Painting The Kitchen Cabinets: The Cheaper Alternative

In these days of enforced asceticism, it is not always an option to go out and buy a 'new one', whatever it is. It is the time when most people are trying to work out ways of making their resources go further. This could be anything from getting spare parts for your old cooker instead or replacing it to painting the kitchen cabinets instead of buying new ones.



In fact, painting the kitchen cabinets is also an excellent way of giving your kitchen a quick makeover. Kitchen cabinets, particularly the doors, take quite a beating in their daily lives. Often the veneer or the finish on the doors will wear thin or even wear away making your whole kitchen look a little shabby.



As outlined above, in former years, we might have just gone out and bought new ones, but these days, it is different. You could just replace the doors, if you want, or you could simply repaint the whole cabinets or just the doors. It is a quicker alternative as well.



If you want to get the work done very quickly, you could get the whole family concerned in the project and have a bit of fun together because painting the kitchen cabinets is not difficult and is not arduous. The most difficult part of any decorating job is preparation. Without proper preparation, you will never get a good finish.



So, the first thing to do is clear out the cabinets and put everything well out of the way. Then cover anything that you do not want to get dusty with sheets especially food and crockery. You may want to take out drawers and take down your wall cabinets, but if access is easy enough, there is no need.



Most kitchen cabinets have a plastic-coated surface which is not an ideal surface to paint, so rub them down lightly with fine sandpaper or emery paper. If you have to use medium grade sandpaper (rougher) to remove old materials, give it a light rub down with fine sandpaper afterwards. Then wash the surfaces with sugar soap. When they are dry, you can begin painting the kitchen cabinets.



You have a couple of decisions to make when deciding on the paint. First the colour. If the original surface is dark, you will have to undercoat it in a light colour before applying the gloss, satin or matt top coat. This technique creates the best finish by far. It is stronger, better-looking and more durable.



However, if you simply want to get the job over with, you can get an all-in-one paint that does not need an undercoat, but then you will be restricted with colours. A light all-in-one will not normally cover a dark surface well and you might have to give it two coats anyway.



One note of caution here is that it is easier to make a kitchen look bright and airy and even bigger, if it is painted with bright colours. Therefore, if your kitchen was looking a little dismal and dark, do not repaint the kitchen cabinets a dark colour again just to save having to put an undercoat. When painting the kitchen cabinets it is frequently the undercoat that makes the finish look good.



Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on quite a few subjects, but is at present concerned with cooker spare parts. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Electric Freestanding Cooker.