Painting kitchen cabinets - good or cheap-looking?

[LeeMiller]

Hi all.

We are moving in to a flat with a smallish kitchen tiled 3/4 of the way up with old bluey-grey metro tiles. We like them and removing and retiling would be expensive so we're inclined to keep them, but finding cabinets to match on our budget isn't so easy. We had a look at Ikea doors but the only style we can agree on is Bodbyn. But DH thinks grey would be too heavy for the small space, while I don't like the cream as I think it will look really yellowey against the tiles.

We have found a company who do pine doors and drawer-fronts to measure so I had the idea of fitting them to ikea bases (cheapest option, and then we can have the domsjo sink) but we'd have to paint, prime, etc, ourselves. I much prefer the idea of a crisp white or perhaps a paler/darker bluey-grey shade of the tiles, but that would involve painting our own. I'm worried it would look cheap and amateurish and the paint wouldn't last long. Has anyone tried this successfully?

If there were already horrid cabinets in place then I wouldn't think twice about repainting them, but specifically buying and painting them seems different and not cheap. Any thoughts or advice?

[limesoda]

I recently bought ikea doors (rasdal, recently discontinued) and painted them myself and IMO, it looks really good. I also found it a million times easier because I could do the painting before the doors were attached. Cost about £50 for the paint (I think) and a couple of days work (I had to wait 4 hours between coats).

However, getting a new kitchen is expensive, no matter how you go about it. Changing the tiles might be cheaper and easier than you think. I did my own tiling so have no idea on costs of fitting, but somebody else might be able to help.

[greenbanana]

We painted our kitchen cabinets, which were previously a very orangey pine (but good quality). They look great! Sorry I don't have a pic. We used Dulux satinwood paint in Misty Mountain which is a nice light grey.

Tips: satin or gloss is harder to get a good finish on for an amateur. I'd recommend using a good primer first, laying doors flat, and using a small foam roller to get a flat finish (and a good brush for the edges). Put something underneath the doors to raise them up, then you can easily do the edges. It's not that hard.

[jojosapphire]

Could you look at getting them sprayed? Im sure ive seen it mentioned (on the telly) that car body places will spray...

[PigletJohn]

Do you mean paying for custom-made doors, then painting them? And buying new cabinets? Doesn't make sense if you are trying to save money.

Would you consider laminate doors, or must they be painted?

(don't get foiled doors, the foil falls off).

[LeeMiller]

Sorry PigletJohn I wasn't very clear. We need to buy everything as the kitchen is nothing but walls right now.

I would consider doors of any material to be honest, the problem is finding a shade and style we can agree on. We are thinking of Ikea cupboards as we like the domsjo sink, which is why we were looking at ikea doors. We're in Italy and cheap options are limited. So the pine doors would be custom-made in a sense but it's not a fancy bespoke carpenter service. We'd use a B&Q-type company which offers a range (eg. with bevelling, grooves etc) of pine cupboard doors and drawer fronts which they make in your measurements. Then you paint/treat/fit them yourself.The doors are cheaper than ikea but proably not after paint.

[LeeMiller]

greenbanana and Limesoda thanks for the tips, that all sounds encouraging. Can I asked if you varnished the doors after painting them?

PS Limesoda I love your kitchen (especially the pink fridge)! You did a great job with the tiling too! I am inclined to keep our tiles as we do like them. It's just the colour making things difficult as ikea etc have such a limited range. DH is still unconvinced about painting our own... maye I can try a sample door...

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

http://bespokea.london/what/

http://www.shakerdoors.co.uk/blogs/shakerdoors/15861440-ikea-metod-and-shaker-doors

These two places do bespoke doors to suit ones carcasses - might save you painting them yourselves !

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

Ones carcasses ?! Lol IKEA carcasses ! Thanks autocorrect!

[TattyCat]

If you're planning on potentially swapping out the doors anyway, why don't you just try painting to see what effect? You might be pleasantly surprised! Autentico Eggshell is really good on kitchen cupboards - it's wipeable and in my experience so far, chip free too. It's been great for us and has saved us a fortune on new doors. No need to prime much either (or at all if you prefer) - sugar soap and/or a very very light sand I'd recommend.

[LeeMiller]

Thanks OnePlanonHouzz , those are very nice. Unfortunately we're in Italy and I haven't found anywhere cheap that will paint the doors for us. We looking more at something like this: www.onlywood.it/fai-da-te/antine-in-legno.html

TattyCat, sorry I was rambling and obviously unclear. We don't have anything at the moment... no cabinets, no doors. So it's buying stuff either way. Maybe we can try a sample door first though. Did you varnish yours after the eggshell?

[Panadbois]

I've painted mine three times. From a pine kitchen to cream, then sage green and currently cabinets are gray. Lovely.

Would prefer a new kitchen but, in essence, I've had three new kitchens in ten years!

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

Are you northern Italy ? I did a project in Switzerland where the client used bespoke doors on an IKEA Carcass ...will add a link - pm me if you'd like the carpenters details as they may be close enough for you to consider - And I'll ask the client for their details !
Ah here's the link ..

www.houzz.co.uk/projects/1317486/collaboration-with-asvinteriors-switzerland

[LeeMiller]

Thanks OnePlan, we are central Italy (near Florence) though which is probably a bit too far. The project looks very nice though, it's encouraging that ikea cabinets can be used for a high end effect. I'm thinking our next step should be to order and paint a sample door. Maybe that would convice DH.

Did anyone who painted the doors varnish theirs? Or is eggshell paint enough?

[greenbanana]

Didn't use varnish, a good paint will be tough enough without. I'm not sure how the primer contributed to that, but I wanted to be extra sure I got it right first time. Plus I think ours had some kind of finish on them already so I wanted to make sure it stuck to that. I sanded first and sugar soaped too.

Our doors were pretty much identical to the ones 3 down on your link btw (ROSA). I can't find a pic of the whole kitchen (at work at the moment) but here is one of a couple of the doors after I painted them.

[greenbanana]

PS limesoda - where are your ceiling lights from? I'm looking for something similar for my hallway!

[limesoda]

Garden trading green banana!

I used primer on ours. No sanding or soaping and its standing up well (I run a catering business from home, so it gets very well tested).

[LeeMiller]

those look really good greenbanana! thanks.

[Emmaroos]

We painted the solid wood kitchen in our house as a stop-gap as we were renting it out for 9 months before we moved in. 5 years later we live here and we have kept them unchanged. I've been amazed at how well they have worn. They were painted properly at the time with a couple of coats to give a very good finish. No varnish though - it's a washable matt paint finish and they are fab.