More to Mrs. E

New England Based Teacher DIY, Beauty and Style Blogger

Detailed Step 2 Kid’s Playhouse Makeover

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Babies have a way of taking over your life – and it’s no different when it comes to your hobbies! It didn’t take long after having a baby to have Pinterest dangle all kinds of fun DIY projects for kids in front of my nose. I quickly pinned a number of DIY kid’s playhouse makeovers, waiting for the day when I could find a good one on Facebook Marketplace to do over. So, when a friend of ours asked if I was interested in their kid’s playhouse I was instantly excited and had visions of all kinds of things I could do. It was in great shape, but there were still so many ways I wanted to customize the house.

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover DIY

I didn’t plan on writing this up for the blog since I haven’t done a post in years, but I learned a lot from this Step 2 playhouse makeover and feel there are lessons that are worth sharing. This is a very detailed post. If you’re interested in getting straight into the makeover itself, skip down to the section “Spray Painting: Prep.”

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click/make a purchase through some of these links, I will make a small commission. For more information please see my Privacy Policy, and thank you!

Not Every DIY Playhouse Makeover is the Same

The first lesson learned was that most kid’s playhouse DIYs I found online were not like mine. Many bought kid’s playhouses brand new and then painted them before they had been used and put together. Many others had wooden playhouses (that also were brand new) that they DIY’d. This made their process very different from mine.

I started with a used and already assembled plastic Step 2 Neat and Tidy Pink Cottage Playhouse. This impacted the paint I could choose and the accessories I could easily add, very different from a brand new plastic playhouse or a wooden one. In the end, I agree that buying a new playhouse would make spray painting much easier. The pieces would already be apart to make spray painting things like the faucet easier. Having a wooden playhouse would make customizing and painting a different story. There are easier and cheaper options for wood paint, and it’s much easier to cut and screw into wooden playhouses to accessorize. That being said, I feel like the beauty of a DIY is taking something old and making it new. That’s what I did here!

And, since this process WAS different, I’d like to thank the various DIY trailblazers who forged the way for me and tried things out on already well-loved kids playhouses. I’ve read so many posts that I can’t credit them all, but this post, in particular, was very helpful. The process I now explain is largely based on that tutorial.

My Step 2 Playhouse Makeover

Powerwash & Clean

Materials used: Drill (to remove all the screws quickly) | Powerwasher | Scrub brush from Dollar Tree! | Bucket of Dish-soapy water

The very first thing I did, like many others, was to take the house apart and powerwash it. I wish I had a “before” picture, but since I didn’t know I was going to post about it, I didn’t bother taking one. A number of people who were working from used playhouses mentioned the importance of getting the playhouse clean. I actually purchased this powerwasher on sale with that in mind (don’t worry…I’ve wanted one for other reasons too and am really glad I got this one). It made cleaning the pieces quick and actually quite fun!

First, I sprayed the piece on both sides. Then, I used my $1 scrub brush to do a once-over with some soapy water, focusing on areas that seemed particularly discolored. Finally, I went over it one more time with the powerwasher. I’m not sure if the soap was needed, but since I didn’t plan to use primer I didn’t want to risk it.

Tip: Power wash on a clean blacktop or large, clean tarp – at first, my plastic tarps were too small and all I ended up doing was splashing dirt up onto my clean pieces.

Spray Painting: Prep

Materials used:

On to the playhouse makeover itself. The spray painting steps are the most important to get right – there are so many aspects that go into the right conditions.

First, pick a day with the right temperature and little wind! Too hot or too cold and the paint won’t cure properly. Too windy and you’ll end up having to use more coats and the ones you do get won’t be even.

