The interior element that changes the least is the color of kitchen cabinets. The walls may be re-papered or painted once a year, and you can change the drapes every a month, but it costs money to replace the cabinets and tables, which are made to last at least a dozen years.
How to paint a kitchen set: proper facade painting Sadly, kitchen cabinets lose their aesthetic appeal more quickly than the furniture degrades into an unusable state, necessitating the use of numerous restoration techniques to salvage the situation. Painting kitchen doors by hand is still the simplest and most common approach.
The Paint Choice
Before you paint the kitchen facade with your own hands, you should choose the right paint. Not all options are suitable for the kitchen. On the one hand, the operating conditions in this room are quite harsh, and the finishing materials must be resistant to steam, moisture, condensation, temperature fluctuations.
On the other hand, people cook and eat in this room, and therefore safety and hygiene are even more important.
What paint is worth painting the furniture?
To qualitatively paint kitchen cabinets, you need to consider the nature of the composition, water resistance, degree of hiding, and, of course, the color. In fact, the choice is not so great.
Oil paints
Oily are so called because the solvent for them are not water solutions, and oil. Such a variant is remarkably resistant to the action of moisture and steam, perfectly withstands temperature fluctuations. However, the structure of the paint is viscous and difficult to apply.
To repaint a facade well – without streaks, irregularities and bright spots, requires considerable experience. In addition, oil-based formulations take a long time to dry, in addition, drying is accompanied by a heavy, unpleasant odor.
The advantage of oil paint: oil paint can be applied with equal success to wood, metal, concrete and plaster. And its layer will serve as protection for all materials and prevent corrosion and mold.
Acrylic paint
Painting kitchen fronts is also made with acrylic paints. The solvent for them is water, so it is perfectly safe and hygienic. For the kitchen must choose water-resistant acrylic formulations, otherwise the painted garniture will quickly lose its appearance.
Lays the composition is very easy and even, so that to paint the kitchen facade with their own hands is quite simple.
In fact, water-resistant paint is also washed off with each wash. However, it is not so fast: visible abrasion is observed not earlier than 500 cleanings.
Alkyd enamels
Paints based on organic solvent. For the kitchen, this option is considered the best, as it has a remarkable hiding power; it is safe, quick and easy to dry and does not wash off. The paint coat is resistant to steam and condensation, does not absorb dyes and soot and is insensitive to temperature.
All of its advantages can be seen on finished MDF kitchens with enamel coating.
Obviously, it is extremely difficult to apply enamel with a brush or roller. For painting kitchen fronts with their own hands it is better to choose auto enamel.
It is offered in pressurized cans, which allows you to achieve an even layer without too much hassle.
Choice Color of Kitchen Cabinets
The range of colors of paints and varnishes is usually very large. If you can’t find a shade that fits your needs, you can mix it up.
- Color is chosen based on the style – both new and old. The kitchen, decorated in the style of Provence, suggests pastel shades or at least white. Bright or dark tones turn stylized furniture into a caricature.
- It is equally important to consider the shape of the facade. Radius furniture itself is very effective, but no less demanding to the color. Here, bright and dark colors will be to the place, especially in combination with a glossy sheen. Pastels are allowed only pearl. Of course, you can paint the curved fronts in light brown or matte beige, but the furniture will lose half of its appeal.
- Paints differ not only in color, but also in luster. Matte surfaces are good in large kitchens in classic styles. Glossy ones are best combined with flat fronts. Pearl sheen is not recommended to combine with steel countertops and trim. Well, a metallic shimmer or color effect, like “chameleon”, are created for radius facades.
The First Preparatory Step
Before deciding how to paint a kitchen set, you first have to know how to prepare it. The front of any material, even wood, is covered with some kind of finishing layer. And before you repaint the furniture, you need to get rid of the old finish. Sometimes this is not easy to do.
- The easiest thing to do is with wood. The material is coated with varnish or paint, and even if the latter has soaked in quite deeply, it is not so difficult to remove the layers. You will need for this sandpaper or grinder. With their help, the top stained layer of wood is simply cleaned.
- If the wood or board MFD covered with veneer, proceed as follows: treat the surface with a special composition, which dissolves the glue and forces the wood to swell. Then the softened top layer is removed, moving in the direction of the wood fibers, if it is wood. The remains of the coating are removed with a metal brush or grinder and sand the surface with sandpaper.
- To remove the film from your garnish, use a construction hair dryer. PVC film or melamine film is glued to the surface. The adhesive composition in this case is weakly resistant to heat. To remove the film and repaint the facade, it is sufficient to treat the surface with a stream of hot air. The film is peeled off and removed, the material is sanded with sandpaper.
- If you intend to paint a kitchen with acrylic slab coating, nothing will work. It is impossible to separate the acrylic glass from the MDF board on its own, and it is not cost-effective to paint the glass.
- Chipboard is cleaned with the same tools, but use more gentle methods. The material is not as dense as MDF and the action of the sander will not survive. Solvents and sandpaper are used.
The Second Preparatory Stage
To paint the front of the kitchen, it is removed from the hinged cabinet, remove all fittings, free from the mirror or glass inserts. The surface is cleaned from the old trim described above methods.
- Grinding is an indispensable element of preparation. Thus, an even, but not smooth surface is obtained, which forms a good adhesion to the paint. MDF and wood are sanded with a grinder. It is better to process chipboard by hand.
- The surface is cleaned from dust and degreased – with acetone, white spirit.
- If the surface has deep cracks, scratches, pits, they are filled with automotive putty.
- The facade is primed with a compound that corresponds to the type of paint. Wood or MDF are treated with wood primer, and plastic or metal parts are treated with plastic or metal primer, respectively.
- Leave the furniture to dry for a day.
Painting Facades of Kitchen Cabinets
You may refinish furniture with spray paint, a brush, or a roller. The second approach produces an even finish and is significantly faster. Unfortunately, part of the paint will certainly be lost when it is sprayed. You will need exactly the right amount of paint for the job if you utilize paint. Yet the technique needs to be used with extreme caution and expertise.
- Before repainting the kitchen should be protected: cover other furniture and surfaces with polyethylene and tape. The unpaintable parts – the edges, for example, are also protected with tape.
- Then, with a brush or roller, paint from the tray – a little and accurately, covering the surfaces with smooth movements in one direction. Small parts are painted with a brush. As a rule, 1 coat of paint is not enough. Coats 2 and 3 are applied only after the first one dries.
- During painting, colors can be combined. To do this, regions of various colors are taped off from one another and painted individually. The tape is removed once it has dried, and if required, the spaces are painted.
- The paint layer cures for half an hour. It is then possible to remove any imperfections, if any, with solvent only. Finally the paint dries within a day, but it depends on the nature of the composition.
Spray paint application also takes considerable proficiency. The paint should be sprayed on the surface from a distance of 8 to 12 inches after the container has been shaken for 10 to 20 seconds to agitate the composition. The same rule applies if you wish to apply more than one layer: wait until the first one has dried before applying the second.
And in conclusion
Repainting the color of kitchen cabinets is not that difficult, and most importantly, profitable. The process does not require much time or physical effort – only accuracy and consistency in execution. The costs in this case are the most modest: for primer and paint.
I hope you can change the color yourself now and may it work out for you!