Painting Kitchen Cupboards

Give your kitchen a makeover with Vintro Paint!


Most people want to change their kitchens but usually wince at the price. Painting kitchen cupboards, and drawer fronts, remains the cheapest and most popular way to update and rejuvenate your kitchen. Tired and dated cupboards and tiles can be brought up-to-date easily. All that is required is a bit of time and effort. Whether your kitchen is solid wood or melamine, the best thing of all about painting your own kitchen is you do not have to empty your cupboards or put up with the mess and upheaval of not having a kitchen for a week whilst your new kitchen is being installed. You can paint your kitchen in a weekend, or you could do a door at a time, if you have a young family or hectic lifestyle. What’s more, recycling your kitchen is more environmentally friendly as there will be no manufacturing process for your new look kitchen. Nor will you be sending your old ripped out kitchen to the local landfill site.

With Vintro Paint you will be able to paint your kitchen in one of our 65+ fabulous colours, which is more colours than you will find in a standard kitchen showroom. We have a paint for every job, whether you choose to paint your white goods, walls, tables, islands and trim, along with your cupboards – your whole room can be co-ordinated.

 

Choosing the Right Finish

• Chalk Paint

Vintro Chalk Paint will give the most tactile finish, but this will need sealing with either Vintro Wax or Vintro Extreme Lacquer, depending on what type of look you want. Vintro Wax will be wipeable after 7 days, whereas our Extreme Lacquer will be washable after 24 hours. You can be at your most creative with Vintro Chalk Paint and create finishes from layered colours, distressed to Gustavian or an antique finish. Vintro Chalk Paint is a no prep product so you will be able to paint straight onto your cupboards after cleaning. You will also be able to paint your kitchen white goods such as fridge/freezer to match.

• No Seal Chalk Paint

Vintro No Seal Chalk Paint, this paint is a washable chalk paint that doesn’t need sealing like our traditional Chalk Paint. It will give you a smooth finish, whereas you can achieve texture with our traditional Chalk Paint. You will not have to prep your kitchen cupboard doors with our No Seal Chalk Paint, just a good clean will do.

• Eggshell or Gloss

If you want to use a more traditional paint, such as Vintro Eggshell. This product will give you a smooth, washable finish. We recommend that you use Vintro Primer before painting with Eggshell as it will help with the adhesion to the door. Vintro Primer has superb adhesion qualities and unlike most primers you will not need to sand your surface before painting. If you apply the primer unevenly resulting in a few brush strokes, these can be lightly sanded with a fine grit sandpaper before painting with Eggshell.
Gloss finishes are slowly coming back into fashion and will result in kitchen cabinets with high sheen finish. Vintro Gloss is completely washable; however, it will need to be used over Vintro Primer for adhesion purposes.

Tools You Might Need

• Screwdriver for removal of doors and hardware.
• A variety of quality paintbrushes such as Vintro flat synthetic and/or a quality paint roller and tray.
• Old rags/cloths for cleaning.
• Canvas drop cloth to protect other surfaces and floor.
• Sugar soap and possibly clean spirit.
• Your choice of paint and finish.
• Piece of chalk.
• Pen and paper.

 

Preparation for painting kitchen cupboards

No matter which paint finish you choose, all your kitchen cupboard doors, pelmets and drawer fronts will need a good clean. A sugar soap solution is usually sufficient, ensuring that you clean well into any corners or any grooves. An old toothbrush is a useful cleaning tool for these areas. For surfaces that are really greasy, a wipe over with clean spirit is advisable. Allow to dry.

Do you need to remove drawer fronts and doors?

It is our experience that you will get a far superior finish if you remove your doors and drawers. Laying them flat prior to painting will reduce the likelihood of runs or sagging of paint. We recommend that you number the back of your doors with a piece of chalk and draw a plan on paper of which door goes where.

Changing Hardware

You might choose to keep or replace handles on your cupboards and drawers, however, for ease of painting, you are best to remove them, unless they are to be painted as well . You will find that many hardware stores, DIY and high street shops stock cabinet handles, not forgetting internet stores should you wish to replace them. Keep in mind you may need to fill old screw holes and drill new ones to accommodate new handles. It is probably wise to pick the handles when you are thinking about the paint style and colour to ensure that they go together.

What Colour?

Dark colours such as Victorian Black and Nightfall will give your kitchen cabinets a modern timeless look, especially when teamed with granite or natural wood worktops, brass or copper hardware and accessories. For those a little less daring, try Midnight which is a versatile graphite which is not as dark as black. A dark red such as Dante’s Dream will give a cosy farmhouse feel to your kitchen. When using strong colours on your cabinets, opt for a neutral palette for your walls and trim. For those of you that prefer a more understated look, use soft colours on your kitchen cabinets such as Xanthe, Harewood, Aurora, Verdant and Dove.
Add interest to your kitchen by painting your kitchen cabinets in dual colours with the wall cupboards painted in the lighter colour. This will open up the space and make the kitchen appear larger than what it is. Of course, adding splashes of bright colours like Deep Saffron, Cobalt, Old Mauve, Eden or Citron will add a touch of character to your room.

Painting

Apply primer, using paint brushes and/or a roller. Allow to dry. You should apply first layer of paint within 4 hours of primer or leave to dry and cure for 16 hours and then apply first layer of paint.
Apply first layer of paint with either a roller and/or a paintbrush. Applying thin even coats of paint to prevent drips, avoiding re-brushing of drying paint to minimise brushstrokes and uneven coverage. Once dry (see back of tin for full drying times) apply a second coat of paint. Most surfaces will need two coats of paint to give a full coverage and a deepening of the colour.
Once the final coat is fully dry, a topcoat can be applied, if needed (see “Choosing the Right Finish” above).

Finishing Touches

Fit hardware back onto your drawers and cupboards and then refit to the cabinets.
Alongside your cupboards, the counter-top is another highly visible area in your kitchen and may be worth changing. Natural stones such as granite and marble will give you a luxury hard-wearing choice but can be a tad expensive, whilst wood will add texture and laminate will combine practicality as well as affordability.

Accessorise and co-ordinate

Kitchen accessories or kitchen towels could be used to introduce co-ordinating colours, or you could paint your kitchen chairs and table to either match or contrast with your chosen kitchen colour.
Lighting can completely change the look of not only the colour on the walls and cupboards, but also the feel of the room. There is a wide variety to choose from including spotlights to something more opulent like a chandelier.
Now that your kitchen is painted, you might look down and see tired flooring. Floorboards, laminates and tiles can all be painted with either our original Chalk Paint or our No Seal Chalk Paint.

Final thoughts

Painting kitchen cupboards is a cheap and relatively easy way to dramatically change the look of your kitchen, whether it is made from wood, MDF or laminate.
We would love to see your completed projects, please email us high resolution photographs and a description of your work to sales@vintro.co.uk