The Average DIY Girl’s Guide to Painting Cabinets

Learning how to paint cabinets doesn’t have to be overwhelming! Follow the simple steps and you’ll have painted cabinets that you love!

Back when I revealed my guest bathroom makeover, I told you that I’d share all of the nitty, gritty details of painting the bathroom vanity cabinets. I’m finally ready to share the Average DIY Girl’s Guide to Painting Cabinets. It’s so easy, no professional tools are needed! Yay!!

I’ve been wanting to paint these cabinets for as long as we’ve owned this house. When we walked through this house to see it for the first time in the buying process, I noted all of the honey-oak cabinets and knew right then and there that I would paint them all.

But I have been scared.

I don’t own a paint sprayer and I didn’t have the money to pay a professional. All I could see in my mind was big paint drips and long brush strokes all over my cabinets. I know people paint their cabinets all the time, but my nearly perfectionist tendency didn’t want to mess them up and then have to live with something worse than honey-oak cabinets. So, I’ve been frozen.

Until … I found the best cabinet paint and went for it!

Paint has come a long way over the years, and now they have excellent self-leveling qualities that make painting cabinets a dream. It’s still a big DIY job, but it’s so much easier to get great results if you use the right products.

I now use Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint line in satin or semi-gloss finishes for all of my cabinets and trim.

So, for my big home project, I decided to tackle the smallest cabinets in my house first: the guest/kid bath cabinets. Baby steps, y’all.

Tools Needed for DIY Cabinet Painting

• Painter’s Tape
• Sand paper (I LOVE this sander.)
• Brush {I use Purdy brushes, because they’re the best and will last forever. Mine’s been around the block a time or two … and is 15 years old.}
• Foam Roller
• Paint for Cabinets. I prefer Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint line in a satin or semi-gloss finish.

And now … drumroll please … how to get that amazing painted finish …

How to Paint Bathroom Cabinets

1. Gather your supplies

Again, I’m your average DIY girl without all of the fancy paint equipment, so it’s simple brushes and rollers. Nothing crazy here!

2. Clean the cabinets to remove all dirt and grease

I used a de-greaser to clean my cabinets, but you can also use a liquid sander afterwards and you can probably skip step 4!

3. Remove all doors and drawers, drawer fronts and hardware

Oh, and go ahead and remove the stuff from under the cabinets as well. I assume that’s obvious, right? 🙂

Make sure to label the hinges and hardware when you remove them!

Trust me. If you don’t label and keep them separate, it’ll be a pain to get them all back in the right place. I know it looks like I followed my own advice, which I did.

You can also protect your countertops by taping the edges and/or covering them.

4. Fill and drill new hardware holes

You’ll only need to do this step if you’re changing out the hardware on your cabinets and drawers. In my case, I only changed the hardware on the drawers, so I just filled the one hole in the middle and drilled two new holes for the new hardware. (This is my favorite wood filler.)

5. Sand everything (then wipe off the dust)

I took the cabinet doors outside and gave them a quick once-over with my finishing sander and 220-grit sandpaper. If you have old paint or a lot of grime to sand off, use a 120-grit sandpaper first, then finish with the 220-grit sandpaper.

I didn’t want to get all of the finish off, just lightly scratch them up to give the primer something to grip. And I hand-sanded the cabinet frame.

6. Tape the walls and floors off

I didn’t want to paint the insides of my cabinets, so I taped around the insides and taped the walls and floor. I didn’t think that middle faux drawer would come out, but my mom figured out that it snapped right off. Made for much easier priming and painting!

7. Prime everything

I normally don’t like to prime in the house, just because of the fumes and the smell. But, it was cold outside and since I had to prime the cabinet frame inside, I just set up shop in the bathroom – with the fan on. My mom came over to keep Miss A while I locked myself in there and worked quickly. {I moved everything out to the dining room to paint once the primer was dry.}

This is my favorite base primer: Zinsser Cover Stain. LOVE it!

8. Sand any drips or rough spots

I just lightly sanded any drips or rougher spots from the primer. Sand very lightly, because you don’t want to take the primer off.

9. Paint

Ok, now that all the prep is done, it’s time to paint. This paint is pretty runny, because it’s self-leveling, which is good.

So, you want to paint with very thin coats. Be sure to check back for drips frequently. So, here’s what I did.

You’ll want to paint as much as possible with the roller because that gives the best finish, but the brush works too in the cracks, corners and crevices.

Like I said, let the paint settle for a couple of minutes and then look back over it for paint pooled in the corners or drips underneath the edges. The paint will still be wet enough to clean up those areas and will still level and dry flat. LOVE this paint!

10. Repeat, twice.

Yes, mine needed three coats. I didn’t sand between coats, but if you see some rough spots or drips, then sand them between coats.

Plan on waiting 24 hours between coats and then as long as 48 hours before it’s completely dry. Believe me, this smooth, baby’s bottom finish is totally worth it!

It’s like glass, y’all!

If you’ve been scared, like me, then I hope this motivates you to try it. Let me know if you do!

And if you’re a cabinet painting pro, then please leave your favorite tips, tricks and tools in the comments. Girls like me need your help! 🙂

UPDATE: It seems like I left off a very important piece of information: the paint color. It’s Ominous Cloud by Clark+Kensington (Ace Hardware’s brand). I hope this helps!

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