TLDNR: Anyone painted kitchen cabinets? Did you HVLP with a sprayer, or paint them by hand with a brush? Was it worth the effort of NFW you'd ever do that again?

Anyone done this before? Current cabinets are stained Oak. House was built in the late 80's so LOTS of stained oak (cabinets, solid oak wood floor, trim, baseboards, shutters, etc.) Wife wants to update the look of the kitchen and front room (which also has lots of wood built ins, beams on ceiling, wood panel 1/2-way up wall). Front room and kitchen are open to each other. She wants to paint the kitchen cabinets, front room built ins and wood paneling in the front room. For the wood floors, we would have the kitchen floor sanded and refinished (they are " solid oak). Current floor is a honey color and we'd have them stained a darker color and have new wood floors installed in the front room to match (not a DIY on the floors). We would not be painting the shutters in the front room and instead replace them with some blinds to let more light into the front room as it is kind of dark.

As far as painting goes, would you recommend a HVLP Sprayer or a good quality primer, paint and brush? I've painted plenty with a sprayer so I know how to use one (and have a large 11-gallon compressor that will work fine) but never sprayed indoors. Using a sprayer would require me to mask off EVERYTHING in the vicinity and I'd have paint fumes/dust everywhere and no good way to get it out (previous owners had new windows installed and THEY DON'T OPEN!). Concern with using a brush is getting a nice smooth finish on the cabinets. I know it can be done with a good paint, good brush and some patience.

I have plenty of time to do this. Kids are in HS and don't need a dad coach anymore. Also my middle son loves projects like this so I can rely on him for some help.

For those that have tackled a project like this, was it worth the DIY effort, or NFW you'd do that again and pay someone next time. The wife actually got one quote from someone to paint the cabinets and front room build-ins and it was $6,000. Even she said "yeah, NOPE!" to that amount.

Tentative plan is to refinish the half bath off the kitchen area which is the same wood floor, oak cabinets look as the kitchen, see how it goes and looks then decide on larger project.

Here is a good representation photo of what my kitchen looks like. The after has too much white for my taste but kind of where we are going.

There are a lot of challenges associated with painting Oak that has been stained. It is extremely rough, and the texture will show through the paint. If you decide to go through with this project, be sure to look up techniques, paint, and other materials that are specific to working with stained Oak.

stridulent said:

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There are a lot of challenges associated with painting Oak that has been stained. It is extremely rough, and the texture will show through the paint. If you decide to go through with this project, be sure to look up techniques, paint, and other materials that are specific to working with stained Oak.

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good to know. I think the bathroom experiment will tell me a lot.

One DIY I saw removed all the drawer fronts and cabinet doors, painted the remaining cabinet base black, then put in new stained fronts and doors and new pulls. Depending on the new door/drawer wood, I could just paint that (which would be easier to do outside with a sprayer).

chalk paint for that "fixer upper" look. voila.

All I can say regarding painting over the stained wood is to research that. I would bet you can give it a sanding with some 120 then 220 & it will be ready to prime.

The method that works best is to remove all doors & drawers. Sand/ prep faces & use a foam roller to prime & paint them. Key is to not press hard with the foam roller so you don't get air bubbles. The foam roller will yield a finish similar to air spray.

Get your doors & drawers prepped, line them up on some sort of table(boards & sawhorses) paint the back of the doors before painting the front. Using a cheap HF HVLP gravity gave me great results. I did all my spray painting outdoors or in the garage(garage has a noticeable amount of overspray on stuff that was close to the spray area & wasn't covered up.

Given that you are starting with stained cabinets rather than ones with 10 layers & 60 years of layers of paint makes me jealous.

You can paint the insides of the cabinets too.

I recently used this product when I painted a mantel and it seemed to help produce a smooth finish,

Flood Floetrol

We had ours done in a tinted lacquer. Grain will show through though.

Here's an old thread from Reno which included a lot of oak painting....

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/2633847/replies/43275869#43275869

With the cabinets I repainted, first I removed the doors and drawers, cleaned them with soap and water, repaired any damage, sanded (120 grit) followed by a thorough wash with TSP. Then I started the actual painting.

Paint only with a foam roller to prevent roller/brush marks. I first used primer and sanded (400 grit?) followed by color coats with oil paint. It came out smooth so there was no need to thin. It took between two and three coats with sanding in between to get the finish I wanted, but these were completely flat cabinets unlike yours. Once everything was done the cabinets went back together and they looked like new.

Painting cabinets is a though one for sure. Don't do it unless you are willing to put the time and money in to do it correctly.

Couple of notes on the various steps:

1) prep - sanding and cleaning. TSP was mentioned above and is a great all purpose cleaner. Clean before you sand though. Cabinets have oil from hand and polishes on them, you want that cleaned off before sanding. As others have stated, sanding with rougher paper like 120-150 will work. Just make sure the paper is sanding the finish or wood, and not too course where it is just scratching it.