Then, take EVERYTHING apart. Look up the manual for your house online if you need to to learn how to take it ALL apart (I’m talking windows and doors especially). I couldn’t figure out how to get the shutters out of the window or the faucet off the sink so I just taped them up. I thought I did it in a smart way but every single option had its issues. (see below)

If you can’t take everything apart, then tape it up strategically. As I go into later, I spray painted one side at a time and one color of paint at a time. I taped off the main part of the house while I spray painted the shutters pink. That meant I had to get tape under where the shutter swung back and forth and rubbed against the window.

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Note: I recommend using plastic or old newspaper to cover the white house walls beyond the tape. Overspray can still lead to your color transferring to the wall beyond where you’ve taped. See next Image
Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_tips and tricks for spray painting

I tried pulling a grocery bag under that opening and I tried putting tape under that opening. In the end I think the tape worked best, though the bag was easier to work with and pull through. However, in both cases, the spray paint from the shutter stuck to whatever was under it. To paint the other side of the shutters I had to “open” them. When I did, it rubbed against the house below and chipped paint off. This led to more recoats to deal with spots that chipped off and a longer drying time. I had to go through that whole opening and closing and taping and retaping AGAIN when I painted the main color of the house.

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Spray paint on canvas!

After taping, set everything up to spray paint on a canvas drop cloth rather than a plastic one (here is the one I used). The paint won’t stick to canvas like it will to plastic. If you can’t fit everything, it’s ok to spread it across multiple days so you have enough space. I did that because I wanted to make sure accent colors on the shutters were truly dry before touching and taping to them while painting the main house color. Do yourself a favor and make sure you stake it down with heavy items on the corners!

Lean your pieces up on a raised item – I used some empty plant containers and an old kitty litter box! lol! The kitty litter box worked surprisingly well for the larger items. I fit them right over the box on the windows. I recommend doing this because I found it easier to get even coats when I could hold the can of spray paint more upright. Being off the ground also made it easier to get the edges/ends.

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Spray Painting the Pieces

Materials used:

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse_best spray paint
The paint I used for the playhouse makeover.

Now that you’re ready to actually paint, be careful. Use a number of light, even coats, close together. The wind can affect this, so wait until a breeze dies down before spraying. Otherwise, if you spray too much at once, it can start to drip.

If the spray paint does drip, you can touch it really quickly to rub away the drip and then recoat lightly. I found that I got the best coat when I worked on one or two pieces at a time, all the way through a side. When I have spray painted other plastics in the past, the paint has bubbled when I went to add a second coat. That didn’t happen this time and I think it’s because I followed the directions on the can more carefully. I used light coats, and added any extra coats within the same hour as the original coats or after 24 hours. This included the clear topcoat.

I laid all my pieces out on the canvas and worked on one side of a few pieces at a time. Example: added a white coat to the front side of 3 pieces, came back and added the second coat of white to the same front side of the 3 pieces, and possibly a 3rd coat. Then, I added two clear topcoats to all three, and let those three pieces dry for an hour (used timers on my phone to be accurate). While the first sides of those 3 pieces were drying, I moved on to the next 3 pieces, using the same process and setting a new timer for the second set of pieces. When the timers went off, I went back to my original 3 pieces and flipped them over to coat the other side.

DIY kids playhouse_how to spray paint plastic toys

Before adding a second color to some of the pieces, I let them dry 24 hours. As mentioned above, this got pretty tricky with some items. For the shutters, the best option for me was to cover the already-painted pink shutters with a plastic grocery bag. I made sure that the pink shutter paint had 24 hours to dry before I did the next step. I recommend figuring out how to remove them. If you can’t, you can do like I did and wrap a plastic bag around each of the shutters. Tape the plastic bag to itself, not the paint (see image above). When I taped directly on the pink paint, it peeled off, even using blue painter’s tape. That could partly be because the pink paint was a gloss paint and it seemed to peel off easier than the satin paints.

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_tips to spray pain plastic toys
If you can’t remove them, cover the shutters in a grocery bag taped to itself, as you see here.

