Mudroom cabinets see a lot of abuse. Heavy boots, high moisture, and other hazards can take their toll on a set of cubbies. When general contractor Tom Silva and host Kevin O’Connor built a set, paint expert Mauro Henrique knew just what to do to apply a durable coat of paint.
How to Paint Mudroom Cubbies
- Start by sanding the entire cubby with a palm sander and 220-grit sandpaper. Remove sawdust with a wet/dry vacuum.
- Put the cubbies on a drop cloth, apply a coat of primer to the cabinet using the paint brush and roller, ensuring you coat the entire cubby.
- With the primer dry, identify any nail holes and fill them with wood filler. Allow the putty to dry and sand it smooth.
- Sand all of the cubbies with 320-grit sandpaper.
- With the cubbies primed, cover their backs with plastic sheeting and painter’s tape.
- Fill the paint sprayer’s hopper with paint. Adjust the nozzle and airflow settings to create a smooth fan of paint.
- Spray the cabinet in long, smooth passes. Make sure to overlap each pass by 50%, and avoid tipping the gun. Adjust the nozzle’s orientation as needed so you don’t have to stip the gun.
- Allow the paint to dry and apply a second coat to the cubbies.
- Once the second coat is dry, install the coat hooks and decorate the cubbies.
Resources
Before painting, Mauro and Kevin sanded the cubbies using random orbit sanders with 220-grit sanding disks attached to a dust extractor. If you don’t have a dust extractor, wear n95 masks and safety glasses. Vacuum the dust after sanding.
For primer they used Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water-based primer in gray. To add the primer they used paint trays, paint buckets, paint rollers, and nylon/polyester blend flat brushes.
After the primer was dry, Mauro filled in any nail holes with all purpose wood filler and small putty knives. They then sanded the primer with 320-grit sanding disks and vacuumed up the remaining debris.
Before spray painting, protect the area from overspray with drop cloths, pre-taped plastic sheeting, and painter’s tape.
To spray paint, Mauro used the Wagner Flexio 3500 Paint Sprayer. Wear safety glasses and an n95 mask when operating. Use scrap cardboard to test the sprayer before attempting on the cubbies. For paint, Mauro used Scuff-X Semi-Gloss– 4X Interior Paint in a classic burgundy. He chose a paint that is durable and can handle high-traffic areas.
For the final touch, they added Liberty 2-1/32” matte black wall hooks.
Materials
- Drop cloth
- Primer
- Wood filler
- Plastic sheeting
- Painter’s tape
- Paint sprayer
- Semi-gloss paint
- Coat hooks
- 220-grit sandpaper
- 320-grit sandpaper
