02-05-2025
Painting the cabinets can transform your kitchen. Here's how to do it.
Q: How do you repaint wooden cabinets, and what paint do you recommend?
A: Paint is magic when you want to refresh a kitchen — or really any room with a lot of cabinets — without spending too much. But to get good results, you can't take shortcuts on preparation, and you need a smart work plan and the right paint.
Begin by prepping the area:
Then comes cleaning:
Prep the surfaces:
Then it's time to paint.
It's possible to refinish cabinets by spraying on paint, but the process is messy and not really necessary. You can get a virtually blemish-free surface by applying the primer and later topcoats quickly and whisking away any drips or puddles.
Purchase paint specifically formulated for use on furniture and cabinets, because it is designed to withstand wiping clean (once it has cured) and it is better able to resist blocking, the tendency that many water-based paints have to stick to themselves. If you use ordinary paint, you might find that some of the paint on a door comes off when you close it against a cabinet frame, for example.
Sherwin Williams recommends its Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel ($120.49 a gallon); Benjamin Moore's recommendation is Advance ($81.99 at Ace Hardware); Behr's is Premium Cabinet, Door & Trim Enamel ($52.98 in semigloss at Home Depot). Gloss or semigloss paint is easier to wipe clean than paint with less sheen. Always read and follow the directions and look for any warnings. Benjamin Moore, for example, warns not to use a lacquer-based primer under Advance because the paint won't stick well.
Here are some tips for painting:
Have a problem in your home? Send questions to localliving@ Put 'How To' in the subject line, tell us where you live and try to include a photo.
