Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

Hi Everyone,

Here it the post about refinishing the kitchen cabinets at the rental.  The steps are very similar to those for painting the bathroom vanities except you need more drying time in between coats since this is a high traffic area.

Step One:  Remove doors from the unit and hinges from the doors.  Because rehanging doors can be challenging.  We simply stored the hinges from the top of the door on the top shelf and the bottom hinge parts on the bottom most shelf.  Don't forget to mark your doors somehow so you know where they need to be placed back later.  My husband wrote a label for each door on painters tape and we just transferred the tape from each side as I painted the other.  Clean up all the surfaces, again you can use a mixture of rubbing alcohol and vinegar to get the surfaces clean.

Step Two:  Apply one coat of Zinsser Stain Cover Primer to the outside of the cabinets.  This was meant to be a superficial change so there was no painting inside the cabinets.  I used a foam roller to put the primer on the cabinet units and also for the doors.  Just be prepared to throw this roller away and group all the doors to be primed so you can cut down on waiting time and supplies.  I used this little set up on a tarp with Dixie cups in the next room just to move door to door and prime things as swiftly as possible. 

Step Three: Wait several hours or up to one day before you apply the first coat of paint, I chose Valspar Paint and Primer in light grey in a Satin Finish to make sure the surface was slightly glossy to discourage any scrubbing while cleaned by the next tenants.  Again, I used a roller here and a smaller artist's paint brush for any harder to reach spots. 

Step Four: Wait 24 hours before applying the next coat, if necessary.  The coverage should be very good with one coat if you don't try to work it around too much.  We ended up needing only one coat and did some touch ups the next day.  Ideally if we had more time I would have put a second coat on but there were just not enough hours in the day or Red Bull to keep me awake to accomplish this.

Despite the time crunch we faced, the biggest factor that determines how well this will turn out is patience.  You must wait for everything to dry, do not apply coats without letting them dry in between and do not hang doors until they are dry.  When you replace the doors, do it very carefully so you don't scratch up the bases and just take your time. 

Hope this post was useful.  This is definitely a weekend or two-weekend project but with some patients and about $40-50 bucks you too can switch up the look of your kitchen cabinets pretty drastically!