In these days of compulsory austerity, it is not always an alternative to go out and buy a ‘new one’, whatever it is. It is the time when most people are attempting to work out ways of making their capital 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 purchasing new ones.
In fact, painting the kitchen cabinets is also an outstanding 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 can wear thin or even wear through making your whole kitchen look a bit shabby.
As outlined above, in previous years, we might have just gone out and bought new ones, but these days, it is not the same. You could just renew the doors, if you want, or you could just repaint the whole cabinets or just the doors. It is a quicker alternative too.
If you want to get the job done very quickly, you could get the whole family involved in the project and have a bit of fun together because painting the kitchen cabinets is not hard and is not demanding. The most difficult part of any decorating job is preparation. Without suitable preparation, you will never get a good finish.
So, the first thing to do is empty 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 laminated 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 get rid of old materials, give it a light rub down with fine sandpaper afterwards. Then rinse the surfaces with sugar soap. When they are dry, you can begin painting the kitchen cabinets.
You have a couple of choices to make when deciding on the paint. First the colour. If the original surface is dark, you will need to undercoat it in a light colour before applying the gloss, satin or matt top coat. This system provides the best finish by far. It is stronger, better-looking and more durable.
However, if you simply want to get the job done, 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 usually cover a dark surface well and you may have to give it two coats anyway.
One word of caution here is that it is easier to make a kitchen look bright and airy and even larger, if it is painted with bright colours. Therefore, if your kitchen was looking a little gloomy 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 often 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 involved 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.
