To paint my kitchen cabinets or not, that is the question

Dooooo it! I did it in my condo and then we had them painted in the house we bought 2 years ago. Added hardware too. Loved it both places. I did a pure white, so not as much of an issue, but in my condo my stove and dishwasher were white, and here my fridge is white. They aren't exact matches but it is totally fine, and I am kind of crazy about colors. How country of a white are you thinking? Have you found any photos of similar country white cabinets and white appliances?

I just love white cabinets and the paint has held up really well. Sounds like you know the work, proper types of paint, etc.

I was afraid of the all white look, so I did the base cabinets in a very dark blue and the upper cabinets in white.
My appliances are stainless--and the countertop is white with grey swirls.

AN Can I ask who you used and general pricing guidelines? Do you have glass in your cabinets? Ours are cherry wood and in excellent condition. But I am not thrilled with the orange tint to the wood. I am trying to decide between having them refinished darker/browner or painted white. We are just outside of San Antonio so I imagine our costs would be semi-close.

I painted our dark, dark wood cabinets about 16-17 years and I have never regretted it.

I'm doing our laundry room right now. Use a really good primer first. If your grain is really pronounced they make a self-leveling paint to hide it. I'm using Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint. This stuff is awesome. Pricey, but worth it. .. and a good small roller. A brush to do the details.

Good luck!

My kitchen cabinets and my utility room cabinets are painted white and I love them. My kitchen appliances are stainless, but my washer and dryer (in the utility room) are white. I think the white appliances look great with the white paint. It gives the room a really clean look. The white appliances don't match the white cabinets perfectly, but I don't think it matters since they are different textures.

You need to use an alkyd paint, which is available in a water-based formula. I did an insane amount of research, and you do not want to use the chalk paint if you want them to hold up.

I recently did a smaller bathroom cabinet myself, and I also highly recommend painter's pyramids - super cheap and amazing for doing the doors. 

Here's an email I wrote to a friend after doing the cabinets myself:

For paint, I used Sherwin Williams ProClassic Acrylic Latex (NOT the oil). A similar product is Benjamin Moore Impervo Waterbourne. It is a latex enamel that mimics an alkalyd, which means it is self-leveling and holds up to a lot of wear and tear. The self-leveling is key so you don't have brush marks and streaks. I believe I used Satin - it looks like that's the lowest sheen it's available in, although it looks pretty darn flat, so I thought it was flat. Guess not though.

I used their Preprite ProBlock primer and good brushes. I think I did one coat of primer and two of paint.

I used high quality brushes, which you need to get into the tight areas, but looking back on it, I'd use the rollers more. WAY easier. I used rollers on the cabinet bases and it was great. I would have rolled as much as possible on the doors and then used the brush to get the harder areas on the doors. More roller, less brush.

Paint sticks to plastic and/or cardboard, which is common sense, but apparently I hadn't learned it yet. The best surface I used to paint on was an old junky folding table that I didn't care if I got paint on - it didn't stick when I picked thecabinets up.

Sanding - I wasted a stupid amount of time sanding. I'd fill any holes you need to fill, sand those areas, and then just use the liquid sander stuff. I used that on the bases and it was fine and so much easier. Sanding is a mess and if yourcabinets are in okay shape, clean them with TSP and then just use liquid sander. I wouldn't sand again unless the wood was in poor condition.

Plenty of drying time between coats. I also might drill the holes for any new hardware before I painted them... you could go either way on that. I got some marks on my white cabinets with my drill because it is way too high-powered for me (with no clutch), but the Magic Erasers took them off. So, no big deal either way on that one.

Don't overbrush the self-leveling paint. It will look like you're going to be able to see brush marks, but it will level out. It starts drying quickly though, so if you keep brushing it, it will get lines in it. Another reason I liked the roller. Paint high to low (so the recessed parts are done last) - that's common sense though too.

That's all I can think of.

Agree with AN -- you should totally go for it. When I bought my house many years ago it had solid wood cabinets in a very dark wood but the kitchen is quite small. We actually painted them ourselves. If you follow all the prep steps and use the right paint, it isn't a bad thing-- but it does take longer when you tackle it yourself. But I don't regret painting them (as many people told me at the time I would ultimately hate it.) When I first bought the house, it had all white appliances (which have now all been converted to stainless) -- and I have liked the white cabinets with both sets of appliances. It makes it feel much more inviting in the kitchen. Good luck!!

we remodeled our kitchen last year and had our oak cabinets painted gray. The paint will make a huge change and freshen the room dramatically. I wasnt sure about the white on white but after looking at pictures I think it will look good! What color is your counter top and back splash?

My only advice to DIY is make sure you have a ton of space for any sanding, drying, etc. We gel stained our bathroom cabinets ourselves and it took up the whole garage for a couple of weeks

That's good to know!