Painting kitchen cupbkards

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The kitchen cabinets in our new house are a very sludgey dreary shade of dark cream and need dealing with. There are 30 door/drawer fronts in total plus the sides of the island, 3 end panels, a pelmet and those skirting boards that run along the bottom. So I have An Awful Lot To Paint. Professional assistance is not an option. I have one week over half term to get it done whilst the kids are away. What paint should be looking at? Chalk paint (not had much success with that on furniture in the past..), eggshell, satinwood? Anyone got any recommendations for brands? I have to fill 30 handle screw holes so I can replace hideous two screw handles with one screw knobs so that's more work as well. The doors have previously been painted but look like MDF rather than solid wood.

If they are MDF do they have that plastic coating still on them (look at the edges - can you see a join)?

I took the coating off mine with a hairdryer and an old steak knife after looking at YouTube videos of people using steam guns (the things they use to strip wallpaper, I think)

I then did a very quick sand to remove any last bits of glue, and to clean off the surface.

With the plastic gone, I got a lovely finish - there's a beadboard effect on mine and the edges were much sharper without the plastic.

I used normal emulsion paint (dark grey on the bottom cupboards and baseboards) and did a final coat of matte varnish to protect from scratches.

I gave the top cupboards a coat of Crown gloss - the one that is water based and dries in an hour. May have to sand a bit of it and paint again though as there are a couple of drip marks (on the cooker hood - I couldn't work out how to remove it so had to paint it vertically in situ).

I will have to redo the baseboards as I'm a bit of a basher with the hoover and steam mop - I reckon they need an extra coat or two of varnish as they get more wear than the rest.

If you've a full week you should get it all done no problem. Take all doors off if possible and balance them flat (I used books underneath so any drips didn't stick to the surface below).

Nope, no coating. They have definitely been painted before, I can tell. I hadn't thought of using normal emulsion and then matt varnish. Good tip re extra varnish on the baseboards, I am also a basher! Also great tip about balancing on books, I would have just put them flat on a sheet and got cross when they stuck... No cooker hood to paint so that's good but I will have to watch drips on the end panels. Did you use a brush or a roller? I was thinking of using a combination of both as they are Shaker style.

I work in paint and get asked this question lots

I always recommend valspar premium as its scrubable, so doubly hard wearing. I've got it in my hallway and I promise you it's truly scrubable and does the job well

Comes in Matt, mud sheen or silk in any shade you like

No top varnish required

Oh you can put Valspar premium on wood? That's what I was planning to use on the walls (it's the scrubbable bit that hooked me in) but I hadn't thought of using it on the wood. Thank you. Off to B&Q I go. Once I've decided on colours that is..

Yes. Valspar do wood paint also in eggshell, satin or gloss. I often get customers bringing in the farrow and ball chart for me to colour match, so if there's something you have which you'd like to match your paint to, you can!

YY we've used valspar in our bathroom on the tongue & groove - it goes on really nicely, and seems to be holding up very well.

MissFitt, I had that discussion with the Valspar chap in B&Q a couple of weeks ago! I am fully intending to go in with my 'mood board' of F&B, Little Greene and Laura Ashley colours to get some samples made up! :)

I did this with mine. Used satin on the cupboards and drawers and gloss on kickboards. Large kitchen took me about a month only doing it for an hr or 2 during nap times. Looks fab and hard wearing. A tip is apply with a brush and go over with a gloss mini roller to get a smooth finish. I didn't even take the doors off

Liking the "didn't even take the doors off" approach!! Will get a mini gloss roller too. And only just noticed the glaring typo in the thread title. Cupboards ffs. What are cupbkards?!

done my kitchen floor and cupboards with cheap latex paint many times over 40 + years in my house. The floor i did with varnish on top of the latex as it gets harder wear. never took doors off either ! Complete refresh for a cheap can of paint- cant beat it.

If you take your time the result should be really good. Did this with mine 15 years ago they were melamine(?) or at least plastic coated. Used a specialised primer and then satinwood with a small foam roller, took two coats iirc. Took me a week or so, that includes removing and replacing the doors and fronts, sugarsoaping everything and also doing the open shelves, walls and ceiling. The challenge was to 'stack' the doors so they would not touch where they were wet when drying.
I also had to take all the handles off and do them separately. I would estimate about 18 doors (kitchen was different then) and I had no help - but no kids to interfere either.

Hi recently did my wooden cupboards with, mylands eggshell brilliant finish
went on really well, lovely silky finish easily wiped & scrubbed, so far appears to be much more hard wearing than, either f&b or little green which I have used previously on the cupboards.

I've used valspar eggshell, copied to farrow and ball colours and have been really pleased with it. Where we have got chips, it's mostly because of my lack of preparation! (varnished pine surface that I should have sanded a lot more thoroughly )

The best finish ive achieved was using chalk paint on my shiny orange pine dresser, hated the colour and then painted straight over the top in valspar eggshell. Looks fab (Hague blue copy)

I recently painted our kitchen cupboards using Wilkinsons Kitchen Paint - I don't remember if it was kitchen and bathroom or just kitchen but I am so impressed. I usually use F&B but loved the colour of the Wilkinson one and I can honestly say the quality is brilliant. Rich colour pigment and I have scribed them with a sponge when they get drips and used anti-bac wipes on them and they've come up really well. Fab price too!