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[sarahpanda]

I am redo-ing a house that I recently purchased and the kitchen cabinets are brown and I'm going to need them to be a medium to dark grey.  Someone mentioned to me maybe they could be painted.  Has anyone ever had any luck with getting kitchen cabinets painted?  TIA

[On It]

The key to painting kitchen cabinets is the prep work. They have to be free of any greasy buildup and such that can accumulate over time before painting. Hinges and knobs need to be removed to avoid getting paint on them. Number the doors and the cabinet openings so that you can put them back correctly.

I had a bad experience with a lazy contractor and learned from that. 

[sktchy]

I did this in 1995.  It was a 100 degrees and after I completed this task I also ordered a pool. 

Do you intend on using these cabinets into infinity OR is this a quick fix.

We removed the cabinets doors, and hardware and took the cabinets down to the natural wood which was maple.

The cabinets and doors were then SPRAYED with Kilz and then SPRAYED with paint.  The results were stunning.  The sprayer made all the difference.

OR

you can cheat and just Kilz the wood and then spray with paint.  

You DO NOT need to invest in an expensive sprayer.  If you enjoy doing home improvements this is a very rewarding job.

[sarahpanda]

@sktchy     It will be a temporary fix, cabinets to be replaced at a later date.  I was thinking about hiring out the job - thank you for your insight !

[PickyPicky3]

Did you search this topic here? It's been discussed many times. I did it once and would not do it again.

[50Mickey]

@sarahpanda   Years ago I had brown cabinets that were in pretty bad shape. I hired a professional painter who took the cabinet doors off and took them to his shop where he cleaned and sanded them down. He came to the house and cleaned and sanded the cabinet boxes and  painted them white. It was a process but when he finished they looked like new cabinets and completely changed the look of the kitchen. If your cabinets are wood it can be done. But I would recommend hiring a good painter unless you have the tools and experience to this yourself.

It's a lot less expensive than replacing the cabinets.

[Knit-Chick]

We just had ours done and ended up getting someone to do this for us.  When we were looking into doing it ourselves, we had looked into a brand of paint called 'Beyond Paint' but I think there's other brands too specifically for painting cabinets.  I also found a lot of articles online with tips... things like when you take down the cabinet fronts, number them with sticky notes so that you know where each one goes back.

  I agree - the cleaning and prep work is very important!  I saw the brand Krud Kutter mentioned several times as being one of the best cleaners and de-greasers.  Painting and new hardware made a world of difference in our kitchen!

[RespectLife]

I agree with @sktchy 

A sprayer is the best way to go.  We did it for our kids cabinets and they came out great.

HUGE difference.

Whether it is a temp or permanent change, I would want them to look good.  Brush strokes, drips etc would drive me batty!    LOL

You can also rent sprayers.

[skatting44]

@sktchy 

 Wow give you alot of credit  for taking on such a task. I had considered doing this at a rental property that I was refurbishing to sell . I had looked at  DIY kits from Home Depot .

Did you take down the entire cabinet from the wall  to  paint  ?  Or did  you only do the cabinet doors ?

[Knit-Chick]

Also wanted to add that if you hire someone to do it, also look into having just the door fronts replaced.  Ours were pretty beat up, so we did that too and then had everything painted.