Repainting existing cabinets in your bathroom or kitchen can save you loads of money and is often the most effective part of a room makeover. It is extremely rewarding and quite straight forward, however, it is worth taking the time to do proper preparation work to get a long lasting and professional finish. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your repainting project.
Take Your Time Sanding The Cabinets
This is often a rushed job and not many people take the time to properly sand down all of the edges and corners. This is partially due to the electric sander not being able to fit into the tight corners. Invest in or borrow a detail orbital sander like the Bosch Mouse to really get into all of the nooks and crannies. Sanding properly will take much longer but it is critical to get a smooth and even paint finish.
Tint Your Primer
White primer requires a few coats over it to fully cover. Try adding a small amount of your colored paint to the primer to tint it. That way you’ll get away with fewer coats of paint which will save you time and money.
Label the Hinges
All of the hinges on your cabinets look the same, so you just remove them all, put them in a bag and replace them right? Wrong. This is often the biggest mistake people make when repainting cabinets. All of the hinges are slightly different, aligned differently and the holes are in slightly different places. They are not noticeable but when you try and put them back together, doors are skew, holes don’t line up and cabinet doors don’t fit together nicely anymore. Save yourself hours of frustration by labeling each hinge as you take it off and put it back in the same position.
If you are having trouble with aligning your cabinet hinges, have a look at our article on adjusting your cabinet hinges.
Label your Cabinet Doors as Well
For the same reasons mentioned above, its a good idea to label all of the doors as well and make sure that you put them back in the same place. It sounds straight forward but doors easily get mixed up and swapped around while turning them over or waiting for coats of paint to dry.
Once you’ve painted your cabinets, have a look at these kitchen tips and tricks to make your kitchen instantly more functional and livable.
Follow these four tips and painting your cabinets will be an easy and rewarding project. Do you have any more tips, tricks and suggestions? Let us know in the comments section below.