I wanted the mail box to be gold, but it was one solid piece with the white column. So, I used a brown paper bag and made a cut-out of the area that I wanted to protect and used it like a stencil, taping up the rest of the exposed column. I also taped up the faucet since I couldn’t figure out how to get it off without breaking it.

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These pieces were spray painted gold with a clear topcoat. Be careful! I ended up having to go back and touch up some of my white column (so annoying…) because I didn’t pay attention to or be proactive about my overspray. I also sprayed the grille, doorbell, faucet, and the house numbers and door handle I purchased gold.

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse_tape up pieces to spray paint gold

Note in the picture below that I taped up the floor of the house before spray painting it white. The grey color seemed appropriate for the floor and I felt like it would wear better than spray painting it white. I’m glad I did because already I have had to powerwash the floor a few times to get dirt out (my daughter thinks dirt is bugs 🙄).

Let everything dry the appropriate amount of time and then reassemble the pieces! As you can see, my little “helper” was very interested in this part.

advice for Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse

😂 I recommend trying to do this without a toddler present!

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse_tutorial for DIY playhouse
Checking out the new place.

Wrapping Up the Playhouse Makeover

Since this post has already been so long, I will hold off on the accessories for another post. HOWEVER, I will say that if you intend to add a knob to your door – do that before you put the door back on!

My door handle came with screws that went in from the back into the handle itself. Since the door was so thick, I knew it would be very hard to do this and get the bolt and the handle lined up properly. I also worried that, with the bolt sticking out the other side, it would catch her little clothes and skin. So, the only option I had was to glue it. This was nearly impossible to do once it was upright. So, glue it with E6000 while it is laying flat, so it doesn’t move while drying. I don’t know if it will last, but that’s what I would try if I were to do it again.

Here is where we are approximately ending for this post, but don’t be fooled! There is more to come in this Step 2 playhouse makeover!

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse_spray painting plastic kids playhouse

I ended up using a little over 7 cans of white spray paint, two cans of the clear topcoat, one can of black paint, one can of pink glossy paint and one can of gold.

This is not where it ends though! Oh no! The accessories are what brings it to life! Here’s a sneak peak!

Step 2 Playhouse Makeover_DIY kids playhouse_sneak peak

It’s going to be great! If you found this post helpful, please pin it to your DIY Pinterest board. And check back in a few weeks for the final reveal, accessories and all!

Paint and Reuse Old Cabinet Hinges:

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It’s time again to share a DIY post. Today I’m going to share with you how to paint and reuse old cabinet hinges. A few weeks ago I shared how I painted my kitchen cabinets. It was a popular post, but it was very long! Because of that, I decided to save part of this project for a separate post.

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Why I Decided to Paint the Cabinet Hinges

The process of painting and reusing old cabinet hinges is tedious and, in the end, is not going to be as effective as buying brand new hinges. If it’s in your budget and you can find hinges that will work with the holes already drilled in your cabinets, buy new hinges.

When replacing hinges in a kitchen you want to consider the color of the new cabinets (do your hinges match?) and the style of hinge. The easiest way to replace hinges is if you can find ones that work with the holes already drilled in your cabinets and with the way your cabinets doors are already set up. Look at the way your doors sit on top of the cabinets. Do you see the hinge at all? If so, do you see the entire hinge or only part of a hinge? I really like this article which describes more about the aspects I mentioned above. This website has some more helpful information about hinge types and images to describe what you should be looking for.

It may take you awhile to figure out what kind of hinge you have, but once you do – check to see if there are replacement hinges in the color you are looking for.

I did not buy new hinges because my cabinets are old and I could not, for the life of me, find the same kind of hinges in white. For that matter, I couldn’t find the same kind of hinge! It was actually quite frustrating. To get new hinges would mean having to go fill in the holes of the previous hinges, sand and paint over them. Then, I would have to redrill holes in the cabinets and the doors for the new hinge style. Since there was no way I was going to do that or to put dingy copper-ish hinges on brand new white cabinets, I decided to research the process to paint and reuse those old hinges instead.

