Painting fitted wardrobes?

[teaandakitkat]

Our sons bedroom has these massive fitted wardrobes, 1980s I reckon. I don't even know what you call the stuff they are made of. They're not wood, they're shiny feeling. If you get me.

Anyway, they're really good quality, if we took them out we'd only be replacing them with Ikea or something not nearly so good. So, can I paint them? And if so, do I need some sort of special paint?

Has anyone done this sort of thing before? I'm really rubbish at diy.

Are they made of melamine? I have an old fitted melamine kitchen that I can't afford to replace so have been looking at cheap options for painting/covering them.

Chalk paint is one option as it covers most surfaces without any prep. There are also spray paints you can buy like plastikote that apparently cover well. The option I'm probably going to go for is covering the units with self adhesive vinyl but this is mainly because I want a gloss finish. You can get it in a variety of finished like wood as well.

Could any of those work?

I fabloned mine about 10 years ago. Recently i've glossed over them. They look fab with new handles.
I took doors off and used a roller. 2 coats of white gloss and they look really fresh and good. I wouldn't normally have had the guts to-do it, but a friend showed me how to do it and it was easy.

Here they are.
Spray paint sounds lovely and easy.
I'm just a bit worried about starting and ending up with a disaster. Dh is dead against this plan, mainly because he just can't face the hassle, so if it goes wrong I will have to listen to him moan about it for ever.

We recently painted melamine wardrobes in my DDs room - they were fitted and couldn't justify ripping out, new carpet etc for a toddler!

We used a primer from Johnstones decorating centre, then a layer of under coat, then 3 layers of eggshell finish paint (undercoat and eggshell were both Farrow and Ball)
We also Changed the door handles and whilst on close inspection they are not as good as replacing they do look really good.

A lot of effort but about £120 all in, and much cheaper than replacing carpets and replastering etc.

I was going to say F and B eggshell too. Check the prep but it should work. Lots of colours to choose from and not messy like spray paint .

Hmm, f & b eggshell says 'not suitable for use on furniture'. Should I just ignore that?
I'm thinking I'll paint them a pale grey colour, if I'm brave enough.

Why do you want to paint them?? They look great to me!

Also Ikea pax wardrobes are actually amazing quality and not as dear as you would think, you could replace those for around £500!

Ahh well you could always try and replace them if you end up hating it.

They don't look great up close. They were originally white but the owners before use were heavy smokers so they are stained yellow looking in places, and other places they have been discoloured by the sun so they look sort of dirty yellow rather than white sadly.

I wonder if there's a way of getting them proper white again? I have scrubbed them, I scrubbed them with a bleach solution. Maybe I should just use neat bleach? I might try that. If they were properly white they wouldn't look so bad.

We had horrible brown wardrobes in one bedroom. We painted them (primer and then eggshell) for dd2. It worked really well.

Then the dds decided to swap rooms and dd1 thought the multicoloured look was too babyish, so they're now a rather tasteful grey/blue.

Oh they look fab! You've inspired me to give it a go. Did it take you ages? Any good tips?

That's a shame strong they looked awesome multicoloured 🌈

I think they look good as is but for a kids room the rainbow do look great.

It didn't take too long. Primer designed for melamine, then just standard (valspar) eggshell. Took 3 coats to fully cover the brown.

I think it's important to let each coat dry as long as possible.

I did love those colours!

@teaandakitkat The F&B eggshell that we used for for wood or metal surfaces.

Primer, undercoat and Eggshell.

To be fair I think any eggshell finish would be fine as long as you give them a good clean and prime first.

You want zinsser primer. My decorator used this to stick to previously highly varnished banisters and also Formica. It sticks to smooth surfaces and blocks stains meaning you can undercoat then top coat over. They do sell a big range though so not sure which tin you want, ask at the suppliers.

Also changing those handles will make a huge difference. Those wardrobes are really very ok!

Oh and my decorator says Farrow and Ball is shit paint. Pick your colour and get it matched up by Dulux Trade.

Use a primer - ask decorators shop which one and then a couple of coats on top. Should be an easy job.

Autentico Chalk paint is amazing! You don't need a primer; just to wash down and early sand. Two coats 24hrs apart and job done. I've done my kitchen cupboards and tiles in it and it's done an amazing job. Fab shop down in Plymouth will send you samples through the post painted onto paper to choose the colour and then post out paint to you.

Hi Op if you go down the primer/undercoat route definitely recommend Zinsser, the best satin eggshell I have ever used is Mylands excellent paint goes on really well & covers beautifully & much more durable than f&b/littlegreene imo.

I third the zinsser too. The problem with sanding it, is if you miss even a tiny then the fresh paint won't stick.