Is painting wooden kitchen cabinets a doable DIY project for a beginner?

I have 16 cabinet doors and 2 drawers of varnished maple, in good condition, that I want to paint white. There are plenty of instructions online for this kind of thing, I just wondered if it is realistic project for someone who has not done it before, in a small house.

Because it’s a process that takes a few days, I think I would have to do it 4 at a time (the basement is the only place I could leave them to dry away from cats and kids). Would that make it interminable?!

Any comments or other tips from people who have stripped and painted cabinets would be appreciated.

Thanks!


Comments

  1. You actually could do them half-painted. There are high-end cabinets made that way and it’s fashionable now to have mixed surfaces and colors on kitchen cabinets. You could remove, sand and paint just the doors white and leave the boxes the woodstained finish. It would have a mid-century or 60’s modern look. Then change the knobs and pulls to something chic and modern. Simply changing the knobs does a lot towards making a kitchen look better.

  2. You actually could do them half-painted. There are high-end cabinets made that way and it’s fashionable now to have mixed surfaces and colors on kitchen cabinets. You could remove, sand and paint just the doors white and leave the boxes the woodstained finish. It would have a mid-century or 60’s modern look. Then change the knobs and pulls to something chic and modern. Simply changing the knobs does a lot towards making a kitchen look better.

  3. Kitchen cabinets can be complex to paint because of surface grim (grease) from being in the kitchen. Thorough cleaning and surface preparation is key.

    I painted cabinets once upon a time and would not do it again. I was dissatisfied with the final finish after an incredible amount of work. If you want a project and also to limit costs I suggest you paint the cabinets and take your doors and drawers to a professional finisher who had the equipment and skills to give a perfect finish.

    Just my .02 on this topic.

  4. Thanks, those are wise comments. I can’t afford to hire someone to do it, so it’s just to decide whether I can do it well. Can’t have them only half painted, or with lots of cat hairs dried onto them! 🙂

  5. Whether or not it is interminable depends on how YOU feel. Sure, it is doable, but any project like that takes a lot of time, and a lot of attention to detail to get nice results. If you enjoy that sort of thing, then you enjoy that process. Only you know which sort of person you are.

    If you have looked up the instructions, and still wonder whether you can do it (I recognize that kids take a lot of time) rather than just jumping right in and starting already, it seems to me that you might be happier just paying someone to do it for you. I do enjoy doing that stuff, but sometimes when I have too many other demands on my time, I appreciate paying for a (faster) job well done. Good luck.