How To Paint Cabinets | Give Your Kitchen a Facelift

Give your kitchen a facelift with a cabinet refresh for under $100.

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We have been working on renovating our kitchen since we moved into our house. We started with painting, then we moved to the backsplash, then counters, and lastly we focused on the cabinets. If you are feeling bored, down, or displeased with your kitchen, there is one sure way you can give your kitchen a quick facelift. Refresh your cabinets! A super affordable way to refresh your cabinets, rather than replacing them, is to paint them. So let’s talk about how to paint cabinets.

I knew that I wanted to paint my cabinets, but I also knew that I didn’t want to keep re-painting them due to scratches. There was a lot of research done to determine what paint brands might be best to try, and what will provide durability and beauty for the best price. I tested a couple different paint brands, and although their finish was beautiful, the durability wasn’t what I wanted.

After countless hours of research and test trials, I was finally ready to test a brand that I thought would be successful. The brand I used for this project is The Nuvo all-in-one cabinet makeover kit by Giani Granite. I could not be happier with the results! Keep reading for the steps I took for these beautiful cabinets, and how you can get a kit for yourself.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This does not affect the cost to you, but may provide commission for items purchased.

I do not receive commission from Nuvo Cabinet Transformations or Giani Granite.

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Pro’s and Con’s of Nuvo Cabinet Makeover Kit

Pro’s

• The kit comes inclusive with paint, brush, roller, and stir stick
• The durability is wonderful
• Quick drying paint coats
• Trendy and classic color options
• Beautiful finish
• Can be done in one weekend (in most cases)
• Provides enough in one kit for most kitchen sizes
• Only requires a light sanding (for most cabinet conditions)
• Primer and paint in one
• Affordable refinishing option
• Wonderful customer service
• Giana Granite brand offers other beautiful affordable transformation options (counters, garage doors, brick)

Con’s

• The rollers and brush provided are not the quality I typically use
• If you have high gloss cabinets, you will want to de-gloss or strip them (many cabinets are not high gloss)
• If you are going from dark cabinets to a very light color, priming may be necessary to avoid excessive paint use (but the overall coverage was still very impressive to me)

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Supplies to Give Your Kitchen a Facelift

Keep in mind that the cabinet makeover kit provides a brush, rollers, and paint stick. I have linked my recommended brush and rollers if you’re interested.

• Nuvo All-In-One Cabinet Makeover Kit
  • I used Titanium Infusion
• Recommended paint brush: Wooster 2″ Shortcut Angled Brush
• Recommended roller: Whizz 4-in cabinets, doors and more flocked mini paint roller
• Roller tray
• Orbital Sander (optional but makes life easier)
• 280+ Grit Sand Paper or Sand Discs
• Hand Sander (instead of orbital sander or for smaller spaces)
• Safety Glasses
• Chemical gloves (if using TSP)
• Drop cloths
• Painters tape
• Windex / degreaser (or TSP)
• Screwdriver / drill
• Wood filler
• Microfiber cloths / lint free cloths

If you have to de-gloss or strip your cabinets:

• Stripping agent
• Plastic paint scraper / putty knife
• Scotch-Brite scouring pads
• Bucket of water
• Mineral spirits
• Disposable rags
• Chemical gloves
• Throw away paint brush (cheap)
• Paper towel
• Junk toothbrush

Don’t go out and buy new items for this project if you already have them. You can get creative too! I used old curtains as drop cloths.

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How To Paint Cabinets

Let me just start by saying, Nuvo Cabinet Paint comes with a wonderful packet of instructions that give you detailed steps for painting your cabinets using their kit. I will say, I followed these steps, but a little more detail and some images to go along never hurt anyone!

Due to the high gloss finish on my cabinets, along with the years of grease that were never cleaned off before we moved in, I made the decision to strip my cabinets before painting them. It is recommended to de-gloss your cabinets prior to painting them if you have a high gloss finish on your cabinets. High gloss cabinets will be very, very shiny, you will be able to see light reflecting off of them.

I will not include directions for stripping your cabinets in the painting how to, but you can find the steps for this further down in this article.

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Step 1

Clean your cabinets thoroughly. It is important to clean off any grease, dirt, grime or other substances that have built up on your cabinets. If you do not clean the cabinets well, the residue on your cabinets can cause bonding issues with the paint (this is true for any paint type).

Use Windex, or TSP (or another strong degreaser) to clean any grease or grime off. It’s important to know that you may not see the grease that is built up, so clean them anyways! Use a quality microfiber cloth, or lint free cloth while cleaning. Don’t use a cloth that will leave behind fibers and lint to get stuck in the paint.

Make sure to clean very well around high touch areas such as handles. The Nuvo instructions actually say to use TSP around these areas.

Disclaimer: follow all manufacturer safety precautions and instructions for chemicals, cleaners, paints and primers.

