Help w/ cabinet painting tips

[sctx]

ok, I'm remodeling Lil G's bathroom, stripped all the wall paper , prepped and painted the walls (red red wine color w/ sand trim.... very bold actually), new lights and fixtures are IKEA brushed nickel, rialto beige tile replaces the carpeting...... but we have wood finish cabinets that just won't look right, looks like a light oak stain on them.......... I bought some deglosser and was going to lightly sand them before painting them in the trim color......

so, my questions would be.......
is that enough prep work to get the paint to stick????..... and would a heavy coat of paint look best or more of a whitewash effect with the grain showing thru more???

[playawannabe]

Originally Posted by sctx

ok, I'm remodeling Lil G's bathroom, stripped all the wall paper , prepped and painted the walls (red red wine color w/ sand trim.... very bold actually), new lights and fixtures are IKEA brushed nickel, rialto beige tile replaces the carpeting...... but we have wood finish cabinets that just won't look right, looks like a light oak stain on them.......... I bought some deglosser and was going to lightly sand them before painting them in the trim color......

so, my questions would be.......
is that enough prep work to get the paint to stick????..... and would a heavy coat of paint look best or more of a whitewash effect with the grain showing thru more???

sand and coat with a melamine paint tinted in the same color as the trim (your sand color) Melamine has a very smooth, tough finish, perfect for cabinetry (and counter tops, too - in a pinch) and don't cheat! - not that you would - but remove all your hardware instead of trying to paint around it....lotsa people do that and you can tell!!

EDIT: but I love the antique/washed effect that SKM just had done to her kitchen cabinets.... so hmmmm...?!

[MaripositaII]

I painted Oak cabinets about four years ago. It's a Royal PITA to cover the grains, but can be done. I sanded as much of the stain off, cleaned down properly to remove all the grit and then applied two coats of primer (letting the primer dry in between). Then applied paint, but ended up using three coats. Could have been the paint I used that made it necessary to have so many coats. Never used Melamine paint.

[Babaloo]

Originally Posted by playawannabe

sand and coat with a melamine paint tinted in the same color as the trim (your sand color) Melamine has a very smooth, tough finish, perfect for cabinetry (and counter tops, too - in a pinch) and don't cheat! - not that you would - but remove all your hardware instead of trying to paint around it....lotsa people do that and you can tell!!

EDIT: but I love the antique/washed effect that SKM just had done to her kitchen cabinets.... so hmmmm...?!

Melamine paint is not available in the US
It is rather nasty stuff with the base solvent being naptha

[Rissask]

My aunt painted her cabinets a couple years ago. They were varnished wood. All she did was scuff them quite a lot, then paint with an oil base paint- 3 thinner coats looks better than 2 thick ones.

OR- you could also paint with a water based primer first and then water based paint, if you want to avoid using oil paint.

I would cover the grain, personally, but that's just an individual preference thing.

Melamine is good, but -it can yellow with time.

How about painting them the same colour as the trim, constrast makes a room look smaller and red and white is kinda jarring.

[heater]

I painted my parent's kitchen cabinets a few years ago. I quickly and lightly sanded them.
primed them and then painted them with a high gloss latex paint, I added some stuff called flowtrol (sp) to the paint to make it go on smoother. It took a few coats, but they turned out great.

[catnhat]

I agree with playawannabe Melamine is a product that sticks
Melamine is an oil product and will fade faster than a latex paint..
There are latex products out there that are very good...We prefer using a good latex acrylic paint called high performance 2000.. Most new homes where I live if the doors baseboards and trim are to be painted they are sprayed with this paint... We also use this product in homes where people cannot tolerate the fumes of oil paint..
For environmental reasons oil paint products are slowly being fazed out...

Love the red red wine color... How many coats did it take?
If the cabinets are in good shape a whitewashed effect looks wonderful...if you have to use wood filler at all then you will have to paint them in a solid color.. I prefer solid and most of our clients do too...
Good luck

Post photos when you have completed your project..

[GreatLakes]

Lightly sand the cabints 100 grit sand paper. Prime the cabinets with Killz oil based primer. It is sold at home depot. I would also use a oil based paint semi gloss as the final coat(probably 2 coats). Oil based is a much more durable finish then latex for a high use area. Also you may want to get a 3" roller with a 1/4 nap.
Good Luck

[sctx]

Originally Posted by catnhat

Love the red red wine color... How many coats did it take?

well, I did a primer coat, then used a semi-gloss kitchen and bath paint, but the color didn't turn out well (used a close match in Valspar instead of Olympics red red wine), so it took two coats on top of the other red...... if I had to do it over, I would ave probably just used one coat on top of the other red because it had a really cool stained look to it...... Babaloo woulda liked it

I'll probably do a test run of the whitewash on the cabinets, our kitchen cabinets are done that way and it looks cool....I removed a cabinet above the toilet that we will not be re-using anywhere, so i can practice on it

[synestere]

It's amazing what a bit of paint can do to an old wood box .

[SunKneeMarie]

beautiful, synestere

scott, shouldn't you be asking this be in the party thread somewhere?

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by sctx

ok, I'm remodeling Lil G's bathroom, stripped all the wall paper , prepped and painted the walls (red red wine color w/ sand trim.... very bold actually), new lights and fixtures are IKEA brushed nickel, rialto beige tile replaces the carpeting...... but we have wood finish cabinets that just won't look right, looks like a light oak stain on them.......... I bought some deglosser and was going to lightly sand them before painting them in the trim color......

so, my questions would be.......
is that enough prep work to get the paint to stick????..... and would a heavy coat of paint look best or more of a whitewash effect with the grain showing thru more???

Darling, whitewash grain effect is so last year.

[Rissask]

With all due respect, I don't agree with you, Great Lakes about the oil paint being better. That was the rule of thumb, but not anymore, today's latex paints are great. I even painted my front (metal) door a burgundy red with exterior latex and three harsh weather years later, not one little peel and no fading either!
And so much healthier to use, and far easier clean-up too.

I worked part time at Home Depot in the paint department a few years ago and at least that is what they taught us, and it's been my experience too. (don't hold that against me.) You'd be hard pressed to find any home builder who uses oil paint today, anywhere.


That's a good idea Scott, to practice on that cabinet.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by catnhat

Love the red red wine color... How many coats did it take?

Here's a little tip on the red, red wine walls. Prime with black primer. Helps bring out the red color without nearly as many coats.

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by Rissask

good idea Scott, to practice on that cabinet.

Spew!!
You gonna let a chick tell you you're a crappy handyman?!