I personally would never do that myself UNLESS I was quite talented. Painting walls and painting cabinets aren't the same. It would worry me the finish would wash off IF NOT properly prepared and applied.

NOW that said, I have a brother in law that I would let paint or build me anything and feel confident. It depends on your skills.

I painted my old oak cabinets myself and it was A LOT of work!!!!!!!!!!! I had no idea how time consuming and difficult it would be and I have a small kitchen. I think you could do it, but it's going to take you a long time to do all those cabinets. I'm happy with my results, but I'm not sure I would take on a project like that again. Here are a couple of pics...

Before
{{gwi:1690650}}

After
{{gwi:1690651}}

Kelly

NOt a big job, a HUGE job. Sanding everything down and then two coats of primer and two topcoats, (that's with no glazing, which adds 3 more steps) all the while keeping track of which door goes to which cabinet is a several month long job if tackled part time. It's not the speedy 1/2 day slap some paint on the doors and go that the makeover shows like to portray it as being. A good quality paint job is all in the prep, and the better sanding and priming jobs that you can do, the better the topcoat will look.

I painted the cabinets in our small first kitchen. I had one baby at the time.

I had already painted all the trim in the house, the walls and ceilings, all the doors and the bathroom cabinets, but I was not prepared for this.

It was a helluva lot of work, it made me crazy and I have not been the same since.

IMHO, hiring a good painter is money well-spent.

I had already prepped and painted my kitchen cabinets twice in years past! I once painted my cabinets country blue (1986) and then black (1996). Like pecanpie, I had also painted all of the woodwork in my house, as well. So most recently, and for the third time, I repainted the frames of these now 21-year-old cabinets, which are still in excellent condition. Also this time, I painted the insides of my cabinets white and after getting new doors, drawers and drawer fronts, I prepped and painted those with a color called spice ivory. I would advise hiring a good painter. Painting cabinets is hard work!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Painted Cabinets

I did mine as well. I worked on it after work and weekends and took a few weeks. Here are the before an after. If you decide to hire someone, check how they will be prepping and painting. No point in paying someone to just slap paint on them.

I would scuff sand and then use Bullseye 1-2-3 primer and then probably Cabinet Coat paint.

I had painted cabinets at my first house, so this was kitchen two. I had painted a lot of trim work, including 2 flights of spindles. It was a lot of work. Just go slow, such as painting a few doors every evening after work, rather than rushing through it.

As far as cost, I would guestimate around $2000.00 of course it depends where you live and how many cabinets you have.

Not as good pics...from cell phone.

I sanded and finished all of my cabinets, which meant LOTS of sanding (raw wood- new cabinets- no old stuff to take off) and then 6 coats outside and 3 coats inside of finish. It was really tedious towards the end, and you dont even have to be as meticulous with wipe/brush on finishes as you have to be with paint.....I dont think I'd have been as comfortable painting them.

when you painted your oak cabinets, did the grain still show under the paint?

We painted ours. It was a bear, and ours were basically white to begin with (though discolored and yellowed and had a smokers haze on them). We spent money on a paint sprayer, *quality* bonding primer, and quality paint and after all was done we estimate we spent close to a $1000 on materials alone. Since we were novices we had a lot of overspray and went through paint a lot quicker than a pro would have.

We did get an estimate to have them painted. I had to be revived after they quoted me $3500! If I ever need to repaint again, I'll just replace the dang cabinets!

Totally off-topic, as it turns out, but I laughed when I read the title because I'm painting my kitchen right now!
But I'm not painting the cabinets - I'm painting everything else. I've painted every other room in my house, but this is the hardest job I've ever done in my life!

My cabinets are all along one wall and I have a breakfast bar attached to the opposite wall. The adjoining walls have two doors and a wood trim around doors and windows. What a PITA trying to get into the corner without getting paint on the cabinets,and it's a lot small areas that are too narrow to get at with a roller.

Not at all relevant to your post, as it turns out, but I had to vent. It was a really scary process and I'm afraid what I'll find when I take the painters tape off today.

I did, with no previous experience. It took 3 months of work -- most evenings and all weekend. Huge job, but it came out really nice. No way I would be able to do it now that I have kids, though. Way too time intensive. I sanded everything down, then applied three coats of paint and then 3 thick coats of low sheen poly so that the cabs would be washable without risking damage to the paint -- it worked; I used to scrub those cabs with a scotchbrite and nothing happened to the finish. The poly also helped to blend the brush strokes so that it looked like a factory finish. I did not thin the paint, but I did use very small amounts of paint for each coat. I didn't fill in the graining of the oak -- wanted it to still look like real wood doors.