If you need to strip your cabinets, you will need to complete this prior to sanding. See the how to towards the end of this post.

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Step 2

Remove your cabinet doors. I know, it sounds like a pain, but do it! It’s so much easier to prep and paint them with the doors removed. Make sure to note which doors belong where, and the tops or bottoms. This will be helpful if adding hardware.

Remove any hardware such as knobs, handles and hinges. Take the time to fill any holes, nicks or scratches in your cabinets with a good wood filler. You can apply wood filler with a regular putty knife. I highly suggest not skipping this step. It’s rather disappointing to have nice newly painted cabinets just to find out you see the nicks and scratches better than ever!

Place hinges and screws in a ziploc bag. Place hardware and screws in a separate ziploc bag. Keep these in a safe place.

Just make sure… if using a tube wood filler, use a toothpick or very small drill bit to clear any dried filler inside the tube tip. Do not step on the tube to remove any dried filler from the tip. I repeat… DO NOT STEP ON THE TUBE.

I also highly recommend removing the old cabinet bumpers and replacing them with new ones. It’s just a cleaner look and less to work around.

If you are placing new hardware, this is the time to drill the holes. You will want to sand over the holes drilled, so be sure to do this prior to sanding. Use the wood filler to fill in any old holes if necessary.

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Step 3

Sand your cabinets. It’s important to at least lightly sand your cabinets so the paint will bond to the surface properly. Without at least some sanding, the paint will have more opportunity to scratch and peel away. Nuvo recommends a 300 grit sand paper. I suggested 280+ for the grit, as sometimes it can be difficult to find a 300 grit sand paper.

If you have very soft wood cabinets, the higher the grit the better! I used an orbital sander for this step because I found it easier. It’s not a requirement. You can use a sanding block, or just sand paper, but it is more work. Make sure to have a sanding block or sand paper for the corners and areas an orbital sander can’t fit in.

Make sure to wear the appropriate safety attire when sanding. Most sanders recommend safety glasses and possibly even a dust mask.

Once sanding is completed, you MUST clean your cabinets again. It’s very important to remove all the dust created by sanding.

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Step 4

Now it’s time to prep your working area. Tape off the walls, floors, counters, trim, anywhere near where you are painting your cabinets. Even if you feel that you are the best edger EVER, you still want to tape. It gives you nice clean lines, and helps to avoid “whoopsies” when painting (and let’s face it, we are all human and make mistakes).

Apply drop cloths to horizontal surfaces such as counter tops and floors. Even if you are being careful, paint can splatter, especially when using rollers. It’s worth your time to avoid the headache of cleaning 100,000 itty bitty paint dots all over your surfaces.

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Step 5 (optional)

This step is optional, but recommended for some situations. Prime your cabinets! If you have a dark finish you are covering with a light color, it would be a good investment to prime your cabinets.

If you are painting raw wood, prime your cabinets. The raw wood will absorb paint super quickly and you will find yourself running out.

If you are painting over knotty pine cabinets, prime with a high quality oil based primer. The tannins in the knots can bleed through the cabinet paint causing discoloration, especially with lighter colors.

You don’t have to follow this step, but priming your cabinets can reduce the use of the Nuvo cabinet paint (or any cabinet paint brand) which in turns saves money in the long run, and helps to assure you don’t run out.

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Step 6

IT’S TIME TO PAINT! This is the part I always look forward to. I love to see the transformation, it’s feel like an accomplishment compared to the prep work. I mean, who actually likes the prep work??

Pro Tip: use a roller in AS MANY PLACES AS POSSIBLE. The roller finish is so much smoother and prettier than a brush finish.

First, start with cabinet framing.

Identify the areas you need to paint with a brush and start there. A good rule of thumb, if there is fine detail or a 90° or smaller angle, use a brush. Some areas with larger angles may still need a brush. I have provided some examples of specific places to use a brush below.

Weird places that you should use a roller (that a lot of people wouldn’t consider):

• Cabinet framing edges like the bottoms and insides of openings where shelves aren’t in the way
• Cabinet door edges
• Molding (other than in the creases)
• Pushed up against the 90° angles to get as close to the corner as possible
• Kickplate under lower cabinets
• Anywhere it will fit without painting the wrong things!

You want to do your coats together, brush and then roller, let it dry, brush and then roller.

Second, paint the doors and drawers.

Following the same ideas above, paint your cabinet doors. Start with the areas that need the brush, and then roller. Let it dry, and repeat until covered adequately with a nice smooth finish. You can use pyramid stands to hold your cabinet doors up for easier painting access (optional).

If you aren’t using pyramid stands, I suggest painting 3 edges and one side first. Finish all coats and then flip. Complete your last edge and back side together. This will give you a clean edge to stand the cabinet door on while painting the other edges. I had multiple tables set up during this process so I could swap out doors to let some dry while painting others.

