't we just spent time and money on this? why are we redoing it already? We need to do x or y or z before we redo this.

or now there are kids and schedules and life in the way and it's easier to just keep it as is because it's still okay.

Maybe if she doesn't make any significant changes now, it will help keep her focused on saving and planning for the kitchen and improvements she really wants and she can save herself the trouble of the temporary fix.

IâÂÂd probably send myself further into insanity by stripping one of those bottom doors down to see what sort of wood is hiding there. If itâÂÂs something good IâÂÂd be tempted to do a two tone... beautiful wood bottoms and leave the top and hinges for now. I think two tone is very charming in older kitchens. If I was happy with the results and after I got over how much work the bottoms where I might then do the top.

Tibbrix, my son & DIL just bought their first home. It has an awful kitchen, and unfortunately, the house needs a new roof ASAP, so there goes the kitchen money. Looks like we'll be painting cabinets :) I think my DIL would love Dapper Tan -- will make a point to show it to her.

I think that color would give a kitchen a very warm, rustic, but also contemporary look and feel. I like kitchens that feel more like a living room than a kitchen, so an oriental rug on the floor, rich cabinetry, etc.

I have the more horrible cabinets in America. One of the drawers even came apart on my last (thank goodness!) tenants this year! Lol. But I just cannot afford new ones. Fortunately, I don't care all that much. :-)

omg, Tibbrix, I think you have solved a few problems my DIL's awful kitchen -- use a warm rustic-but-contemporary color scheme, & mask the ugly floor with a rug. That will detract somewhat from the hodgepodge of 1970s appliances & formica that they can't replace yet. Thanks for making her kitchen less depressing ;)

Karenseb, your daughter's kitchen looks really nice as is: sunny, spacious, pretty floor & granite. Refreshing the cabinet fronts will make it so very pretty.

This post was edited by awm03 on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 16:54

"Chipped cupboards" BEGS the questions so why would you re-do something that doesn't stand up to the long haul. For two -three years she is going to put hours and hours into something that will re-chip...I agree with daughter. Live with it as is. Five years will fly by. Either spend the money to have them spray lacquered or get all knew. Hand-painting is an investment in future work!!

A GOOD paint job, using QUALITY products will not chip that easily.

Like I said earlier, I painted a BR vanity about 5 years ago - not a scratch or chip one. It was a challenge for me to paint that vanity as professionally as I knew how (did lots of research) just so I could say I could do it and also to practice for my kitchen cabinets. I went into it knowing I could buy a NEW vanity if I wanted to. I know a BR vanity does not get the wear and tear that kitchen cabinets, but still.

My DD painted her kitchen cabinets right after I painted the vanity (it was their inspiration) and she does not have any chipping paint anywhere. They were ugly, cheap, pickled oak; she felt like she had nothing to lose; they are beautiful now.

If that were mine, I would thoroughly scrub the cabinets with a mild soap and water, take a door to the hardware store and have them match the color. Buy a quart in the correct sheen and a small craft brush. Touch up all of the visible chips. Replace/paint the gold knobs with inexpensibe black or ORB (whatever matches the hinges) and call it done for now. Oh, and add a simple, colorful valance or shade to that window and few coordinating accessories.

At least in the photo, none of it is offensive enough that I would bother to do all of the work to repaint if they plan on redoing the whole thing in a few years. I really like the wall color.

Thanks for all the replies. If it was my kitchen, I would probably paint it if I had to wait 4 or 5 years to replace the cabs. I'm usually a patient person and have done my share of waiting for improvements, but there are some areas that are worse than others and do not show up in pics. I like the idea of doing touch ups and will see if my daughter is wanting to try that. The color of the cabinets look so much better since she painted the walls.
I think new inexpensive bronze knobs would help.

If paint is chipping, then it's likely that proper prepartation wasn't done when they were firrst painted. Yes, you can can sand and clean the existing paint, before recoating, but if that old coat didn't bond with the underlying surface, there will always be a risk of future chipping. That said, properly painting cabinets is a fair bit of work...but it can also be rewarding, for minimal cost if you are a DIY type. I have found that some hinges can be painted, and some can't. My husband spray painted the Gold door hinges that came with our house, with a nickel spray paint...13 years later, they still look good.

Hello Karenseb! What a wonderful kitchen she got there! If its my kitchen I would repaint it as well. I would go for safe colors like off white or dark brown for the cabinets.

1st thought was touch up the knicks. 2nd thought was why tear it up?