How to Update a Kitchen with Paint

In this video, Ask This Old House host Kevin O’Connor uses a special paint to revamp an old kitchen.

As Kevin O’Connor and painting contractor Mara noted during the project, painting kitchen cabinets is a smart alternative to a full replacement. “There’s a lot to love to paint kitchen cabinets,” Mara explains. “They get dinged up, they get banged up, and it could cost a fortune to replace them. So, painting them is a great option.” Beyond refreshing worn surfaces, it’s also a chance to completely upgrade the look of your kitchen at a fraction of the cost of new cabinetry.

Steps for Painting a Kitchen:

Technique Detail: To keep cabinet doors and drawers flat as the paint levels, make a pronged drying rack by drilling screws up through several pieces of scrap wood. That way you can flip your work as soon as it’s dry to the touch. You can also screw cup hooks into the edges of doors and drawers so you can grab hold and move them without fingerprinting the paint, then hang them up for out-of-the-way drying.

1. Using a driver, remove fasteners and hardware from the cabinets.
2. Using a biodegradable cleanser, thoroughly wipe down all of the cabinets and doors.
3. Apply painter’s tape around the edges of the cabinets.
4. Place doors on pyramid holders and apply one coat of paint to each, using a roller.
5. Using rollers and brushes, apply one coat of paint to cabinets.
6. Allow paint to dry for at least 2 hours.
7. Repeat painting steps to apply a second coat.
8. Give paint 24 hours to dry.
9. On day two, clean off the backsplash, using the same biodegradable cleanser.
10. Remove any outlet covers with a screwdriver, and apply painter’s tape to the edges.
11. Using rollers and brushes apply first coat of paint to the backsplash.
12. Wait at least 2 hours to allow paint to dry.
13. Apply second coat of paint to the backsplash.
14. Allow paint to dry and reattach outlet covers using a screwdriver.
15. Apply spray paint to hardware, preferably outside or in a well-ventilated area.
16. Wait at least an hour for spray paint to dry.
17. Reattach hardware to cabinets, using a driver.

Where to find it?

Kevin used Reclaim Beyond Paint which serves as the primer, color and the finish to update the cabinets and the tile backsplash. For the cabinets, Kevin used “Pebble” and for the backsplash “Bright White.” To restore the cabinet hardware, spray paint manufactured by RustOleum was used.

Shopping List:

• Specially formulated paint
• Spray paint
• Plastic gloves
• Paint pan
• Painter’s pyramid holders
• Biodegradable cleanser
• Painter’s tape

Brush Selection: For painting kitchen cabinets, you’ll want both a straight 3- to 4-inch-wide square brush for making short work of large, flat panels and an angled synthetic brush in the 2½- or 3-inch-wide range to get paint into corners of doors with molding and coat door frames in one pass. A 4- or 6-inch foam roller is also ideal for covering the sides of cabinets and their face frames.

Tools: