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.
Pro Tip: When setting up your paint sprayer, Mauro, a This Old House painting expert, recommends understanding your spray tip number: “The first number you’re going to multiply by two. That will give you six. That means you’re going to have six feet of fan spread every time you spray it.” Keep in mind that a sprayer requires roughly 30 percent more paint than brushes or rollers due to overspray, so plan your paint quantities accordingly.
Before spraying, take time to dial in your pressure settings. Hold the gun 12 to 14 inches away from a scrap piece of cardboard and spray a test line with one uniform stroke. According to This Old House Magazine, if the paint spits out or two thin lines appear above and below the main stream, the pressure is too low. If the coverage is too light or there’s excessive overspray, the pressure is too high. The pressure is just right when the paint flows evenly out of the gun.
Pro Tip: When working with MDF or other absorbent materials for mudroom cubbies, consider using an oil-based primer as your base coat. As one This Old House painting contractor explained during a cubby build: “MDF [is a] very absorbent material. We’re gonna use an oil-based primer… it’s gonna be a hard working bench and probably a mud room. So I can imagine wet boots or rain jackets on it. We don’t want it to swell up.” The oil-based primer protects against moisture, and you can still use a water-based paint for the top coat.
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.
Pro Tip: Henrique, a painting contractor featured in This Old House Magazine, says to choose the most expensive product in whatever paint line you buy. That adds a few dollars per gallon, but better paint makes the job easier and yields better-looking results—especially important for built-ins like cubbies that you’ll see every day.
When choosing paint for high-use built-ins like cubbies, look for a product labeled as an enamel or trim paint. As This Old House Magazine advises, the higher the sheen, the more durable the finish—high gloss will stand up better than satin. A semi-gloss, like the Scuff-X Mauro used here, strikes a good balance between durability and appearance in high-traffic areas.
Materials
- Drop cloth
- Primer
- Wood filler
- Plastic sheeting
- Painter’s tape
- Paint sprayer
- Semi-gloss paint
- Coat hooks
- 220-grit sandpaper
- 320-grit sandpaper