Here's the results:

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted Kitchen

I just finished painting a bathroom vanity cabinet. It is the same cabinet type and finish that is in my kitchen.

Mind you, this is only 1 small cabinet with 1 door and 3 drawers but it was not very difficult. The cabinet was pickled oak.

I took all the hardware off and removed the door and drawer face from the boxes. I then cleaned everything with Dirtex and sanded all surfaces with fine-grit. Then I primed with SW bonding primer. Sanded again. I then painted on 2 coats of SW ProClassic in Ivoire.

The cabinet looks very nice (much better than pickled oak). I am considering doing the kitchen too but that's a lot more cabinets so I will get a quote first to see if it's worth it to pay someone to do it for me.

evoking1, to address your questions:

"Did you regret doing it yourself?"
There were times during the process that I regretted my decision to do the painting myself. Remember that the prep part is just as important for a great finish and durability. But if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and invest great time and effort, then go for it. After it's all said and done, you'll be proud of yourself and will save yourself a chunk of money.

"My kitchen isn't exactly small and also has some detail as well..."

You're right about that. Your kitchen is much more complicated than mine. Maybe you could arrange to do the prep work, to a painter's specifications, and just pay the painter to paint only. Are you an expert with computers or could you perhaps offer some other service in trade? We learned that our cabinet guy needed to learn how to use his computer, so my DH is working with him. Perhaps barter for services could be worked out with a painter in your area.

I did it once in a small kitchen. Took several months and it turned out fabulous--I am having trouble picking out factory-painted cabinets now because I don't think they look good enough.

If my current kitchen were salvageable, I'd consider painting the cabinets but in a way I'm glad it isn't. It is SOOOooooo much work and I don't know if I could pull it off at my age (or if I could get that wonderful paint I used--we can't get the good stuff in CA).

Remove doors, hardware, wash with TSP, sand lightly, wipe down, paint with oil-based enamel, sand lightly, wipe down, paint, sand lightly, wipe down, paint, reassemble.

Ha. I was pretty lucky that paint stuck!

I have painted all the walls in my house at least once and I had every intention of painting my kitchen cabinets too, (pumped up by the success stories I read here), but life got in the way and I ended up hiring painters. We kept the cost down by removing the doors, hinges and handles, TSP'ing the doors, sanding and later putting on the new hardware and rehanging the doors. The painters took the doors and drawers away and sprayed them and painted the cabinets.
I have to say that after emptying out the cupboards and drawers, washing everything, culling (out went the 3 extra funnels, the 2 extra rolling pins and the hundred year old pasta and spices wayyyyyyyy in the back of the pantry, etc) and then putting everything back, I was glad I had hired the painters!

I'll pipe in and say that while it may be time consuming and tedious it is SO worth it if you are the type to take matters into your own hands and feel comfortable painting. Being organized with a work schedule will keep the project going. That being said if money is not a consideration, hire it out but I do think the estimates of 1000.00 and higher are probably right, not so much for the skill, it'll be the labor that'll rack up the $$$

Timeline-

Weekend 1- Wash and prep doors, remove doors and hardware, sand it all down. Clean up, prep for painting, designate a workstation for the weeknight painting. During the week work on priming.(number doors and cab's).

Weeks 2&3- paint cabinets and doors. A few painted every night and drying time allowed.

Week 4- Hopefully the end is in sight and you can put your kitchen back together this last weekend.

Seeing your cabinets bare and exposed, compell you to clean, organize and purge them, so really you do have a new kitchen when your done!!!

never_ending -- I love your enthusiasm, but your schedule is a little unrealistic for the size of the kitchen in OP's pictures. Working on my kitchen 10-12 hours per day of real work -- not a little here, rest there, a little more, but actual work -- on weekends, plus 3-4 hours on weeknights, it took me 3 months from start to finish, including a full month of prep for a much smaller kitchen.

If I had that kitchen and that kind of time now, I would do it again in a heart beat. But it was a much bigger job than I anticipated when I started.