Painting Cabinet Hinges

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click/make a purchase through some of these links, I will make a small commission. For more information, please see my Privacy Policy and thank you!

Materials Needed:

Step 1 – Remove the hinges

The first step in painting your old cabinet hinges is to remove them from the cabinets. A drill with screw attachment makes this process go very quickly. I will say that it can really help to have a second pair of hands to hold the upper doors so they don’t fall on you or rip from the cabinet while you’re getting the last screw out. Place all the screws and hinges in a plastic bag as you remove them.

Once you have removed the doors from the cabinets, remove the other half of the hinges from the doors themselves.

Step 2 – Cleaning the hinges

Now that the screws and hinges are removed, you need to clean them. If your hinges are old or have been in a place in your kitchen where they have collected grease over the years, you’re going to have to remove as much of that grease as possible. Otherwise, your paint isn’t going to stick.

To remove the grease, I placed all the hinges and screws in my slow cooker with a little bit of Dawn dish soap and added enough water to just cover the hinges. I turned it on in the morning before I went to work and they were ready when I got home from work in the evening. You could also put them in overnight. I had to do two rounds of this because I had a lot of hinges.

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You would be shocked at how much gunk and grease will come off just from this step.

When you’re ready to remove the hinges, make sure to use a pair of rubber gloves and some tongs. As I removed them from the slow cooker, I used an old toothbrush to scrub particularly stubborn areas and set them on an old towel to dry. For the screws, I set them in the palm of my gloved hand and scrubbed with the brush. This helped remove old paint still stuck to the screws.

Step 3 – Sand the Screws and Hinges

Once the screws and hinges are dry, it’s time to sand them. Using medium grit sandpaper (80-120 grit), gradually sand all the screws and the hinges. This process took me quite some time. It’s hard to get into some of the hidden spots on the hinges but do your best. I often had to fold or roll the sandpaper to get into the tight spaces.

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This part of the process made a HUGE difference and the difference was very visible. Afterwards, wipe off the dust from the sanding. I actually ended up rinsing the hinges because it was really hard to get all the dust off.

Lay them out to dry.

Step 4 – Prime and Paint

When they are dry, find a well-ventilated space and space the hinges out on a drop cloth or piece of cardboard. You want to have them spaced so you can spray every angle.

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Push the screws into a piece of Styrofoam. For example, companies will often pack appliances with Styrofoam in the corners. Use one of those and push the screws into it so that only the head of the screw is exposed. (We had just installed some electronic door knobs so I used the Styrofoam that the knob came in.)

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Now it’s time to spray a light coat of primer. I used a metal primer so that there were extra rust-inhibiting properties. It took a few light coats of primer, rotating the hinges (and sometimes bending them further open or further closed) until I got every angle. Don’t forget to spray the tops of the screws stuck into the Styrofoam too. Read the can for the proper amount of drying time.

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Repeat this process: spraying, drying, rotating, spraying again, drying, rotating one more time, spraying…for both the primer and the actual paint color. I used an enamel spray paint for a nice hard finish on the hinges without the need for a clear top coat.

Step 5 – Reinstall Hinges

Once you’re sure the hinges and screws are dry, it’s time to put them back on the cabinet doors. Using the holes you should still see in the doors as guide, and your drill, screw the hinges back onto the cabinet doors.

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Be sure to check to make sure you are placing the hinge going in the right direction. As I noted in the main post about painting the cabinets, I used tape to label which cabinet doors went where. At this point in the process I actually took a hinge and took a door over to where it would be installed and put the hinge on the cabinet edge and sat the door on top to make sure it was going the right direction. I quickly got the hang of it, and before long, all the hinges were back on the cabinet doors.

Finally, screw the doors back on the cabinets.

