Shout-Outs and Thoughts on Cabinet Painting
First off, the shout-outs.
Shout-out to my mother-in-law who came for four days at the beginning of all this. She watched the kids, fed me when I would have forgotten, and drove my older kids to VBS every night.
She did it all happily and cheerfully. She probably questioned her son’s choice in spouse only two (three times, tops) when hearing me sing along while wearing headphones. Her help got me through some of the hardest steps of this project, and I appreciate it so, so much.
Shout-out to my aunt who helped me clean and sand most of my cabinets and kept me company during one of the hottest days of my project. We knocked out in a couple of hours what would have taken me half a day (or more). The Force was strong with us.
To my husband, for sanding and priming one more time when my fingers, and spirit, just, couldn’t even. Thank you for getting all the grooves out.
Shout-out to all the people who encouraged me and reminded me it would be worth it. It was.
Shout-out to Bin Ultimate Stain Blocker Primer for making the priming and sanding steps 10 times easier than they would have been.
Shout-out to the guy at the hardware store for not looking at me weird when I kept coming back for more Bin primer.
To the cute little orange cones that hold the cabinet doors off the ground while I primed and sanded years off my life. You da bomb.
And finally, shout-out to Amazon Music and Pandora radio for distracting me from my arduous task and keeping me (barely) sane.
Now, for my thoughts and reflections on cabinet painting:
You’ll see articles saying cabinet painting is a weekend project. They’ll say things like “for just a few hundred dollars and a little bit of work, you can have like-new cabinets!”
They did get one thing right. It was only a few hundred dollars. Why then will a professional charge several thousand!?
Uh….guys…..it’s because of the labor. So much labor.
Cabinet painting is NOT a weekend project. It is not a “little bit of work”. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult DIY project I have ever done, or likely will ever do. I will probably never do it again.
It is hours of sanding and priming and sanding again. It’s days of repeating steps over and over again to get that perfect finish. Maybe if our cabinets been newer or had already been painted, it may have gone much easier. But with cabinets that are at least forty years old, with dings, scuffs and scratches, more care is needed. And a LOT more sanding and primer.
I sweat, swore, ached, and cried.
But I did it.
And I’ll tell you something else about cabinet painting…it was worth it.
The hours of sanding and three layers of primer paid off leaving me with smooth, nearly perfect cabinets. I picked amazing colors. They will be easy to clean. I will love them for years.
I did it.
It was worth it, I love my new kitchen.
If you ever decide to paint kitchen cabinets, here’s the lowdown.
1. It is a lot of work. Do your research. Take your time. Buy frozen dinners. Listen to music. Get good knee pads (and cute little orange cabinet cones).
2. What you put into your cabinets, is what you get out of them. Sanding and priming are such a pain in the neck, but they will give your paint a smooth, polished finish. The process is so much work anyway, add a few extra days to make sure you will be happy with the final result.
3. Invest in good paint, and a good primer. I highly recommend Bin Ultimate Stain Blocker (it sands so easily, you’ll thank yourself for splurging on it).
4. And lastly, remember, in the end, it’ll be worth it.
I promise.
Cabbages & Kings 