One other thing that I haven't seen discussed yet -- painting the kickplates and other nooks and crannies of the already-installed cabinets was VERY difficult and painful. A lot of time spent on my belly squinting into corners to get that done right.

Sarschols-

I didn't mean it in as a set in stone timeline, just as a guideline that there would be WEEKS of painting, and weeks of still living in a kitchen with no doors, and hours every night painting, and one weekend for the hardware and doors to back up, and the next month getting things back together...but I am trying to be positive and not let the idea painting the cabinets is too much to attempt, we all did it and lived! lol Basically I was responding to the fact it isn't a weekend of painting. You are absolutely right there is a lot of work to be done.

Everyone's painted cabinet examples look so nice, so professional! I'm thinking of going red someday. Sarschlos remodeler, do you remember the color red you used? Very lovely.

Also, Igloochic has lots of good advice on painting cabinets. The following is one of her posts:

"I only use high quality nylon (Purdy) brushes. I prefer them for wood finishes. They cost more but they last forever! I did have the primer tinted, and tinted it's kind of light purple color LOL so it looks funny until you start putting more paint on. They hate tinting it, but make them do it anyhoo!
Don't let anyone talk you into anything different (they always try to with me and it's never worked out). This is exactly what I use:

Primer
Sherwin Williams PrepRite ProBlock Interior Exterior Seals and Bonds, Latex primer (it's the most expensive...but if you don't like sanding or using chemicals to prep, this is the stuff for you!). I've never had to sand or strip first using this on the worst shiny stuff.

Paint
Sherwin Williams Exterior All Surface Glass Enamel
Code IFC411X
Woodsy Brown 100% mix formula 2924 (color code)
They use Acrylic Latex HIGH GLOSS Ultradeep base 6403-25932
Code A41T00204

Do not take a less glossy finish. This finish dries HARD and rich :) (There's a man joke in there somewhere but I'll avoid making it)

I use one coat primer and let it dry a day at least, then two coats (one day between at least) of paint with a good Purdy brush (which is important). With just one coat the grain still effects the paint, but with the two on top of the primer you get that nice smooth look :)

I'm a paint freak, so forgive me for saying this if you know. Don't use rollers for wood. I like a 1 1/2 inch and a 2 1/2 or 3" brush at the most. The smaller works well on the small areas so you don't drip or oversmear the sides of the project."

We've painted our last kitchen (enormous, new cabinets) and will paint the ones in the new house. It helps a LOT if the interior of the cabinets and drawers are already finished; our new ones are all finished with a conversion varnish. It was the insides of everything that gave DH fits.

Good luck! Kate.

I don't mean to say it's not worth it -- but just want to forewarn that it is not some weekend HGTV-style project.

seedsilly, I don't recall the paint color. It was a cheap Lowes brand paint, pulled the color right off of one of their idea cards, but that didn't seem to impact the strength of the finish -- presumably because I applied 3 very thick coats of satin finish poly on top.

I did this summer. I am a teacher so I had the summer off which was lucky because it took ALL SUMMER to finish. These were new cabinets, trim, crown moulding and walls so there was a heck of a lot of prepping and filling and sanding and caulking. It was exasperating and tedious and therapeutic and satisfying.

If you have time (or patience) and like working with your hands, go for it! If I was to do it again however, I would be really tempted to hire it out if I could get a decent deal.

I recommend a paint called Cabinet Coat. really forgiving and dries to a hard, smooth, easily cleanable finish.

Good Luck!

Hi. I'm Growlery, and I'm a serial painter.

I have painted my whole kitchen and my ugly laminate cabinets, inside and out, a few times since I moved in. It took me a weekend each time. (Medium size kitchen. Slab cabinets. Farrow & Ball eggshell on most cabinets, F&B eggshell & Benjamin Moore eggshell on others. I even forgot to wash them first. I was tired. Painted different elements different numbers of times, so I can't declare I painted "the kitchen X times".) It has made it tolerable until I can renovate, which I'm working on now.

Good paint should hold up to reasonable washing and wear. Go to a good paint store and tell then what you want to do with it, and get their advice. If it sounds overwhelming, they're your best source to get a list of recommended painters, so it's 2 birds/1 stone. They know who's nice, who's paying their bills (or not), who the other guys are complaining about. I found a fantastic, inexpensive exterior painter through my local paint store!

In fact, I painted the whole interior of my house. A few rooms I disliked the color or repaired something and repainted that. So I have saved tens of thousands on painting. I can't do everything, but I can do this.