Important to Note about Painting Hinges

I will note that this was not a perfect solution for my hinges. There were a few hinges where, no matter how hard I scrubbed at the grease or how many coats of paint and primer I added, each time I would bend the hinge, it would chip off some of the paint on the moving part of the hinge. There was just no way to clean underneath that hinge so that it wouldn’t scrape the paint off when it moved. Instead, I put these hinges in the corners of the cabinets where they wouldn’t be as visible.

If spots of chipped paint are going to be a problem, and you can’t find a replacement hinge that will fill the same holes as your current cabinets, then I would recommend the longer process of changing the hinges themselves.

Please Note! If you decide to change the hinges, you will need to decide that BEFORE you paint the kitchen cabinets. You will want to fill all the holes from the old hinge screws with wood filler and sand the holes before you prime and paint the cabinets and doors. That way it will leave a smooth finish. Then, when you’re ready to reinstall the cabinet doors, you will need to measure and drill holes for the new hinge type.

And that’s it! Have you ever attempted to paint and reuse old cabinet hinges? Were you successful? I’d love to know!

Thanks for stopping by! And if you’re interested in the rest of the kitchen cabinets, make sure to check it out here!

Virginia

Linking up with: Craftastic Monday | Tips and Tutorials Link Party | Waste Not Wednesday | Sew It, Cook It, Craft It | Your Whims Wednesday | Friday at the Fire Station | Artsy-Fartsy Link Party

The “Easy Way” to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets

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Summer is almost here, school is almost out and it’s project time! I love doing paint projects in early spring and fall because you can open the windows to let out the fumes without worrying about the heat. Lucky for you, this project to paint your kitchen cabinets does not result in a lot of fumes. It would make the perfect project any time of year. Today we’re going to talk about the “easy way” to paint your kitchen cabinets.

This post is in no way sponsored. I researched and purchased this paint and these supplies with my own money. However, affiliate links are used throughout this post, which means that clicking/making a purchase through these links may result in a small commission for More to Mrs. E, which helps me keep this blog running. For more information, please see my Privacy Policy, and thank you!

easy-way-paint-kitchen-cabinets_before-picture_decoart-satin-enamel-paints

This is what my kitchen looked like before painting – very dark. I didn’t mind the wood but it made the kitchen area so dark. It may not look that way in these pictures but I had to really “up” the exposure just so you could see what the kitchen looks like!

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Solution? Paint the cabinets with this enamel paint (in pure white), a way that Pinterest seems to tout as the easiest way to paint your kitchen cabinets.

I’m going to start off by saying that painting kitchen cabinets is no quick little DIY project. The method itself is, indeed, easy but it is still time-consuming. And you should know, right from the beginning, that this project did not go as planned. That’s not the fault of the method itself but it does mean that I can not accurately tell you how long it would have taken to complete had I not had the setbacks I describe below.

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Why this wasn’t finished quickly

Before I started this project I did tons of research, read many reviews, and weighed my options carefully before choosing a paint. In the end I chose this paint for a few important reasons.

  1. I could easily return it, in-store, if I bought too much.
  2. It doesn’t need a topcoat, so it would be easier to touch up if there were issues.
  3. It dries quickly and would allow me to recoat quicker.

Based on that last reason, I had it in my head that this project would only take a few days. Instead, it took me multiple months. I had to deal with a tenant eviction and repairing a rental unit of ours before I could come back and finish the kitchen cabinets. It also took longer because, even with a quick-drying paint, there are still a lot of step involved in painting kitchen cabinets. Unless you can scrub and paint all day and have room to lay out a whole kitchen-worth of cabinet doors, you’re only going to be able to do a few steps at a time.

That being said, this process was easy and much cheaper than expected. I ended up using less than half of the jars of paint I bought. When it was finished, my skeptical husband was impressed with how well it looked – and that’s saying something! So here’s what to do if you want to paint your kitchen cabinets the “easy way”.