2) Primer - definitely prime, preferably with a slow drying oil based primer. This will help seal off the wood, but also even out your density and give you a better and more even sheen holdout on your finish coat. Depending on the quality of the primer and the shape of the wood, I would do 1-2 coats of primer and sand/wipe down each coat. Here is where you want finer sandpaper like 220 grit.

3) Finish - do 2 coats of paint, either an oil-based or a hybrid waterbourne or acryilic/alkyd product that is made for cabinets. They level out better and dry harder. Keep an mind, any product with alkyd resin will yellow, especially in darker areas, like inside the cabinets and where the doors cover the frame when they are closed. Since you want white cabinets, I would stay away from a standard oil-based (alkyd) paint. Sherwin Williams (Proclassic) and Benjamin Moore (Impervo) both have very good, waterbourne arylics for cabinets. This will also help cut down on the odor and VOCs as well as minimize yellowing.

As far as application - others are right, remove drawers and doors and take off all hardware. Paint those separate from the frames. I would spray the cabinets if I could, especially since you said you have experience and access to an HVLP. Not sure the size of your HVLP, but you will probably need a stage 4 turbine or maybe 5 depending on the paint and amount of reduction. It would be a pain the ass to mask of the kitchen in the picture, but could be worth it since you are looking at doing 3-4 coats of primer/paint.

For brush and roll, foam rollers mentioned above work well, but typically apply the paint thin. I prefer a high quality, soft woven roller cover. The more important part is get a high quality paint and DONT over roll it. Get it on the wood and even and leave it alone, let it level out. Over rolling or over brushing paint causes friction which will cause the paint to dry to quick and not get a chance to level out. For brushing with water-based paint, using a high quality, soft nylon brush works very well for trim and cabinets. Brushes with a polyester blend tend to be stiffer, they are better for exterior paint or painting textured drywall.

Watch out for runs however you decide to paint. Self leveling paints are great and can lead to a better looking finish. The downside is on vertical surfaces, they tend to run quicker than regular paints because they are trying to level and gravity is winning.

EDIT - as long as that post was, I forgot to mention additives. Products like Floetrol, Latex Extender, or Penetrol can be beneficial in helping a paint. Quality paints have the additives in them already to make them perform. Instead of buying a cheaper paint and Floetrol/Penetrol, just buy a higher quality paint and the right application tools.

Update! Wife was at an event last night with a friend (who is an interior designer) and mentioned our project. Also mentioned that we will likely move in ~3 years as boys get off to college (want a single story and BIG GARAGE!!!). Her friend said the time/investment into painting the cabinets, redoing the floors, etc would not be worth it since we are not going to be in the house long. Also said just replace the carpet after the boys move out b/c it would be a lot cheaper than new wood floors.

I suggested we just do the build-ins in the front room, paint the paneling, re-paint the walls and put in new blinds (the wood shutters just block too much light). Consider extending the wood floors from the kitchen into the living room (everyone walks through that room every day to/from stairs, garage, outside, etc.).

Thanks for all the suggestions and advise. I'll post a few before/after of the living room once we get this thing off and running.

My wife used this...it took a while because you have to go in a certain order like mentioned above and you have to do them one side at a time, but it came out really nice for under $200. We have a long shotgun style kitchen with probably 20 doors and 10 drawers (not to mention the frame) and it took 2-3 weeks at a casual pace.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-Cabinet-Transformations-Dark-Base-Satin-Cabinet-Resurfacing-Kit-Actual-Net-Contents-280-fl-oz/3350244

We tried a foam roller and finally said **** it and bought a Wagner power painter and just painted the **** out of everything. Throw enough paint on something it will eventually stick

agracer said:

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Update! Wife was at an event last night with a friend (who is an interior designer) and mentioned our project. Also mentioned that we will likely move in ~3 years as boys get off to college (want a single story and BIG GARAGE!!!). Her friend said the time/investment into painting the cabinets, redoing the floors, etc would not be worth it since we are not going to be in the house long. Also said just replace the carpet after the boys move out b/c it would be a lot cheaper than new wood floors.

I suggested we just do the build-ins in the front room, paint the paneling, re-paint the walls and put in new blinds (the wood shutters just block too much light). Consider extending the wood floors from the kitchen into the living room (everyone walks through that room every day to/from stairs, garage, outside, etc.).

Thanks for all the suggestions and advise. I'll post a few before/after of the living room once we get this thing off and running.

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I dont know your area, but a realtor might tell you the opposite, i.e. spend $6k now which adds 15k value when you sell in 3yrs.

Sherwin Williams pro classic + flotrol + back brushing will give you a very smooth finish. I'm an amateur and am very happy with how this has turned out for me.

If you are going white or a light color use this BIN Primer

A regular primer will allow the stain to eventually (or immediately) bleed through and yellow the color.

I did this and used a sprayer. Prep is everything.

Bump time.. cabinets are next on the hit list and I need some TA opinions. Kitchen is relatively small so we're looking at maybe 18 cabinet doors and a few drawers. Currently cabinets are un-stained or finished.

1. Has anyone tried filling in oak grain? PITA or not too terrible? Primary research right now is wood filler vs spackle.

2. Anyone tried SW Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel?