Painting Kitchen Cabinets?

[stephlove]

We're set to close on our first house next month. I'm excited because the way most of the house is decorated is exactly how I would do it myself. I love all the paint colors and flooring in most of the rooms already. Except the kitchen. It's so blah.

I read all the articles on painting the kitchen cabinets. The current cabinets in the house are wood, dull and boring. I keep going back to this same picture of painted cabinets (http://pinterest.com/pin/280560251756639589/).

Is painting the cabinets worth it? What are your thoughts on painted cabinets?

[stephlove]

Here are a couple pictures from the MLS listing, since we're not in the house yet.

[emoflamingo]

May 11, 2012 13:24:41 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

May 11, 2012 12:58:38 GMT -5 stephlove said:

Here are a couple pictures from the MLS listing, since we're not in the house yet.

Those actually look pretty decent. Why don't you try updating them by changing the hardware and seeing if you like that look? Especially if you change the window treatment and repaint, you may end up liking the wood.

Also, check out pictures of kitchens with wood cabinetry, and try to see if there's anything that fits your style. It might open you up to other possibilities you hadn't considered.

I agree. They look pretty similar to our cabinets and when we replaced the hardware and counters (um, pink fleck laminate anyone?), it changed the entire kitchen.

If I can PIP:

Before:


After:

[Susie]

I think I would sooner turn my attention to the countertops than the cabinets. I'm not a huge fan of how monochromatic they look together.

I did paint my cabinets, and I'm pleased with how they came out. Before the paint job they were honey oak, and had laminate end panels that didn't exactly match. But it was a TON of work, so I would try to work with them and see how it goes before taking the plunge. Before I resorted to painting, I changed hardware and redid the backsplash.

[housegeek]

I'm not a wood person, so I would paint them!!

Rustolium has a easy looking cabinet refaceing kit thing, I was going to use that then I ended up getting the cabinets that I wanted so now I don't have to

[Mark's Girl]

My cabinets are the ugly ones that are in every house oak light color.

I am painting them this summer with the new Rust-o-leum kitchen cabinet kit until we save for new ones. It will give our kitchen a face lift and with this kit, according to reviews it doesn't seem to be too much work.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I don't think I hate those cabinets. I think I hate that countertop. Like, a LOT. Brown on brown makes it look VERY dated. Is replacing the countertop in your budget?

[stephlove]

I HATE the countertops too. I want to be able to afford to put a nice granite counter in, but that's not in our budget right away. We could do a better looking laminate, and just paint the walls to change it up.

I honestly wish I could just rip it all down and start over. The placement of everything is so... awkward.

[mrs.jacinthe]

May 11, 2012 14:20:27 GMT -5 stephlove said:

I HATE the countertops too. I want to be able to afford to put a nice granite counter in, but that's not in our budget right away. We could do a better looking laminate, and just paint the walls to change it up.

I honestly wish I could just rip it all down and start over. The placement of everything is so... awkward.

So here's my thought, based on this. I'd replace the countertops with a nicer laminate (get the HD stuff from wilsonart or formica that LOOKS like granite) for now. Also repaint the walls and do new hardware. If you still hate it, then paint the cabinets. Otherwise, I'd wait to paint until you get granite ... then you get a fresh kitchen all at once.