I think you could do at least some of it. Inside the cabinets and the island (which is mostly well below eye level, so will never get close scrutiny) will save you hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars. Any bit you can do is worth it. Use one of those small foam rollers so you don't get too much texture. Don't slop on the paint.

If it comes out too bad, you can always have someone paint over it. The ONE thing you can do with thick, shiny paint that is long-term bad is to put on too much paint so that you wake up the next day and find it has dripped and slumped into the ridges of the molding or other details, or dripped in a wave down the face of the cabinet. You might want to leave surfaces with a lot of detailing to an expert.

Some of whether you can/should do it depends on how much of a perfectionist you are. I'm definitely not one.

Debbie_2008,
My mom purchased her home mid-way through the construction process. The oak cabinets had already been installed but not stained. She had lived with ugly, dark stained cabinets for years and had her heart set on white cabinets in her new home, so she had all of the oak cabinetry and trim painted white throughout the house. The painters used several coats, but the wood grain is definitely noticeable. Also, I think that the cabinets have yellowed just a tiny bit over the 18 years that she has lived there, but it could be my imagination. Not sure if this is typical when painting oak, or maybe the painters just didn't prime properly...

Thanks for posting the clipping (you can find more information on how I paint cabinets and trim by clicking "My clippings" on the name Igloochic).

I have painted....geeze let me count...four kitchens and six bathrooms (cabinets). Each time I've lived in the place and used the cabinets so I know that the paint not only "stuck" but that it wasn't prone to nicks and scratches. Done right...it sticks :)

I have used a couple types of paint. The above clipping is describing my current favorite by Sherwin Williams. It's the first pairing (primer and paint) that I've found which totally eliminates sanding (I prep with a quick washing with TSP). Both products are latex, which is so much easier to work with, and both are hard as nails. (I have used this combo in the new place on all woodwork). The above post is for a color that is a very very deep dark chocolate. You could use the same paint in any color. I do suggest tinting the primer.

For a high grain wood I like to do two coats of primer and two coats of paint. Be careful not to overload your brush so that you don't end up with drips. Between each coat, be sure to review your previous work for any finish errors (bugs in paint, drips, fingertips etc). Lightly sand those down before adding another coat of paint.

I used to use an oil based primer (kilz) and then ralph lauren (in high gloss) for the top coats. That worked well, and always stood the test of time, but I do prefer alatex based paint.

I once had the cabinets sprayed by a painter...I was not happy with the finish and wouldn't do it again, but that could just be picky me.

I will say that painting cabinets is a lot A LOT of work, but in my opinion, highly worth doing. It will cost you a few hundred bucks for paint and supplies and you need to be patient and detailed, but if you are...and you have good boxes to work with, it's worth the time if you want "new cabinets" (or at least the look) at a fraction (a real small fraction) of the cost of new cabinets. I've never regretted the work at all.

To keep yourself sane, try working on one small bank of cabinets at a time. For instance, the island. Unload it as necessary (I normally do not paint the inside of cabinets so I don't always unload everything, but instead tape plastic inside the frame so that I can do the frame, and the inner portion of the door frame without hitting the contents). Get the least tacky blue tape and label each cabinet and corresponding door A, B, C etc (put one piece of tape on the cabinet inside that says "A" and the other that says "A" on the door that came off). Take the hardwar off the doors (hinges etc) and put that inside the cabinet it came off of (tape down if necessary). Don't throw it all in a bucket...it's not always the same and you'll have wonky doors). I don't recommend changing hardware (hinges) but if you're going to change your handles and they don' fit the existing holes, now's the time to putty full and sand down flat. I like to use a hanger and make a hook with it and hang the doors from a rafter in the garage. This way you can paint both sides at once (let each side dry between painting though before doing the other side). DO NOT STACK UP DOORS THAT ARE DRY! Let them cure a week before stacking!!! (I prefer never to stack!).

Anyhoo, do the island frame, toe kicks, etc. PRep well with painters tape first and go for it. Then do these doors then put back together before you tackle another portion. It will make life more livable. I like to be kind (no stickers, tacks, slamming etc) for the first 30 days or so after the doors are back on to really let the paint cure, but that's just me. I've not always done this. I do like to replace the little plastic or felt pieces that keep the door from slamming into the cabinet frame so that you don't have paint stuck to paint as it cures.