  1. Clean/Degrease
  2. Lighly Sand
  3. Seal
  4. Paint
  5. Repeat for additional sides and sections.

Before You Start to Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets…

Remove all the cabinet knob and drawer pulls and put them in a bag with their screws. Even if you decide later that you won’t need them, it’s good to have some extras on hand just in case.

First, clean the cabinets

Materials: old washcloth or towel (textured to be scrubby), degreaser

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I cleaned the cabinets first with THIS. It. Was. AMAZING. The cabinets themselves looked so much better after cleaning them and it didn’t take a ton of elbow grease. It took me a little over an hour to degrease the fronts of the cabinets in the evening but then you need to let it completely dry. For me this meant waiting until the next day after work.

Do not skip this step. Some of the reviews I read said that you could just wipe the cabinets down with Clorox wipes. That may be true, but if your cabinets are as old as mine, there is grime on there that should be removed. There were a few spots where I missed some accumulated grime and, after I painted, either 1) the finish was lumpy in those spots 2) the spot chipped off and then I had to retouch the paint or 3) the grime bled through the paint a little. So, don’t skip this step!

Next, lightly sand the wood

Materials: Sandpaper, Microfiber cloth

Sand the cabinets lightly all over and wipe away the dust with a microfiber cloth. In hindsight, I would encourage you to more seriously sand the areas where you might not want paint to cling. For example: very rough areas.

In most cases, my cabinets look great and I didn’t sand a whole lot. However, there are two cabinets where the rounded, curved edge is rougher and I wish I had sanded better in these spots so the paint wouldn’t cling to the rough edges.

Finally, seal the wood

Materials: Paintbrush, Stain Blocker/Sealer

While the cabinet doors were still attached, I painted the fronts of the cabinet doors with THIS sealer. This stuff went a long way. I ordered 2 jars and used about 1.25 of the jars for the entire project.

I used a brush to paint the sealer on the edges of the cabinets and the indentations. For one side of the kitchen I used a brush on the flat fronts and backs of the cabinets and on the other side I used a roller for the fronts and backs of the cabinets. I can’t say one worked better than the other. The roller definitely soaked up more sealer but I felt like the brush coated it better.

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I was a little paranoid about getting every inch covered, but in the end, it was hard to tell whether it was completely covered because the sealer dried so quickly and was so transparent. This is one of the advantages to this paint system. You could clean, sand, and seal the cabinet doors before even removing them from the kitchen and your neighbor wouldn’t even notice anything was different when they stop by for coffee!

Paint your first few coats

Materials: angled paintbrush, paint tray, small paint roller. I used this one for the first few coats and this roller with this roller cover for the last few coats.

The first coats on the outer cabinet doors can also be done while the doors are still attached to the cabinets. It definitely helps the project feel like it goes quicker since the kitchen doesn’t have to be taken apart quite as long. The directions say to apply several light coats. In total, I applied 5-6 very light coats on both sides of the doors and drawers – 2 or 3 while the doors were still in place. Here are some tips for painting application.

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Overall tips:

  • The paint dries quickly, so only pour a little out into the pan at a time.
  • If there is a streak of thicker paint, use the flat side of your brush to run it VERY LIGHTLY back over that section of paint to even it out. Since the paint dries so quickly, you want to do this as you go. Otherwise, it will dry and when you add a second layer of paint, that spot will stay darker than the rest of the areas. In my case, it often took extra layers of paint in the end before the paint would look uniform.
  • When finished for the day, put your roller in a ziplock bag without washing it and store it in the fridge. No joke, I used the same roller and roller cover for almost all of this project and it stayed in the fridge for almost 2 months. This made it easy to pull out and do a layer of paint even on my lunch break.