Note: I also spray painted my air vent cover white. Nothing fancy, just Rust-o-leum all surface white spray paint.

Pro Tip: put your paint brush and roller into ziploc bags, remove the air, and place in the refrigerator. This will keep them wet and ready to start using again at any time, without needing to clean them out for every time you need to stop painting.

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Step 7

Putting it all together!

Let your newly painted cabinets dry for at least 8 hours after the last coat is painted. If you start putting your cabinets back together too soon it’s possible they will start sticking together or will scratch easily. The paint needs sufficient time to cure.

Once your cabinets have dried, put your kitchen back together. Hang the doors back on. Add the hinges to the doors first, and then screw the doors back into place on the cabinet frames.

Add your hardware (if you are using hardware), such as knobs or handles. Use caution not to scratch the paint, as it takes a couple of weeks for paint to fully cure and bond.

Add new bumpers to your cabinets (if you removed the old ones).

Remove the drop cloths and painters tape.

Pro Tip: if your painters tape has become hard to remove and is starting to peel your paint away, use a razor blade or utility knife to run carefully along the edge of the tape and paint to free the tape from the paint layers.

Put your kitchen back together, decorate if you want to, and enjoy your new wonderful space!

Key Products

You can find the instructions from Nuvo here: Nuvo Cabinet Makeover Kit Instructions

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How To Strip Cabinets

As I had discussed in the beginning of this post, if you have high gloss cabinets it may be best to de-gloss or strip these cabinets for the best results. If you choose to skip this step, it may result in poor bonding of the paint, which can result in sloppy coats and easily scratched off paint.

I won’t sugar coat it, stripping your cabinets is a time consuming and messy situation. But, on the other hand, it will give you beautiful and lasting results!

If you choose to take my advice and recommendations, you can find the steps to complete this below.

Supplies Needed

• Stripping agent
• Plastic paint scraper / putty knife
• Scotch-Brite scouring pads
• Bucket of water
• Mineral spirits
• Disposable rags
• Chemical gloves
• Throw away paint brush (cheap)
• Paper towel
• Junk toothbrush

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Step 1

Select the stripping agent you are going to use for your cabinets. I just recently had my counters replaced with quartz counter tops, so the last thing I wanted was to get stripper on my counters. It would ruin the surface!

I chose to complete this step with a gel stripping agent that would cling to the surface of the cabinets, and would be less likely to drip. I used Citristrip stripping paste and gel. Be sure to follow all precautions and instructions from the manufacturer.

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Step 2

Gather your supplies. You will need to tape off any areas you won’t be painting, and cover all surfaces with drop cloths. You will need these for the painting stage anyways, so it’s best to complete it well, now. Use a cheap paint brush to apply the citristrip, and have paper towel and a bucket with water and scotch-brite pads ready for removing the gloss.

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Step 3

Follow the manufacturer directions for applying the citristrip (or your stripping agent of choice). Citristrip stripping paste recommends using either a paint brush or putty knife to apply the paste. I chose to use a paint brush, but it must be applied in a very thick coat. Apply to the area you plan to work on first. You can do this in large areas, but you run the risk of the stripping paste drying after scraping, but before scrubbing. If it dries, this process becomes harder, so I recommend working in small sections.

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Step 4

Let the stripping agent sit on the applied area for the recommended manufacturer time. Citristrip recommends allowing at least 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours of time. If you are letting this sit for 24 hours, be sure to cover the area with plastic wrap so the stripping agent doesn’t start to dry out. A lot of gloss finishes will start to bubble when they are ready to be removed.

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Step 5

Removing the stripping paste and coating on your cabinets is the messiest part of this process. Be sure to follow the manufacturer instructions. Citristrip paste recommends using a plastic paint scraper to remove the coating (I used metal, but you MUST be very careful not to scratch your surface). There are no directions or suggestions on what to do with it… I have found that the best solution is to wipe the mess into paper towel and dispose of it. This was the cleanest solution I had found to removing the stripping past and coating.

Once you have scraped off all areas, use a scotch pad dipped in Citristrip to scrub at the stubborn areas. If you are stripping your cabinets to paint them, keep in mind that it doesn’t need to be perfect. A good primer will help to cover any color differences very well.

Use a toothbrush to get into fine areas that may be difficult to remove the paste and coating. Use your bucket of water and scotch pad to wash off excess stripping agent and coating that may have been left behind. This will also take a lot of the leftover color and stain out. You can also complete this step using a paint thinner for higher success.

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Step 6

Allow the cabinet doors and frames to dry. Once dried, sand down any areas that were not stripped well.

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Step 7

Use a lint free cloth and mineral spirits (along with a toothbrush for fine areas) to clean off any excess stripping agent and finish left over. You want to get these as clean as possible, including removing the dust from sanding.

From here, move to step 5 of how to paint cabinets.

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