How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets With a Coat
- 1). Clean the cabinets with soap and water. Dirt and grime show through single-coat paint jobs, and they also make the paint look uneven and unprofessional. For better single-coat coverage, you need to be working with a clean slate.
- 2). Sand the cabinets with 220-grit sandpaper. Most cabinets have a glossy finish. The slick surface of a glossy finish does not accept paint well. While sanding can take several hours, unsanded cabinets will require several additional coats. In the long run, this prep work saves you time.
- 3). Protect your trim and countertops with painter's tape and plastic sheets.
- 4). Remove any cabinet hardware, detach cabinet doors and pull out any drawers.
- 5). Place the doors and drawers on a plastic tarp or other workspace for painting.
- 6). Use a regular roller to apply a coat of latex semi-gloss paint and primer to the cabinets, doors and drawers. Use the roller on as many surfaces as possible, since this saves time compared with brushing by hand. If you don't get a paint that has primer mixed in with it, then your single-coat job will be spotty. Paint and primer combos cost more than regular latex paint, but they provide the most reliable one-coat coverage.
- 7). Apply paint with a mini-roller brush, getting as close to the edges as possible. Mini-rollers are about half the size of regular paint rollers. They can apply more paint faster than a typical brush, and they are great for a fast one-coat paint job.
- 8). Use a 2-inch bristle paintbrush to finish painting any remaining bare patches on your first coat. Clean, sanded cabinetry covered with an all-in-one paint and primer mixture will likely need only one coat.
- 9). Remove the painter's tape and plastic sheets once the paint is fully dry.
- 10
Reattach the cabinet hardware after 24 hours. A few spots of paint could still be slightly tacky even when it appears mostly dry.