The Fronts of the Cabinet Doors & Drawyers

Because the paint dries so quickly, it’s a good idea on the first coat to paint one entire door at a time so get both your brush and your roller ready. You will see in these pictures that I did not do what I’m telling you to do here. On my first few coats I painted the interior beveled edges on all the doors, then all the outside beveled edges, etc. However, I discovered that when I painted all the inside edges first with my brush, I would get some paint slipping over onto the raised flat front. (see picture below)

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If I went on to another door and did this to a series of doors, the paint would dry by the time I came back to paint the raised, flat front. If I rollered over the splotches when it was already dry, it would make those spots darker than the rest of the cabinets and require additional coats overall. So instead I recommend:

Working one door at a time…

  1. Paint the interior bevel of the door.

    I did this with an angled paintbrush (I LOVED this one), and make sure to get into the corners. I also painted up under the edge and into the corners of the flat interior section that touched the beveled interior. (see this in the image above)

  2. While the paint is still wet, roller the flat section inside the interior bevel.

    By painting these two sections one right after another, I can fade any overlap into the other section’s wet paint. For example, in the image above there is overlap of wet paint onto the flat interior. But, this is ok because when I run the roller over that section in the very next step, the paint is evened out.

  3. Paint the exterior beveled edges with your angled brush.

    **Be careful not to let the paint build up in any one spot. This will only make it more difficult when you go to add additional coats. If you can’t get to all of the outside edges with the cabinet doors still attached, that’s ok. You can skip painting those outer edges and just roller the front.

  4. Roller the raised flat section between the two bevels.

    If you skipped painting the outside edges, make sure to use your brush to smooth out any paint from rollering the flat front that does get onto the outside edges. Or, wipe it off with a damp paper towel.

Let the paint dry (30 mins to an hour usually) and then paint a few more coats, with the same method, while the doors are still attached. You will remove them for the back and the final coats. Because of the quick drying time, you can complete a few coats in one day if you have enough time and space to spread out all the pieces that need painting and drying.

I used this same method to paint the fronts of the drawers, though it went much quicker since there were fewer beveled edges.

Materials Used: I painted three coats on the fronts of all the cabinet doors and drawers (top and bottom) before removing them and only used 1.5 jars of paint, which was much less than I expected!

The backs of the cabinet doors and the cabinets themselves

Removing the Cabinet Doors and Drawers & Prepping for Paint

You will need: Drill, Bag or container for screws and hinges, degreaser, rag

Once the fronts of any doors or drawers are painted and dry, remove them. Unscrew the cabinet doors from the cabinets and remove the hinges from those doors. *Cabinet door removal is easier with two people.* Place all the hinges and screws in a bag so you do not lose them.

Lay the doors out on a flat surface (a garage would work great. I used my dining table covered in a paint barrier). Degrease the backs of the doors using the same materials as described above. Let dry. Then, seal the backs of the doors as described above.

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Painting the Backs of the Cabinet Doors

Once dry, paint the backs of the cabinet doors as you did the fronts. The only difference is that there will be no beveled edges and more flat sections.

Pay special attention to the outside edge of the doors where the front and back meet. Make sure you get these well with your brush or roller to make sure that there is no gap in the paint. Roller the flat back touching this area right away to make sure to fade the paint into the back section.

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Repeat the process for a few coats on the backs of the doors. Then, when dry, flip the doors over and add a few more coats to the front.

This is the time to really get the outside beveled edge well if you were unable to do so while the doors were attached. However, be careful. As you can see above, some paint from the outside edge may leak onto the back side of the door. If you have already painted a few coats on the back, this will be less noticeable. However, it may be a good idea to very carefully lift the cabinet door up to check the back after you have painted a coat on front outside beveled edge. Either fade the overlapped paint into the paint on the back or wipe it off with a damp cloth.

Add as many coats to both sides of the doors as it takes for the finish to appear smooth and opaque.

