Painting kitchen units and tiles without it looking too naff, is it possible?

[BNmum]

We've moved into a property with cathedral style doors and dodgy floral tiles in the kitchen. The whole place looks tired and dingy but unfortunately we're not in a position to change it at the minute. I'm wondering if it would be possible to give everything a lick of paint to freshen it up without it breaking the bank and looking too naff. Has anyone pulled this off and if so did you use specialist paints or will a good undercoat & 'normal' paint suffice? Please help wise ones

I've done it - 5 years ago and refreshed last month. It doesn't look fantastic but it does look a whole lot better than it did.

My units were dark wood-effect melamine (nice..) so extra tricky. There are specialist paints for this but I couldn't find any colours I liked (BUT the specialist paint ranges seem to have got a lot better in the last few years) so I used a specialist primer followed by two coats of Homebase kitchen paint. I did the lot with a tot on my hip so the quality of my work wasn't great but the paint lasted very well. 5 years on I repainted because it had got a bit grubby, but no chipping.

For the tiles I used specialist tile paint. Glossy white, which worked well. This did chip, a little, but over 5 years I think that's ok.

We had a vast expanse of tiles, and I couldn't be bothered to paint each one individually around the grouting (as some recommend) so I just went right over the lot. So they're a bit obviously painted-over-tiles, which isn't great, but I'm happy enough with it, at least until I can afford to get a new kitchen (sometime 2049, the way things are going).

Cathedral style doors and floral tiles would definitely have me reaching for the paint can...

I did it with the last kitchen we had , I used a spray paint and it looked brilliant. No one would have guessed , lasted for yrs anyway until we had an extension and replaced the kitchen.
Would definitely recommend trying it. What have you got to lose ?

I've done lots of research, and it's possible with chalk paint, like Annie Sloan. You can get a smooth matt finish by using a roller, then you seal it with 2-3 coats of her wax. You can also use a water based varnish apparently. Videos on YouTube tell me you might touch it up once a year or so, but this is just layering on more paint and then wax where needed, not doing the whole thing again.

It wouldn't stand up to a good scrubbing with a scoured but I'm not sure what painted finish would.

Have you thought about painting the cabinets and then changing the worktop and tiles? If the cupboards are in good nick you could get a great makeover for under £1000

What sort of spray paint did you use ggirl and was that for tiles too or just cupboard doors please?

The spray was just for the doors , we replaced the tiles.
It was a long time ago but I think it was called plastic-coat .

Watching with interest as I'm in exactly the same position as you OP.

If you give it a go, could you report back with how it all looks?

Thank you that's really helpful. We're buying a house with a naff kitchen and want to do something as a stop gap before we get a new one probably in the Autumn if we can afford it.

I want to do this too. I was going to use F&B paint though. Is this a bad idea for any reason?

Ooh thanks for the tips ladies. What specialist primer did you use Devora?
I didn't think of a spray paint option so I'll look into that.
I have considered Chalk Paint as I like the idea of no/minimal prep but was worried about its longetivity in a hot steamy/greasy environment and also thought if I have to do a few wax/varnish finishes it may end up being as much work as a normal paint approach? I was thinking (hoping) about using a good primer and trying f&b paint like you Wasting. We're you going to use an intelligent emulsion or eggshell?
Is a specialist tile paint the only option too as I've found the colours a bit limiting.

I think I'd choose eggshell. What's an intelligent emulsion though ?

Not sure about the tiles but the units yes. I inherited shaker style kitchen cupboards in my last house which were cream and I wanted a grey colour. Rather controversially I primed them with international primer (couple of thin coats & very lightly sanded in between) then farrow and ball emulsion yes emulsion! Did a few coats of this with a roller which I then brushed over with a good quality brush to give it a painted look. Finally finished with a couple of coats of Polyvine dead flat matt varnich. Was on for two yrs before we sold the house & never a chip or a stain on them. I chose not to use eggshell as I had heard it chips easily. It was massively time consuming but well worth the overall finish. The kitchen sold the house tbh.

Fab, that's sounds great Flossie (apart from the hard work.... but no pain, no gain!). Did you have to sand the cupboards down before using the primer or did you just paint straight on?
wasting the intelligent emulsion is supposed to be wipe down but if adding a layer of varnish isn't necessary. I was just wondering if it would be hard wearing enough to skip the varnish stage.

Flossiemum - great advice, thanks from me too.

What is international primer? and like BNMum, I'd love to know if you have to take off the varnish that's already on the kitchen units before priming?

Does F&B do 'intelligent emulsion'? I've never heard of it

Hi both mine were melamine so no varnish - I sanded them prior & after evey coat I did with the finest grit sandpaper so as not to scratch them. International primer is just a basic primer I got from Homebase - any other would be fine I'm sure. I only wanted a Matt finish not shiny so the varnish at the end worked well. I'll try & post a picture later (at work at the mo)

Thanks again for the info Flossie and sorry ladies I've got myself in a muddle over the different names, intelligent emulsion is from the little Greene range it's the equivalent of the modem emulsion in the f&b range