Then move on to the next bank...say the left of the sink on top only...etc. It takes time, but frankly you have a very nice foundation to begin with (lovely kitchen) and if you like the layout...go for the paint job :) Just know it takes time, but it's worth it in the end really.

I painted my oak cabinets - I did some test painting and HATED the grain - so I spent 2 weeks with a putty knife filing the grain with a wood grain filler, letting it dry and sanding it off - then doing it again and again. After 6 coats of this stuff (you both wear down the filler when you sand as well as pull some of it back out of the grain leaving more "holes" to be filled on the next pass" my cabinets were like glass.

I think I spent 2 solid months painting my small kitchen - many coats (sanding between each) of Binz primer and a latex epoxy paint - but my cabinets look perfect - MUCH nicer than the ones my MIL had professionally painted in her home. I would really like to do the bathrooms as well - but wow that was a LOT of work and I haven't been able to talk myself into the dust again yet ;-)

gilmoregal said
"Also, I think that the cabinets have yellowed just a tiny bit over the 18 years that she has lived there, but it could be my imagination. Not sure if this is typical when painting oak, or maybe the painters just didn't prime properly..."

It is common for oil-based paint and poly to yellow over time.

I am going to use Muralo waterborne when I start painting my cabinets in a few days. If you go to the paint forum and do some searching, you will pick up some good tips. Brushworks knows what he is talking about. Cabinet Coat and SW enamel supposedly are good alternatives, too. Don't go with oil, particularly if you are doing white.

I have painted some test pieces with the Muralo. This stuff levels when it dries like I never thought possible with non-oil based paint.

I refuse to pay anyone to paint or paper anything inside my house - I am very detail oriented though and tend to find faults in a lot of work I have seen done by contractors - although there are very good ones.

The fact is that contractors simply cannot afford to spend as much time or care as you would (if you are willing). They simply could not make money doing this (i.e. spending weeks painting your cabinets). If you are willing to make up for the skills and knowledge that the painters have with research and careful work, I think you can out-perform a pro on a lot of projects, quality-wise. It will take you several times longer than a pro, however.

Also, you need to evaluate your own skills regarding how good of a job you can do and how good of a job you expect.

Good luck,
Pete

We were planning on painting our cabinets. Previous owners had done a horrible job applying a really dark stain on top of the original finish. It was full of drips and uneven and just hideous. We did our research, found out the steps involved, set aside a week+ of (mostly) dedicated time to accomplish it and dug in.

Well, once we got some TSP on the cabinets, we found out that the wood was still in really good condition. So we regrouped and decided to strip and re-stain.

We started December 22nd. (I had the week of Christmas off and Hubby closed his office for the week.) There was lots of trial and error and re-do's involved. I still don't have a fully functional kitchen (have to decide on the new flooring and get it installed). Hubby has just finished chemical stripping all the doors and drawers and has started in on the sanding. His one comment to me today: "This is going to take a really long time." There's a lot more surface area and edges than you think there are.

One big piece of advice that I have: Test your colors and then test again and let them sit for at least a few days. Make sure you test with the *actual product* that you plan to use. We only partially listened to that and as a result, some of the colors are a bit "off".

It's turning out pretty nice, though. Here's a few quickie pics I took the other day of our WIP:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pdianne/Kitchen

I read this great thread, and had one tidbit to add: PLEASE make sure that if you are REpainting painted cabinets from a previous owner, that you make sure that there is no lead paint before you sand them. I have horrifically painted white cabinets in my kit, but I haven't repainted them becuase of the lead. We had just lived with them for 5 years until we could afford to do the kitchen. Interestingly though, I will be buying a wood door cab from IKEA, that I plan to sand, and then paint!

Nice job jeannema! did you paint your counters also or are they new? I just painted my oak cabinets white and my counters are still ivory white. Don't know what to do to tie it all together. I'm thinking a soft buttery cream yellow for the walls. So lost!

I'm painting my kitchen cabinets right now too. The part that's taking me forever is filling in the grain of my oak cabinets since I don't want any of it showing through. Lots of sanding but I didn't have to sand for the primer to stick. I'm using a small sponge roller to get a smooth of a coat without spraying. Zinnser 123 was all that was needed to get the paint to stick and I used Behr Kitchen/Bath. I have plenty of cabinets left to go...