I changed my mind about painting kitchen cabinets after 3 failed attempts

I used to be firmly in the camp that painting kitchen cabinets was a huge waste of time and money (you know, because it never looks as good as the real thing). But last month I saw my neighbor's kitchen after she did hers - she used a small sprayer from Harbor Freight and took 4 full weekends to do it right. The finish was so smooth and even, no brush strokes or drips at all. What really convinced me was watching her process in real time: she sanded every single door down to bare wood, primed with a bonding primer, and did 3 thin coats of cabinet paint. The before had these yellowed 80s oak cabinets, and the after looks like a $5,000 custom job. So I borrowed her sprayer and tackled my own tiny kitchen last weekend. Has anyone else had luck with a specific paint brand or sprayer for cabinets?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettywood6d ago

Your mileage may vary but that sprayer from Harbor Freight actually does work pretty decent if you thin the paint right. The key is keeping that spray tip clean between coats or you'll get sputtering.

caleb2626d ago

Yeah, "your mileage may vary" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there @bettywood... and also probably the exact mileage on your extension cord if you're using that sprayer for anything bigger than a birdhouse. I've seen that thing turn a perfect paint job into a Jackson Pollock in about three seconds flat if you look at it wrong. The trick about cleaning the tip is real though, I spent more time wiping it down than actually spraying last time. Still, for twenty bucks it's better than trying to brush a fence by hand, I guess.