A NOTE ON STAGGERING: If you work on this a little at a time, you can stagger the degreasing, painting and drying. For example, I degreased the backs of half the cabinet doors and let them dry one evening and while they were drying, degreased the kitchen cabinets. The next morning I painted the first coat on the backs of the cabinet doors that I had degreased the night before. While the paint was drying, I started taping the kitchen and painted the interior edges of the cabinets (described below). The drying time is not long for any of the pieces so it works well to stagger this part of the process.

Paint the Kitchen Cabinets Themselves

First, make sure the cabinets themselves are degreased and sealed as described above. I did half the kitchen cabinets at a time. When the first half was dry, I lightly sanded and painted a coat of sealer on the cabinets themselves and moved on to degrease the second half of the kitchen.

By the time I had degreased the second half of the kitchen, the sealer was dry on the first half. I taped the inside edges of the cabinets and then painted the interior edges.

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By turning the tape so that the sticky side is flat against the back of the edge of the cabinet (see pictures), you make it easier to paint the inside edge. You don’t need to paint it perfectly because you can just tear away the tape to make a smooth edge. It also gave me extra roller clearance so that the things in my cupboard were less likely to get paint on them.

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Moving between the two sides of the kitchen, I sealed, sanded, taped, painted interior edges and then taped and painted the trim at the top of the cabinet.

The general order was: Degrease, Lightly Sand, Tape, Seal, paint interior edges (1), paint trim on top of cabinet (2), roller everything flat (3). and repeat with more coats.

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Replacing the Hardware

Hinges

While you’re going through the process to paint your kitchen cabinets, it’s good to think about what hardware you will use when you put the cabinet doors back on. New hinges can make your newly painted doors that much newer. This is a good time to comparison shop to find the right hinges.

If you can’t find replacement hinges (I couldn’t) just like the ones you took off your doors, and you don’t want to take the time to redrill all your doors for new hinges, then you can simply paint your hinges. That’s what I did but I will save that process for a stand-alone post.

Knobs/Pulls

Another piece of hardware to consider is your knob. If you plan to change the style of hardware on the cabinet door fronts, decide that before you apply the first coat of paint. You will have to fill in the holes from the previous hardware before painting. We decided to just switch out the old knobs for new ones that would fit in the same holes. We chose THESE and they made a world of difference.

Wrapping up the project

Once you have coated all the doors and cabinets, remove all the tape from the cabinets. Check to see if there are any spots that need touching up before reinstalling the doors. I applied an extra coat or two of paint to the areas I knew would get extra wear and tear.

Finally, it’s time to reinstall the doors. Using the bag of hinges and screws you saved when you took down the cabinets, screw the hinges back onto the doors with your drill. Then, screw the doors back onto the cabinets.

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With the doors back on the cabinets, check for any thinner areas of paint that are now coming to light in a different setting. I ended up rolling on an additional coat of paint to the fronts of two cabinet doors. Once dry, screw the knobs back onto the cabinets and drawers.

Stand back and admire your hard work! Here is the final look!

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Overall, I am very happy with this method to paint your kitchen cabinets. Not only do my cabinets look beautiful, but it took WAY less paint than expected. I used less than half the paint I ordered. Unfortunately for me, it was past the return date for the paint since this project took so long.

Having extra paint with this method is a good thing though. Because there is no topcoat, I can simply use the extra paint for touch-ups. I scratched one of the doors when reinstalling and was able to just use some touch-up paint to get that spot. You can’t even tell.

Here are more before/after photos:

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Overall, I think Pinterest is right. This is a very easy way to paint your kitchen cabinets. It’s cheap, looks beautiful (if you do it properly!), and requires no special skills. However, it is still time-consuming. If you have the time and the inclination, I think this would be a great way to update your kitchen cabinets on a budget!

I’m sure you have questions. I know I did when I was researching all the different methods! Please leave any questions below in the comments for me to answer and stay tuned for a follow-up post on how to paint your hinges!

Thanks so much friends! Please make sure to pin for later!

-Virginia

Easy Way to Paint Kitchen Cabinets_DIY Budget Kitchen Remodel

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