If you paint them yourself, you need to carefully research the best finish. My DH is an excellent painter and he painted our old kitchen cabs (which were already painted when we bought the house) with wall paint. The DIY paint chipped constantly and looked streaky. If you washed the cabinet, it looked awful. It was not at all comparable to a factory finish. This may have been impacted by the underlying paint or just the age of the poor quality cabinets, but it turned me off to painted cabinets.

I hope you have better luck.

Donaleen - Did you paint using a brush then? What is involved in touching up? Just adding paint or do you have to sand, prime and paint?

Dilly - your experience is what scares me about painting kitchen cabinets. However, ours will be new wood, so perhaps this will make a difference?

When DIY painting of kitchen cabinets - should one put some sort of protective top coat on as well?

Yes, painted with a brush. A good brush is important. So is good paint. I am sure you can find lots of good detailed directions for how to paint cabinets on the web or from your paint store.

As for touching up, be sure the surface is clean. Today's latex paint is pretty easy to touch up with.

there is much better paint than wall paint for cabinets. I painted the trim of a skylight...the part that gets opened to the outside elements and exposed to UV/humidity/raindrops on occasion/fog/etc, Sherwin Williams trim paint. it's as good as new. go to the paint store and look at the excellent paint for cabinets/trim/etc. Paint gets a lot of reasearch with all the acrylics and polymers and constantly improving formulas. With good surface prep and priming you can have a good result with high grade materials and procedures. Be up for the task and it can be rewarding. May not last 15-20 yrs but you'll love that you did it/picked your own color and over time cleaned and touched up.Just don't get the fanciest/most expensive door, so you can accept it is not like a factory product... and those few uneven spots don't bug you to kingdom come. I wouldn't do it if the pristine formality of a space is critical or there are MANY doors/drawers. You can always find a local person to do this if you find it daunting or too much.

Why in the heck would you expect wall paint to hold up to any type of traffic? OMG. If you scrub a wall too hard the paint will come off.

As it's been said a gudzillion times before, you get what you put into it. There are a 100 threads on how to paint and do it right.

If you're (or anyone) isn't up to the task, have it done professionally. Don't confuse a bad experience with painted cabinets with crappy prep work, the wrong type of paint, and someone in a hurry.

What donaleen said. We ordered unfinished maple cabinets for our remodel last year and by recommendation from our great paint store, used BM Advance primer and paint. Still looks great a year later and was great to work with and we're certainly no professionals. ;)
It's a matte-type finish and very easily to wipe down and clean. I also love that if we need to, we can touch it up ourselves. And, if I--or a subsequent owner--tire of the color, they can easily be painted again.

Hlove - I just asked you some questions in another thread. :-)

I am leaning toward BM Advance Paint. Do the others in this thread consider this a good choice - i.e. not wall paint?

This is a HUGE undertaking and these are brand new cabinets. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision.

Thanks everyone!

Jeri

I like BM but have not used their Advance line. I have tried some of their other new lines (Aura, Select) and have not liked them so much. I do like Regal Classic. Why? I like how it goes on, how it touches up. Both Aura and Select are more difficult to apply, the colors don't have the same "look". I would experiment a bit before deciding.

My cabs are painted with BM Satin Impervo Waterborne. Many of us here have used the Satin Impervo in either the waterborne or the oil to good effect. I was afraid of the oil yellowing over time, which would not look good with my grayish marble. From what I've read here, a regular paint job on cabs will not compare long-term with a sprayed pre-cat lacquer or conversion varnish for durability.

I found BM White Dove to be grayish with a sickly yellow-green undertone in my light. Just be sure you've painted a large board or paper with your color choice and have moved it around the room various times of night and day to be sure you like the color in varying degrees of light and places.

jeri-I answered your questions on the other thread. :)

BM Advance rocks. I really thought Satin Impervo was the best paint on the market, that is, until I used Advance. It has an almost glass-like finish and the coverage is incredible. I did all of my woodwork and doors with it and a year later they are still perfect. I just wish I had found it BEFORE I spent weeks painting my office oak cabinetry with Satin Impervo. The finished product is night and day. I plan on painting my oak kitchen this summer

Appreciate the input SparkleLib!

Now I need to find some tutorials... I watched a video on Young House Love. She used a brush to get into the crevices then used a foam roller for the rest - shaker style just like mine. That looks easy enough, but I keep reading that foam rollers are bad!

I just don't want to screw these doors/drawers up!