Painted Kitchen Cabinets

It was about 8 years ago that I painted my kitchen cabinets this light, neutral gray. It helped my kitchen be light and bright. But the paint was starting to wear off in places from being touched and wiped down so often. And I was itching to add more color to my house. So, I grabbed my paint sprayer and changed things up! Here is the reveal of my painted kitchen cabinets.

This post is sponsored by Wagner but all ideas and opinions are 100% my own.

Picking A Paint Color

I had the HARDEST time picking a shade of green for the cabinets. For months I thought I had already settled on one. When I changed the color of green I painted my fireplace to a darker shade, I was then going to paint my kitchen cabinets the original fireplace color. But when I placed the color chip on the gray cabinets, I realized how light and how gray the green really was. If I was going to add color, I wanted to add COLOR. Not a muted green, but a really vibrant one.

These were my top choices. Yes, this is the narrowed down amount! Then I finally narrowed it down to four. Once I had four chosen, we got a sample can mixed in each color. I painted a white poster board in each color so I could see a larger sample. It is crazy how much different a color looks when you change the sheen and when it is larger scale. I ended up choosing one called In The Garden (the square paint chip right above the handle). How perfect is that?

Prepping To Paint Kitchen Cabinets

The hardest part was cleaning the cabinet doors. Turns out that a light, warm gray is the perfect color for hiding how bad grease residue has built up. Even though I wipe my cabinets down weekly, the cabinets near the oven had a thin layer that wouldn't sand off well. So after scrubbing them really well, I was able to finally sand them lightly with a 220 grit sandpaper.

The cabinet bases also got washed and sanded. Then everything had to be washed again to get rid of the fine dust. The sanding not only ensures that everything is off of the cabinets and they are 100% clean, but it also helps the new coats of primer and paint to adhere properly.

If I am painting a dark color over top of a lighter color, I like to use a tinted primer. You can buy pre-tinted primers or have your primer tinted at the store. Once I realized my cabinets were basically primer gray, I was more excited to say goodbye to the color.

I chose to brush the paint onto the cabinet bases instead of spraying. My kitchen is small enough that I can paint it by hand very quickly. Faster than it would take to tarp and tape everything. But when I paint larger kitchens, I will tarp things off.

Several thin coats is better than one or two thick coats. The first coat will look streaky and that's okay. I like to use a foam brush so there aren't brush marks. You can also use and additive like Floetrol that extends the paint dry time and helps the paint self level.

Spraying The Kitchen Cabinet Doors

Now it was time for the fun part! I always test the spray on a piece of cardboard before spraying my project. That way I can play around with the spray pattern and output and get it just right. I used the Wagner Flexio 3500 with the detail finish nozzle.

I always spray the back of cabinet doors first. That way, if they get dinged up when I flip them over to paint the other side, it's the backside and not the pretty front.

Once they had completely dried (I like to let them dry overnight), I turned them over and sprayed the front. I ended up painted three coats of paint per side.

The color looks really light when the paint is wet, but dries darker.

Painted Kitchen Cabinets Reveal!

I am so happy with how the kitchen cabinets turned out! The finish is so smooth and professional looking. And I am thrilled with how the color looks. It livens up the whole kitchen.

It is actually really hard to photograph my kitchen because no matter what time of day it is, there is a ton of bright sunlight. There are 3 big windows. One facing south, one east, and one west. It was hard to find a time when the lighting wasn't super harsh. BUT, the natural light is exactly why we felt comfortable doing a darker color on the cabinets.

Like with many colors of paint, it looks different depending on the time of day. In the morning light it comes off having more of a blue undertone and seems darker. In the day time it looks very warm and a bit lighter.

One of my favorite things about this cabinet upgrade is the contact paper I added to all the drawers and cabinet shelves.

It had enough various shades of green that I figured at least one would match my paint color. I was pleasantly surprised when it came at just how well it matched! I ordered it from Amazon (affiliate link) and used three rolls.

Kevin always sits in front of the camera when I do a shoot thinking it will earn him a treat. I decided to add this one in since he was in the last kitchen cabinet post. Plus it gives you all a chance to see him post surgery. His cancerous ear tumor was successfully removed (along with his whole ear).

Are your cabinets painted? What color are they and do you like it? Let me know in the comments below :)

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