Painting Kitchen Cabinets For Kitchen Reno

Recently, I decided I was tired of my white and beige kitchen.  I hired a local kitchen cabinet company to come and give me an estimate on a kitchen renovation.  The resulting quote was $60K!!  So, I quickly pivoted and thought about how I could mostly repurpose what I alread had.  My existing cabinets were solid wood and in good condition.  My counter-top (tile installed by myself when we bought the farm) was in excellent condition and I loved the fact I could put hot pots and pans directly on to it.  The decision was to paint the lower cabinets out in black.  My husband balked at that initially as it is a dramatic change.  However, I researched it thoroughly and figured it was the right move.  It took about 5 days altogether from start to finish and was a bit awkward cooking and living around the reno, but we made it work.

Here's how I did it:

1. Removed all the old hardware & baseboards, which were reused after the painting was completed

2. Sanded all the cabinets with a very fine sanding block then wiped them down with a degreaser and allowed to dry thoroughly

3. Taped off all adjacent surfaces with painter's tape and covered the floor with builder's paper

4. Primed all cabinets with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer, as I was unsure if the undercoat was oil or water based, I had it tinted as dark as they could get it - which was a deep gray, allowed to dry 24-hours

• I used a good quality foam roller and foam brushes for the hard to reach spots

5. Painted all cabinets & baseboards with 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel, in Tricorn black, allowed to dry 24-hours in between coats

6. Touched up any areas that required it and allowed another 24-hours to dry

7. Reinstalled hardware & baseboards then removed tape & builder's paper

I was thrilled with the outcome and absolutely love hanging out and cooking in my updated kitchen!!  My husband was amazed at the transformation.  I did change out the dishwasher and fridge for stainless and where there was initially a white porcelain sink (which had become scratched and stained) I installed the enormous black single sink you see in the pictures, with a matching black faucet. I painted out the beige walls and backsplash in two different gray tones.

We further installed new flooring, as the old one had come apart over the years. 

All tolded the reno cost us about $7K.  That's money in my pocket!

Pros and Cons

Easy to clean with a damp cloth

Easy to change colours in a few years if I get tired of it

Way less expensive than new cabinets

Can be susceptible to chips, so I keep a small mason jar of the black paint handy for touch ups